I think that I should warn you that this post doesn’t actually have a great deal to do with quizzes. Well, come to think of it, it doesn’t really have anything to do with quizzes.
You may recall that a few months ago I reviewed BBC’s The
Traitors, a non-quiz reality/game show. It’s the first time I’ve reviewed a
show which has nothing whatsoever to do with quizzes. Well, last week on
Channel Four another show made by the same production company that gave us The Traitors was trailed across Sunday to Friday evening. It’s called “Rise and Fall”
and I thought I’d like to share my views about it with you.
The first thing that struck me in the first minutes of
Sunday’s show was that it all takes place in 55 Broadway. I recognised the
building immediately. I knew that this building was built as the headquarters
for the Underground electric Railways of London group, the predecessors of
Transport for London and London Transport. It was completed in 1931. Frank Pick
(the Great Frank Pick – trust me, he was) commissioned the building from one of
my favourite architects, Charles Holden, designer of many of the finest London Underground
stations built in the inter-war years. When it was completed in 1931 it was the
tallest office building in London. I didn’t know that TfL had moved out, but
they did a few years ago.
Once I got over that revelation, though, I started
concentrating on the show. Now, the fact that I’ve watched every episode so far
shows that it is not totally lacking in interest. Add to this the fact that 10
o’clock on a school night is too late for me to start watching an hour long
show, so I’ve been watching it the next evening. But I can’t say it’s a
comfortable watch.
Like “The Traitors” this show divides contestants into two
groups. 6 become Rulers, and all of the rest become Grafters. Only Rulers can
win the prize pot. Only Grafters can work to put money into the prize pot.
Compare this with The Traitors in which both Faithfuls and Traitors worked
together to put money into the pot in the challenges. The Rulers go to the
Penthouse to live in the lap of luxury, while the Grafters get sent to the
cold, dirty squalor of the basement, where they get a basic meal always
consisting of tasteless broth, bread and water for breakfast, dinner and tea.
The Grafters are given a range of work tasks to achieve which range from the
relatively pointless, like blowing up balloons to the frankly distressing and
cruel. The Rulers have to set targets of what the Grafters must achieve. So let
me summarise the first challenge. The Grafters had to hold cables into electric
sockets to complete a circuit for a given amount of time. All the while they were
being zapped with electric shocks. The Rulers had to decide how many rounds of
this they had to endure. The more rounds they completed, the more money they
banked. If they failed in a round, though, they would have lost all the money. I was uncomfortable
watching this, and my daughter, who has a degree in Sociology said it was like
watching a version of the Milgram Experiment. I know what she meant. In another
challenge the poor starving grafters had to eat several extremely unpalatable
things, including dog food.
Ah, but this is a game, isn’t it? So where’s the incentive
for the Grafters? Where’s the jeopardy for the Rulers? Well, it works like
this. Every so often the Rulers must vote out one of their number. This is when
the show becomes Big Brother. Rulers make alliances with other Rulers and
conspire against other Rulers and one is kicked out. I’ve never been a huge fan
of Big Brother.
Which brings me to a point. The game mechanics mean that the
Rulers are going to be forced to display their most unlikeable traits. Judging
by the comments that many of the Digital Spies who commented on the show made,
we were all disappointed when the first Ruler to be kicked out was not sent
down to join the Grafters, but allowed to go home scot free as it were. Then,
on Friday’s show it was announced that the Grafters are going to be choosing
two of the Rulers to become Grafters. You’d almost think that the producers
were responding to the criticisms. Well, actually this is possible. Greg James –
and there’s a reason why I haven’t mentioned him yet – the presenter, allegedly,
was on Claudia Winkleman’s Radio 2 show yesterday morning and he revealed that
he is still filming the series. So maybe the producers DID see the criticism
and made the format change on the hoof. Then again, maybe not.
Thus far, a Ruler expulsion is followed by a vote among the
Grafters. The two Grafters with the highest votes are sent to the Penthouse.
After a champagne reception, the Rulers choose one to become the next Ruler. I
can’t say that these sequences have been particularly enjoyable. I don’t need a
‘secret’ piece to camera from one of the Grafters telling me hat he or she
really wants to go to the Penthouse and become a Ruler. You’d be daft to want
to stay in the basement. Likewise, I don’t want to see a Ruler doing a piece to
camera telling me ‘I DON’T trust Tiffany (name changed to protect the guilty)
she is NOT a strong ruler!’ They can cut those down as soon as they like.
I’ve already mentioned the nagging feeling the show gives me
that either the show hasn’t really been completely worked out before the start,
or the producers are changing the gameplay on the hoof. The arbitrary way the original
Rulers were selected was strange. Told by the rather anonymous Greg James to
sort it out amongst themselves, basically it came down to who had the gall to
just walk into the lift at the end. From the few words that Greg James said I
had the impression that they all had to agree. Likewise when Grafters were
given the opportunity to make requests for items from the Rulers, the items
they asked for really were small potatoes – well they didn’t actually ask for
potatoes, large or small but you know what I mean. Were the Grafters told –
these are the items you can ask for and nothing bigger? Who knows? We weren’t
told. Here’s another thing. How is the end game going to work? So we’re told,
only one Ruler can win. So how will this work? I mean, keep something back, by
all means but give us an idea, producers.
Were the Producers unsure of whether they wanted to use Greg
James or not? I ask because the poor devil is seen so little on screen or heard
so little in voice over. I’m guessing Claudia wasn’t available for this one.
Yes, and that’s another thing. I must admit that I was not
previously aware of Sophie Corcoran’s work as an internet pundit. I am now. It’s
safe to say that she has her views and I have mine and never the twain shall
meet. Still, bearing in mind her media profile I think the very least that
Channel Four might have done is list her as Politics student AND Political
Pundit on Twitter. Maybe I’m influenced by memories of the Traitors where so
many of the contestants turned out to have acting or performance experience
despite this not being their primary occupation or career.
For all I know “Rise and Fall” may yet come galloping home in
the ratings. A lot will depend on the endgame, I think. I mean, if you watched
the British version of “The Traitors” and then a few weeks later the American
version of “The Traitors” which was also shown on the BBC, then that was a good
demonstration. In the British version the last Traitor was expelled at the fifty
ninth minute of the eleventh hour and the money was shared between those nice
last three Faithfuls. A successful conclusion that left simple hearted me
satisfied with the outcome. In the US version, the Traitor won. Granted, as a
person she had come across no worse than the Faithfuls had, but nonetheless it
was a moment that I found surprisingly deflating.
But as I say, for all the flaws I have highlighted, I will
probably continue to watch it. I won’t necessarily like myself very much for
doing so, though.
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