Cities at Night

Programme Outline

This programme consists of:

Extracts from:
London by Blake
Dombey and Son by Dickens
Oliver Twist by Dickens

Interviews with:
Russell James, crime novelist
Iain Sinclair, author
Alan Grant, Batman writer

Film clips from:
Oliver Twist
The Third Man
Metropolis
Terminator
Bladerunner

(NB VCR counter numbers may vary slightly on different machines.)

0.24.40 – 0.25.49
Opening sequence and introduction.

0.25.50 – 0.26.41
Interview with Russell James, crime novelist, discussing the importance of setting.

0.26.42 – 0.28.41
Exploration of the relationship between the city and crime: the city is often portrayed as monstrous, oppressive and dangerous.
Reading: London by Blake.
The city is also seen as a product of the Industrial Revolution, creating overcrowded conditions that led to poverty and disease.
Interview with Peter Ackroyd, biographer of Dickens.

0.28.42 – 0.32.36
Examines Dickens’s special attention to atmospheric settings.
Readings from Dombey and Son and Oliver Twist.
The city streets are seen as an important source of Dickens’s inspiration. Film clip from Oliver Twist.

0.32.37 – 0.36.12
Looks at how modern writers continue to draw inspiration from the reality of the urban environment.
Iain Sinclair highlights the role of the novelist as a medium who must go into the dark places of the real world to find out what these stories are.

0.36.13 – 0.38.25
Emphasises the atmospheric quality of nocturnal settings.
Reading: extract from Oliver Twist.

0.38.26 – 0.43.36
Explores the idea of the city as character – for example, Gotham City in Batman.
Interview with Alan Grant, Batman writer.
Film clip from The Third Man – looking at the media representation of Greene’s urban setting. Film clip from Oliver Twist.
Ackroyd highlights Dickens’s skill as a visual writer, an early ‘cinematographer’ who presents images bringing London and its people to life.

0.43.37 – 0.47.11
Film makers and the city:
Film clip: Metropolis
Film clip: Terminator
Film clip: Bladerunner (based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)

0.47.12 – 0.47.40
Conclusion.