BBC News 2020 | Balerno High School

Tv series adaptations, there are hundreds of tv series across the media some of the earliest tv series were based on books, how far has this expression come? Some of the biggest names in the television business were originally books, this includes game of thrones, sherlock, outlander and the handmaid’s tale each with very popular book counterparts. Throughout the day I interviewed teachers and pupils asking for their points of view.

Many believe tv series based on books can introduce people into books and encourage people to read the series they enjoy introducing people to new genres and authors. I interviewed a tour guide who is used to taking people around filming locations across Scotland.

What sort of tv show locations do you take people to?

Mostly game of thrones and outlander

What sort of reactions do you get from tourists visiting film sites?

Some get very excited and take lots of pictures, I’ve even seen some cry!

During the interviews I noticed that some of the most popular tv shows were crime and historical drama such as jane Eyre and Agatha Christie novels, these sorts of shows attract a lot of attention as the books have a large following and are regarded as classics and are seen as a good example of television adaptations.

I asked if people believed changing details from the book was good or bad. The most common response was it can be necessary as long as it is kept close to the original some small details can be changed. There are many variations of characters changed in the tv series a good example of this is pretty little liars which seriously changed character appearance and personality but remains popular among fans of the book.

I asked around which books do you want turned into tv series? (These were the responses from English and support for learning and pupils)

“None, it can go horribly wrong with tv adaptations.”

“Elanor Oliphant is completely fine”

“Life after life”

“The Bloody chamber”

“Peculiar children”

“Wuthering heights”

“Memoirs of a geisha.”

“the diabolic, in fact I can imagine it becoming a tv show!”

Books have been a part of people’s lives for years, each genre with hundreds of books under its collection. Adaptations have become very popular recently with the release of His dark materials, Nougats and crosses, Good omens, and The war of the worlds all introduced to BBC in the space of a few months between, this is a media form which is going to stick around for a long time. Television adaptations can positively impact both writers and television industries and could encourage people to write continuing the cycle. The pupils I talked to said that These series could help with English exams and prelims helping someone get interested in the book. Many books get forgotten after the release of a film or tv series. many people I interviewed didn’t know some of my examples were books first like lucifer by Neil Gaiman and animals of farthing wood by Colin Dann. finding out more about the series origins can be an interesting journey but one often forgotten.