Steven Moffatt's Forgotten Work.

Hi there you blog fans out there. You’ve probably noticed a children’s theme in my recent posts. Well, I am a fan of shows aimed at children because sometimes there are shows out there that can be seen as too grown up to be considered a children’s programme. I would like to talk to you about one such programme, written by a guy who now writes for family and adult audiences.

There’s been a lot of praise for Steven Moffatt, and why not he’s a talented writer. This is mainly due to his work on shows such as Doctor Who, Sherlock and Jekyl of recent times. It may be a surprise to some that he hasn’t been around for 5 minutes. He didn’t just start with the stuff he’s doing now. Obviously, he had the TV hit Coupling but there is a show which some of you may be familiar with, but might not realise who wrote it. I am of course talking about the Children’s series “Press Gang” from the 1980s.

Don’t let the term “children” fool you, this is as intelligently written as anything else Moffatt has produced. If you are not familiar with the show, it was a about a group of teens who run a school newspaper. The series revolves mainly around the relationship between the two leading characters, played by Dexter Fletcher and Julia Sawalha. Fletcher’s character of an American is a stereotype, but Julia is very believable as Lynda Day. Her opinion of Fletchers character is usual, she hates him, but you know there is something underneath.

One thing to note about this is just how hilarious this is. The dialogue is witty and rather playful at times. There aren’t many moments where you feel something was unnecessary. It certainly has that 80s feel about it, but that is down to the production, not the writer. This screenplay is as fresh now as when it was conceived, if you remove the obvious 80s references.

There are a lot of actors in this show who went onto great things, and other stints in television. You may recognise Owen and Lisa from Eastenders. You might know Fletcher from Kick Ass, or you might have seen Sawalha in the BBC’s famous adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as Lydia Bennett.

Moffatt’s work on this show is majorly forgotten, and I don’t think it should be. Everyone has to start somewhere, and in my opinion, this is a great place to start. People will sometimes forget this show because it’s been categorised as a children’s show. It had a reputation for covering subjects which were probably deemed too adult to be considered as content in a children’s programme. Shows along the same lines as this, such as Grange Hill for example, have a tendency to cover taboo subjects. It’s my theory that due to this, these shows should be classed as family entertainment and therefore you should check it out.

Thanks for reading this blog! If you have any opinions on anything that has been raised here, then please comment or send a message!