Skip to main content

Spoiler alert

Image
By

Once upon a time, a disappointingly relatively brief time ago, you could sit down in front of your TV, and be surprised at what you saw.

Not shocked by a trashy dating show (or an even worse naked dating show), but surprised by almost any drama, soap opera, or just about anything non-factual.

Before the proliferation of TV channels, the tell-all internet, and a constant battle for viewers, it was perfectly normal to have almost no idea what was going to happen when you watched your favourite TV show.

Sure, the Radio Times, or your newspaper, might have hinted at what was going to happen – but crucially without giving any major clues. How times have changed.

Now, you see endless trailers for what’s going to happen, with major plot elements shown, so that you more or less know what you’ll be seeing before you even watch. Worse still, all serialised shows seem to have a ‘Next Time’ section at the end, which often resolves the cliff-hanger you watched just seconds beforehand. You just need to tune in to see the detail of how it plays out. OMG! Is Terry dead?! No, hang-on – there he is in the trailer, in a hospital bed.

A good recent example was the New Year’s Day episode of Doctor Who. Clearly, it was going to be the ‘biggie’ episode, with something major happening. It started becoming reasonably clear what that was going to be when the trailer showed a clip with the Doc talking about “the DNA of the most dangerous creature in the universe”. Hmm. Wonder what that might be?

To be honest, the sound of Dalek screeching “exterminate!” at the end of the clip wasn’t really necessary, but it did entirely give any remaining mystery a death ray blast between the eyes.

Even quite recently, broadcasters at least had the decency to flag that there were “spoilers” coming your way, in much the same way as they used to alert you to the impending announcement of the footy scores, with a cheery “if you don’t want to know the result, look away now”.

Short of not switching on your phone, laptop, or TV, for several months before a show, there’s no way you can avoid it now. “Spoiler” is a very good phrase. These mini-summaries do just that – they spoil your enjoyment of something you were looking forward to.

RIP plot. We know what’s going to happen, and I’m not happy about it.

This post first appeared as my "A wry look at the week" column, in The Mail, on Friday the 4th of January 2019. Both the version used on their website and the print version ran it as "There's no way to avoid TV spoilers", and included a picture of Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor.

 Come on... it IS annoying, isn't it? But it's really hard not to watch the miniature film with all the juicy bits in when it comes on, because you're curious. Even the movies are guilty of it. I've seen trailers that looked great, only discover when watching the film that all the best bits were in that, and the full-length version is pretty average otherwise.

 Still, me having a moan isn't going to change it, is it. Ooh - I've started the year by grumbling about something. Why change the habits of a lifetime, eh?

(CD A-Z: Great XTC box set "Coat Of Many Cupboards".)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian Grand Prix - Vettel hot, but not bothered

By
Malaysia. It's always hot, and it always rains. Except the 2nd part is no longer true (unless you count the drizzly bit around lap 14). Saturday's qualifying session had highlighted the fact that Red Bull and McLaren seemed well matched on pace, but also that Ferrari were struggling. Whilst Vettel bagged another pole, followed by Hamilton, Webber and Button, Alonso was only 5th, and Massa 7th, with Nick Heidfeld an excellent 6th on the grid between the two red cars. At this point, I would like to break momentarily for a small rant: How many times do I have to say Heidfeld is good? Why wasn't he given a top drive years ago? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! ARE YOU BLIND!!!?? Ahem. The Hispanias somehow managed to a) turn up b) remember to bring cars c) get both of them on the track d) actually get both of them within 107%. Pretty remarkable really. Oh, and it didn't rain. Race day looked a more likely candidate for a drop of the wet stuff. The start was exciting, with...
5 comments
Read more

"It's all gone quiet..." said Roobarb

By
If, like me, you grew up (and I’m aware of the irony in that) in the ‘70s, February was a tough month, with the sad news that Richard Briers and Bob Godfrey had died. Briers had a distinguished acting career and is, quite rightly, fondly remembered most for his character in ‘The Good Life’. Amongst his many roles, both serious and comedic, he also lent his voice to a startling bit of animation that burst it’s wobbly way on to our wooden-box-surrounded screens in 1974. The 1970s seemed to be largely hued in varying shades of beige, with hints of mustard yellow and burnt orange, and colour TV was a relatively new experience still, so the animated adventures of a daft dog and caustic cat who were the shades of dayglo green and pink normally reserved for highlighter pens, must have been a bit of a shock to the eyes at the time. It caused mine to open very wide indeed. Roobarb was written by Grange Calveley, and brought vividly into life by Godfrey, whose strange, shaky-looking sty...
Post a Comment
Read more

A fisful of change at the shops

By
A recent day out reminded me how much the retail experience has altered during my lifetime – and it’s not all good. I could stop typing this, and buy a fridge, in a matter of seconds. The shops are shut and it’s 9pm, but I could still place the order and arrange delivery. I haven’t got to wander round a white-goods retail emporium trying to work out which slightly different version of something that keeps my cider cold is better. It’ll be cheaper, too. But in amongst the convenience, endless choice and bargains, we’ve lost some of the personal, human, touches that used to make a trip to the shops something more than just a daily chore. Last weekend, we visited a local coastal town. Amongst the shops selling over-priced imported home accessories (who doesn’t need another roughly-hewn wooden heart, poorly painted and a bargain at £10?) was one that looked different. It’s window allowed you to see in, rather than being plastered with stick-on graphics and special offers calling ...
2 comments
Read more