Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Encyclopedia
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four
by Charlie Brooker
. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary
on how television is produced.
, which reviews other British television programmes with a caustic and humorous tone. Brooker analyses specific programmes and genres, regularly making jokes about how programmes are created, and criticising what he states is the bureaucracy behind programme-making. Brooker often pays particular attention to more obscure channels on satellite, Freeview and cable, such as those dedicated to gambling, shopping, horoscopes and pornography. He explores the probable effects of television on society and how programmes can often create in the viewer feelings of inadequacy, depression, fear and anxiety. To balance things, one segment of each show is usually dedicated to positive reviews, with analysis on why the style and content are so absorbing.
Much of the programme is filmed in Brooker's living room, with shots of him sitting in front of his TV (and laptop) with remote control in hand talking to camera, occasionally bellowing insults or sarcastic comments at whatever happens to be shown at the time, interspersed with shots of TV shows. Occasionally he will make use of props for the sake of humour, including a "seance
trumpet" to mock Colin Fry
's performance and an oven glove
with a smiley face into which he claims to channel his unfulfilled emotions.
When not in the living room, Brooker presents segments on various pieces of television, different genres or peculiarities of production. Instead of actors, these sections often feature members of the Screenwipe production crew to illustrate points; for example, the director Al Campbell as a fictional comedian called "Barry Shitpeas" and researcher Mike Bradley in a number of roles.
voiceover at the end of the final episode from the second series), was revealed to have been commissioned on 9 May 2007. The 3rd series was preceded by a mini-Screenwipe on 12 May (shown on BBC2's The Culture Show
), which reviewed Grease is the Word
and Any Dream Will Do
. Shortly after the 3rd series concluded, a Screenwipe clip show was shown on BBC Two
, with repeats of the series airing on the channel in the weeks following. The third series featured a number of episodes focusing on specific themes, such as television news coverage and reality television series.
The fifth series of Screenwipe began airing on BBC Four on Tuesday 18 November 2008. The first episode dealt with (among other things) Manuelgate and television production costs (and the effect of the credit crunch on said costs). The second was focused on the changes in television advertising throughout its history, and the third was an extended edition composed entirely of Brooker's interviews with prestigious writers such as Russell T Davies and Tony Jordan
. Episode four focused on "mission shows" such as The Great British Body, and featured a parody involving "pee-shyness" (paruresis
), while episode five focused on children's programming through the ages. The final episode of the season was a review of 2008. In 2009 the show didn't return for another series, but a review of the year was scheduled as had been the case with previous years.
, or The Soup
. Screenwipe can be characterised as being intellectually more harsh with Brooker often making surreal moral comparisons between the so-called 'real-world attitude' of certain programmes, and the logical conclusions of that attitude if it were turned towards real life. It often forms the basis for analysis of programmes - such as his review of the ITV musical drama Britannia High
in which he describes the characters as "irritating show-offs" and that the school in which they inhabit "in any sane world would have its windows bricked up by the government before the self-satisfied inmates could get out and affect the rest of the population."
Brooker is known to be critical of reality television shows such as Big Brother
and The X Factor
, and often makes scathing remarks about the sort of people who watch these shows. A recent example in the 2008 Christmas Special involved a remark about X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, which Brooker went on to claim is now "ruined forever as a song destined to be played at thick people's funerals".
Brooker often displays archive footage of various shows, but alters the viewer's perception through near stream-of-consciousness narration and/or ironic juxtaposition with contrasting footage or sound, e.g. highlighting what he believes is the organised crime feel of Dragons' Den
by running the trumpet solo from The Godfather
over the original dialogue. He has also been known to make jokes at the expense of his own show and himself, in particular making light of his resemblance to Laurence Fishburne
, and in the first episode of the third series he claimed he had "a face like a paedophile walrus". Also of note was the deliberate mention of Victor Lewis-Smith
, described by the 'TV Insider' being interviewed (and presumably written by Brooker) as "kind of like a rich man's you". Lewis-Smith co-wrote and presented a similar show in the late nineties called TV Offal
which Brooker sarcastically and knowingly claims to have no knowledge of.
Despite his derogatory and insulting remarks aimed at many television shows, people, and near enough everything and everyone, Brooker does show his happier side and has spoken of his liking for certain US drama series including The Shield; Deadwood
; The Wire
; Mad Men
; and the most recent version of Battlestar Galactica
; as well as the current series of Doctor Who
; and older documentary programmes such as Jacob Bronowski
's The Ascent of Man
, Civilisation, and The World at War. Brooker singles out Bronowski for praise regarding his style of presentation describing it as 'a bit like taking a warm bath in university juice'. In a more solemn example, at the end of an episode screened in December 2008, Brooker paid tribute to children's programmes creator Oliver Postgate
, who had died the day before the programme was aired.
