Triangle (TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Triangle


caption = Main title caption for the series
genre = prime time soap-opera
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Bill Sellars
starring = Kate O'Mara
Larry Lamb
Michael Craig
country = UK
network = BBC1
opentheme=Johnny Pearson
composer=Johnny Pearson
story_editor=Ted Rhodes
location=DFDS "Tor Scandinavia"
producer =Bill Sellars
director=Marc Miller
John Bird
Andrew Morgan
Darrol Blake
and
Terence Dudley [ [http://www.geocities.com/uk_soaps/Triangle/ Detailed list of which director helmed which episode] ]
last_aired = 1983
num_seasons=3
num_episodes =
first_aired = 1981
imdb_id = 0081951

"Triangle" was a BBC television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed a triangular route between Felixstowe, Rotterdam and Gothenburg. The series ran for three seasons before being cancelled, but is still generally remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced". [http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/drama/triangle.htm Kibble-White, Graham. "Little England". offthetelly.co.uk. May 2001.] ] The scripts involved clichéd relationships and stilted dialogue, making the show the butt of several jokes (particularly on Terry Wogan's morning Radio 2 programme) which caused some embarrassment to the BBC.Fact|date=February 2008

In 1992, the BBC screened "TV Hell", an evening of programming devoted to the worst television had to offer, and the first episode of "Triangle" was broadcast as part of the line-up.

The ferry used in the series was the DFDS "Tor Scandinavia".

Production limitations

Interviewed for an earlier "TV Hell" segment in 1992, the show's producer, Bill Sellars, spoke of several problems with the show's production.

Using a ferry as the setting for a television series originally looked like a promising idea. The regular cast, playing the crew, could be joined by a constantly-changing guest cast playing the passengers as the ship sailed to interesting European locations. Advances in portable cameras and recording equipment meant that the show could actually be videotaped on board a real ferry boat for a fraction of the cost of using a studio for interiors.

Unfortunately the plan was revealed to be flawed almost as soon as shooting began. Filmed largely in the North Sea, the inclement weather made the exterior scenes appear gloomy and dull, and far from glamorous. In making the first episode Kate O'Mara had to endure a scene in which she sunbathes topless on a clearly freezing deck.

Another problem involved lighting. The cameras were perfectly comfortable with both natural and artificial lighting conditions, but a mixture of the two always produced unnatural-looking colour. This meant that interior scenes always had to be shot with the windows or portholes curtained - so that as far as the audience was concerned they might as well have been shot in a studio anyway.

The relatively new "electronic field production" (i.e. portable video) technology used for location footage in place of the traditional 16mm film also exhibited serious problems due (amongst other things) to the movement of the ship.Fact|date=February 2008 The motion of the ship also induced seasickness in many of the production crew, making filming an uncomfortable experience.

References