Ten years ago, Channel 4 launched what quite frankly sounded like a dull and tedious TV show called Big Brother. It went on to be one of the most shocking, influential and groundbreaking series of the decade. As BB parts ways with the broadcaster, the channel has now come up with another reality format that it hopes will fill the void. Seven Days is part-reality show, part-soap and part-documentary. Following the lives of a carefully selected bunch of characters living in the Notting Hill area, it will allow the general public to interact, influence and offer advice to the participants. We caught up with the show's commissioner Simon Dickson and exec producer Stephen Lambert to find out what we could about the show. Below are the seven (see what we did there) key points that will hopefully explain everything you need to know:
This is a landmark show for Channel 4. "We've come to a moment for Channel 4 with the end of our best-known programme, Big Brother," explained Dickson. "Seven Days is a new kind of reality, what happens when you take the walls down. In reality shows like Big Brother in the past we have put people in an enclosed space and watched what happened to them. Seven Days is going to break down those walls and break all the normal rules."
This is like no reality show in the past, because we are actually allowed to interact directly with the characters. "This programme not only disobeys that conventional reality TV rule, it actively encourages it, through a new interactive part of the show called Chat-Nav." The Chat-Nav will allow viewers to talk to the characters on the show between episodes, offering advice on dilemmas and decisions they are making in their lives. So it's basically a social networking site, specific to this one TV programme.
Unlike Big Brother, this show will encourage people to talk about current events. Rather than discussions on washing up and petty squabbles over shopping lists, the characters will talk about politics, religion, sport and current affairs. "Maybe the Pope is visiting and that will raise questions about religion, morality and sexuality," suggested Dickson.
"These are outspoken people and we want to capture their genuine reactions to current events." C4 has compared it to a radio talkshow because we will hear real people's voices about events happening right now.
This is the biggest set in television history. "This is Notting Hill, it's real... We are not putting boundaries around them, real or figurative. It's a programme where anything can happen in seven days and normally it will. Nobody's ever done anything like this before. There's absolutely no guarantee that it's going to work, but it's going to be an adventure."
This is a new form of reality show, but it is also heavily influenced by the world of soap. "If you think of something like EastEnders or Coronation Street where there are between 20 to 30 central characters, that's about the number of people we have fully signed up for the programme," explained Lambert. "But in any episode of a soap like EastEnders, there will only be a handful - six, eight or ten - who are focused on in each episode and that will change from week to week, depending on who has the most interesting storylines." The programme will also have central meeting points where the characters' lives can crossover like the local cafe, hairdresser and pub.
The people taking part in the show and being filmed 24/7 have been chosen for a specific reason. They are people who are "confident with a camera crew" and who "wouldn't think twice" about revealing all about their lives. They are all big personalities and lead complicated lives. "We were particularly interested in people who were about to make some sort of big choice in their life. That's what we will be concentrating on," said Lambert. "That's what the Chat-Nav element of the show will be based on. We want viewers to offer advice to the characters. Some may take that advice on, some may ignore it completely. But we're hoping some of the events may be resolved over the weeks that we are filming."
The participants will not see what goes in the show until it is aired. If they are not happy with what was shown they can talk about it next week. "We are obviously not obliged to use what they say about the programme, but if it's interesting it will be included," said Lambert.
Seven Days starts on Wednesday, September 22 at 10pm on Channel 4.
Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv...-all-about-then.html
This is a landmark show for Channel 4. "We've come to a moment for Channel 4 with the end of our best-known programme, Big Brother," explained Dickson. "Seven Days is a new kind of reality, what happens when you take the walls down. In reality shows like Big Brother in the past we have put people in an enclosed space and watched what happened to them. Seven Days is going to break down those walls and break all the normal rules."
This is like no reality show in the past, because we are actually allowed to interact directly with the characters. "This programme not only disobeys that conventional reality TV rule, it actively encourages it, through a new interactive part of the show called Chat-Nav." The Chat-Nav will allow viewers to talk to the characters on the show between episodes, offering advice on dilemmas and decisions they are making in their lives. So it's basically a social networking site, specific to this one TV programme.
Unlike Big Brother, this show will encourage people to talk about current events. Rather than discussions on washing up and petty squabbles over shopping lists, the characters will talk about politics, religion, sport and current affairs. "Maybe the Pope is visiting and that will raise questions about religion, morality and sexuality," suggested Dickson.
"These are outspoken people and we want to capture their genuine reactions to current events." C4 has compared it to a radio talkshow because we will hear real people's voices about events happening right now.
This is the biggest set in television history. "This is Notting Hill, it's real... We are not putting boundaries around them, real or figurative. It's a programme where anything can happen in seven days and normally it will. Nobody's ever done anything like this before. There's absolutely no guarantee that it's going to work, but it's going to be an adventure."
This is a new form of reality show, but it is also heavily influenced by the world of soap. "If you think of something like EastEnders or Coronation Street where there are between 20 to 30 central characters, that's about the number of people we have fully signed up for the programme," explained Lambert. "But in any episode of a soap like EastEnders, there will only be a handful - six, eight or ten - who are focused on in each episode and that will change from week to week, depending on who has the most interesting storylines." The programme will also have central meeting points where the characters' lives can crossover like the local cafe, hairdresser and pub.
The people taking part in the show and being filmed 24/7 have been chosen for a specific reason. They are people who are "confident with a camera crew" and who "wouldn't think twice" about revealing all about their lives. They are all big personalities and lead complicated lives. "We were particularly interested in people who were about to make some sort of big choice in their life. That's what we will be concentrating on," said Lambert. "That's what the Chat-Nav element of the show will be based on. We want viewers to offer advice to the characters. Some may take that advice on, some may ignore it completely. But we're hoping some of the events may be resolved over the weeks that we are filming."
The participants will not see what goes in the show until it is aired. If they are not happy with what was shown they can talk about it next week. "We are obviously not obliged to use what they say about the programme, but if it's interesting it will be included," said Lambert.
Seven Days starts on Wednesday, September 22 at 10pm on Channel 4.
Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv...-all-about-then.html
Better than nowt eh.
The new programme looks like it could be Ok though...
