STORYTELLING: British TV Drama Series Review

The Fall, BBC Two

I originally got the idea for my story from the British TV drama series The Fall in season 1. So what better series to base my review on for this unit. The Fall is set in Northern Ireland and was created and written by Allan Cubitt. It was directed by Jakob Verbruggen in series 1 and in series 2 & 3 Cubitt directed. The killer is Paul Spector played by Jamie Dornan and the detective in charge of the case is Stella Gibson played by Gillian Anderson.  

The show is about a serial killer who watches his victims before he kills them. One particular woman he watched went to the park with her friend so Paul Spector took his daughter to the park and sat next to them and listened to what they were saying. Later on, after Spector killed the woman he watched, the police wanted to get in touch with him because he was seen at the park sitting next to them on CCTV, with the idea that he was a witness. Spector's family realise the police want to contact him so he goes to the police station voluntarily and tells them he didn't see anything. Down the corridor on the way out he catches a glimpse of the Stella Gibson, who is leading the same investigation which he is trying to eliminate himself from. The meeting of the detective and the killer here is where I got my inspiration from for my own film.  

I liked that idea of a detective working on a murder case and meeting someone and that twist at the end of finding out the man is the killer. This idea is where I started and then my story developed from there with a little help with Steve. Seeing the characters in The Fall drew a picture of how I wanted my characters to look from the start. The tall, dark stranger who the viewer just can't work out and the innocent, hardworking women who the viewer would expect to see catch the killer in the end. 

I think I should have watched the previous two seasons to get a really good idea of the whole story of The Fall. However, I didn't want to watch too much because I think my story would be too similar. Just getting the inspiration of the plot was enough for me to be interested in it enough to create a new story surrounding that idea.