News * UK news Revolutionary deal as TV adaptation of Dr Zhivago is sold... to Russia * Buzz up! * Digg it *
Matt Wells and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow * The Guardian,
Thursday 15 May 2003 07.39 BST *
Article history In the televisual equivalent of selling coals to Newcastle, Granada has persuaded a Russian TV channel to buy its lavish adaptation of the Boris Pasternak novel Doctor Zhivago. The writer's five surviving relatives, who hold the Russian rights to his work, have agreed to allow the biggest network in Russia to screen the mini-series on condition they are allowed to take part in a TV debate afterwards. Originally banned in the Soviet Union, Pasternak's manuscript had to be smuggled out of Russia, and the novel was first published in the west in 1958. Granada's adaptation is the second time that the epic romance, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, has been dramatised for the screen. David Lean's original big-screen version was made almost 40 years ago. The television adaptation cost £8.5m, funded with money from Britain, Germany, Italy and the United States. It starred Sam Neill, Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley, and was adapted by Andrew Davies. It will be screened this summer by Channel One in Russia, formerly the state channel ORT. So far, the only significant sales of British dramas to Russia have been of Agatha Christie adaptations - the BBC's Miss Marple mysteries and Granada's Poirot. The Zhivago deal will bring a much-needed influx of high-budget drama to Russia's grainy television screens. The current post-Soviet television diet consists of low-budget crime dramas, where lone cops battle swarthy mafiosi, epics about virtuous Russia Spetznaz battling terrorism in Chechnya, and occasional buy-ins of US hits such as ER and B-series such as the cruise drama The Love Boat. Along with reruns of Soviet classics, lengthy Rikki Lake-esque chat shows are also popular fare, in which studio audiences of mainly Russian women debate the varied evils of their male counterparts and how to circumvent the economic woes of daily life. Nadine Nohr, managing director of Granada International, said: "The [Zhivago deal] is one of the first sales of British drama into the former Soviet Union, post-perestroika. Previously the market operated largely on a barter basis, but it is now a strongly emerging market. "The deal with Channel One is a very good one, but it couldn't have been struck without the approval of the Pasternak estate." Granada has also signed a deal with another network, TV Channel Rossiya, also known as RTR, for a new version of Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide, plus a package of older Christie adaptations from Granada's back catalogue.
Matt Wells and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow * The Guardian,
Thursday 15 May 2003 07.39 BST *
Article history In the televisual equivalent of selling coals to Newcastle, Granada has persuaded a Russian TV channel to buy its lavish adaptation of the Boris Pasternak novel Doctor Zhivago. The writer's five surviving relatives, who hold the Russian rights to his work, have agreed to allow the biggest network in Russia to screen the mini-series on condition they are allowed to take part in a TV debate afterwards. Originally banned in the Soviet Union, Pasternak's manuscript had to be smuggled out of Russia, and the novel was first published in the west in 1958. Granada's adaptation is the second time that the epic romance, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, has been dramatised for the screen. David Lean's original big-screen version was made almost 40 years ago. The television adaptation cost £8.5m, funded with money from Britain, Germany, Italy and the United States. It starred Sam Neill, Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley, and was adapted by Andrew Davies. It will be screened this summer by Channel One in Russia, formerly the state channel ORT. So far, the only significant sales of British dramas to Russia have been of Agatha Christie adaptations - the BBC's Miss Marple mysteries and Granada's Poirot. The Zhivago deal will bring a much-needed influx of high-budget drama to Russia's grainy television screens. The current post-Soviet television diet consists of low-budget crime dramas, where lone cops battle swarthy mafiosi, epics about virtuous Russia Spetznaz battling terrorism in Chechnya, and occasional buy-ins of US hits such as ER and B-series such as the cruise drama The Love Boat. Along with reruns of Soviet classics, lengthy Rikki Lake-esque chat shows are also popular fare, in which studio audiences of mainly Russian women debate the varied evils of their male counterparts and how to circumvent the economic woes of daily life. Nadine Nohr, managing director of Granada International, said: "The [Zhivago deal] is one of the first sales of British drama into the former Soviet Union, post-perestroika. Previously the market operated largely on a barter basis, but it is now a strongly emerging market. "The deal with Channel One is a very good one, but it couldn't have been struck without the approval of the Pasternak estate." Granada has also signed a deal with another network, TV Channel Rossiya, also known as RTR, for a new version of Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide, plus a package of older Christie adaptations from Granada's back catalogue.