Brooker often makes a point of laying light praise upon unlikely targets, such as Five's morning programmes aimed at pre-school age children, stating, "There isn't a single piece of negativity in the whole thing and that's what you need at this time in the morning."
. To date the show has used eight of Firth's original creations. The 2006 Christmas Special featured a special appearance from Firth's deranged alter-ego, Jerry Jackson, whose cartoon appeared substituting for an animation that Firth had created beforehand. This original animation was rejected by the BBC on the grounds that it was far too offensive to be broadcast on TV. Firth recently announced on his website that the BBC had asked him to produce an animation for each episode of the second series of Screenwipe. Three were shown but the fourth, a Jerry Jackson cartoon, was once again rejected by the BBC. Firth stated in a post on Fat-Pie.com that "Jerry's [cartoon] was about Political Correctness on TV and contained a certain degree of sarcasm, yet sarcasm the TV company didn't see the funny side of, and they refused to use it".
The third series saw Firth produce four more short animations (of which three were aired) entitled 'The World Within A Sock', in which a group known as The Establishment buys the year 2008.
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
by Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
on how television is produced.
Format
Screenwipe is a television programme, presented by comedian Charlie BrookerCharlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
, which reviews other British television programmes with a caustic and humorous tone. Brooker analyses specific programmes and genres, regularly making jokes about how programmes are created, and criticising what he states is the bureaucracy behind programme-making. Brooker often pays particular attention to more obscure channels on satellite, Freeview and cable, such as those dedicated to gambling, shopping, horoscopes and pornography. He explores the probable effects of television on society and how programmes can often create in the viewer feelings of inadequacy, depression, fear and anxiety. To balance things, one segment of each show is usually dedicated to positive reviews, with analysis on why the style and content are so absorbing.
Much of the programme is filmed in Brooker's living room, with shots of him sitting in front of his TV (and laptop) with remote control in hand talking to camera, occasionally bellowing insults or sarcastic comments at whatever happens to be shown at the time, interspersed with shots of TV shows. Occasionally he will make use of props for the sake of humour, including a "seance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
trumpet" to mock Colin Fry
Colin Fry
Colin Fry is an English television personality, entertainer, who purports to be a psychic medium. His critics assert that he has no paranormal powers and merely uses basic cold reading techniques...
's performance and an oven glove
Oven glove
An oven glove, or oven mitt, is an insulated glove or mitten usually worn in the kitchen to protect the wearer's hand from hot objects such as ovens, stoves, cookware, etc....
with a smiley face into which he claims to channel his unfulfilled emotions.
When not in the living room, Brooker presents segments on various pieces of television, different genres or peculiarities of production. Instead of actors, these sections often feature members of the Screenwipe production crew to illustrate points; for example, the director Al Campbell as a fictional comedian called "Barry Shitpeas" and researcher Mike Bradley in a number of roles.
Episodes
The first full series finished with an extended edition on US television billed as Screenwipe USA. A Christmas special was broadcast on 21 December 2006 and a review of the year 2006 was broadcast on 31 December 2006. A third series 'with a massively increased budget' (according to a spoofParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
voiceover at the end of the final episode from the second series), was revealed to have been commissioned on 9 May 2007. The 3rd series was preceded by a mini-Screenwipe on 12 May (shown on BBC2's The Culture Show
The Culture Show
The Culture Show is a weekly BBC Two Arts magazine programme. It is broadcast in the UK on Thursday nights at 7pm, focusing on the best of the week's arts and culture news, covering books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts...
), which reviewed Grease is the Word
Grease Is the Word
Grease Is the Word was the UK version of NBCs Grease: You're the One that I Want!. It aired during Spring/Summer 2007, and was produced by Syco TV ....
and Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do may refer to:*"Any Dream Will Do" , from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice...
. Shortly after the 3rd series concluded, a Screenwipe clip show was shown on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, with repeats of the series airing on the channel in the weeks following. The third series featured a number of episodes focusing on specific themes, such as television news coverage and reality television series.
The fifth series of Screenwipe began airing on BBC Four on Tuesday 18 November 2008. The first episode dealt with (among other things) Manuelgate and television production costs (and the effect of the credit crunch on said costs). The second was focused on the changes in television advertising throughout its history, and the third was an extended edition composed entirely of Brooker's interviews with prestigious writers such as Russell T Davies and Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan is a British television writer. He was listed as the number 1 television screen writer in the UK by Broadcast magazine and among British Broadcastings Top 20 in The Stage ., He currently resides in Hertfordshire, UK.For many years, he was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One...
. Episode four focused on "mission shows" such as The Great British Body, and featured a parody involving "pee-shyness" (paruresis
Paruresis
Paruresis is a type of phobia in which the sufferer is unable to urinate in the presence of others, such as in a public restroom. It most commonly affects males, though there are female sufferers too...
