Representations (being prolific today)
We have, as some of you will know, been working our way through Adam Adamant Lives and tonight's episode was "The Village of Evil" - aside from the increasing frequency with which hooded ceremonies seem to be appearing[1], there was one other thing that really surprised me.
While the satanic rituals will be taking place at the old mill, Sims is told to keep Georgina safe by taking her out. In the absence of anything else to do in the village, Adamant suggests taking her to church (surely, he says when Sims sounds surprised by this suggestion, we have Evensong still in England). SSo Sims and Georgina go, and the shots of the ritual at the mill are intercut with Georgina and Sims in church.
The writer was obviously keen to draw parallels, so the "form" of the satanic ritual is quite responsorial. The thing that astonished me was the portrayal of the Evensong. Unsurprisingly for the 60s (and possibly not a surprise today!) it was a sung BCP[3] Evensong - but rather than adopting the now-commonplace approach to church services as consisting of a hymn (well-known) and a sernon (either terribly earnest or slightly sinister), we had the introductory responses, some of the psalm and the Magnificat. Of course, Georgina keeps perstering Sims throughout - and they both stumble with the setting of the psalm (this was the clincher for realism and really made us laugh!).
They couldn't resist one concession to cliché - the vicar is a round-faced elderly man who, beaming beneficently at them as they leave, criticises the materialism of London, and asserts that the country folk have a simple faith!
(Typically vicars in TV drama or film are either kind but dim or deeply sinister. They are rarely ordinary[4]. Liturgy, aside from the well-known bits of weddings and funerals, doesn't exist).
Can anyone identify any other cases of real liturgy other than the above appearing "straight" in TV drama or film?
[1] The previous episode, The League of Uncharitable Ladies[2] had this too, along with sound hypnosis - a popular topic for the writers as it appeared in Sing a Song of Murder too.
[2] Directed by Ridley Scott - I have noticed they're getting more funky moving camerawork as we go along.
[3] Book of Common Prayer (1662) - but most commonly it's actually the 1928 edition famously not approved by Parliament (see the CofE site for details - the curse of being the established church is that MPs who don't like your attempts to modernise can veto it ...
[4] The Archers is a radio programme, and thus allowed a normal vicar.
While the satanic rituals will be taking place at the old mill, Sims is told to keep Georgina safe by taking her out. In the absence of anything else to do in the village, Adamant suggests taking her to church (surely, he says when Sims sounds surprised by this suggestion, we have Evensong still in England). SSo Sims and Georgina go, and the shots of the ritual at the mill are intercut with Georgina and Sims in church.
The writer was obviously keen to draw parallels, so the "form" of the satanic ritual is quite responsorial. The thing that astonished me was the portrayal of the Evensong. Unsurprisingly for the 60s (and possibly not a surprise today!) it was a sung BCP[3] Evensong - but rather than adopting the now-commonplace approach to church services as consisting of a hymn (well-known) and a sernon (either terribly earnest or slightly sinister), we had the introductory responses, some of the psalm and the Magnificat. Of course, Georgina keeps perstering Sims throughout - and they both stumble with the setting of the psalm (this was the clincher for realism and really made us laugh!).
They couldn't resist one concession to cliché - the vicar is a round-faced elderly man who, beaming beneficently at them as they leave, criticises the materialism of London, and asserts that the country folk have a simple faith!
(Typically vicars in TV drama or film are either kind but dim or deeply sinister. They are rarely ordinary[4]. Liturgy, aside from the well-known bits of weddings and funerals, doesn't exist).
Can anyone identify any other cases of real liturgy other than the above appearing "straight" in TV drama or film?
[1] The previous episode, The League of Uncharitable Ladies[2] had this too, along with sound hypnosis - a popular topic for the writers as it appeared in Sing a Song of Murder too.
[2] Directed by Ridley Scott - I have noticed they're getting more funky moving camerawork as we go along.
[3] Book of Common Prayer (1662) - but most commonly it's actually the 1928 edition famously not approved by Parliament (see the CofE site for details - the curse of being the established church is that MPs who don't like your attempts to modernise can veto it ...
[4] The Archers is a radio programme, and thus allowed a normal vicar.