), while episode five focused on children's programming through the ages. The final episode of the season was a review of 2008. In 2009 the show didn't return for another series, but a review of the year was scheduled as had been the case with previous years.
Humour
The humour of the show is usually based on sarcasm and cutting remarks, in a similar style to Harry Hill's TV BurpHarry Hill's TV Burp
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy programme produced by Avalon Television for ITV and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show presents a satirical look at the week's television, including extracts from TV shows with added sketches, observational voice-overs, and guest appearances...
, or The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
. Screenwipe can be characterised as being intellectually more harsh with Brooker often making surreal moral comparisons between the so-called 'real-world attitude' of certain programmes, and the logical conclusions of that attitude if it were turned towards real life. It often forms the basis for analysis of programmes - such as his review of the ITV musical drama Britannia High
Britannia High
Britannia High was a British musical drama television series co-produced by Granada Television Britannia High was a British musical drama television series co-produced by Granada Television Britannia High was a British musical drama television series co-produced by Granada Television (now part of...
in which he describes the characters as "irritating show-offs" and that the school in which they inhabit "in any sane world would have its windows bricked up by the government before the self-satisfied inmates could get out and affect the rest of the population."
Brooker is known to be critical of reality television shows such as Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
and The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
, and often makes scathing remarks about the sort of people who watch these shows. A recent example in the 2008 Christmas Special involved a remark about X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, which Brooker went on to claim is now "ruined forever as a song destined to be played at thick people's funerals".
Brooker often displays archive footage of various shows, but alters the viewer's perception through near stream-of-consciousness narration and/or ironic juxtaposition with contrasting footage or sound, e.g. highlighting what he believes is the organised crime feel of Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den is a series of reality television programmes featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. The show originated in Japan as "Manē no Tora"...
by running the trumpet solo from The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
over the original dialogue. He has also been known to make jokes at the expense of his own show and himself, in particular making light of his resemblance to Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
, and in the first episode of the third series he claimed he had "a face like a paedophile walrus". Also of note was the deliberate mention of Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
, described by the 'TV Insider' being interviewed (and presumably written by Brooker) as "kind of like a rich man's you". Lewis-Smith co-wrote and presented a similar show in the late nineties called TV Offal
TV Offal
TV Offal was a British television comedy sketch/archive series that ran on Channel 4, from October 1997 to June 1998. It was written and narrated by comedian and writer Victor Lewis-Smith, who shared writing duties with Paul Sparks...
which Brooker sarcastically and knowingly claims to have no knowledge of.
Despite his derogatory and insulting remarks aimed at many television shows, people, and near enough everything and everyone, Brooker does show his happier side and has spoken of his liking for certain US drama series including The Shield; Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
; The Wire
The Wire (TV series)
The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
; Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
; and the most recent version of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
; as well as the current series of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
; and older documentary programmes such as Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-Jewish British mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor...
's The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski...
, Civilisation, and The World at War. Brooker singles out Bronowski for praise regarding his style of presentation describing it as 'a bit like taking a warm bath in university juice'. In a more solemn example, at the end of an episode screened in December 2008, Brooker paid tribute to children's programmes creator Oliver Postgate
Oliver Postgate
Oliver Postgate was an English animator, puppeteer and writer.He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes...
, who had died the day before the programme was aired.
Brooker often makes a point of laying light praise upon unlikely targets, such as Five's morning programmes aimed at pre-school age children, stating, "There isn't a single piece of negativity in the whole thing and that's what you need at this time in the morning."
Animations
The show is also notable for using animations produced by internet animator David FirthDavid Firth
David Firth is an English animator, video artist, amateur filmmaker, and musician. As a cartoonist Firth's work is largely distributed via the Internet...
. To date the show has used eight of Firth's original creations. The 2006 Christmas Special featured a special appearance from Firth's deranged alter-ego, Jerry Jackson, whose cartoon appeared substituting for an animation that Firth had created beforehand. This original animation was rejected by the BBC on the grounds that it was far too offensive to be broadcast on TV. Firth recently announced on his website that the BBC had asked him to produce an animation for each episode of the second series of Screenwipe. Three were shown but the fourth, a Jerry Jackson cartoon, was once again rejected by the BBC. Firth stated in a post on Fat-Pie.com that "Jerry's [cartoon] was about Political Correctness on TV and contained a certain degree of sarcasm, yet sarcasm the TV company didn't see the funny side of, and they refused to use it".
The third series saw Firth produce four more short animations (of which three were aired) entitled 'The World Within A Sock', in which a group known as The Establishment buys the year 2008.
See also
- Newswipe with Charlie BrookerNewswipe with Charlie BrookerNewswipe with Charlie Brooker is a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009...
- Charlie Brooker's GameswipeCharlie Brooker's GameswipeCharlie Brooker's Gameswipe was a special one-off British, video game culture show by Charlie Brooker, aired in September 2009 during the BBC's Technology season...
- You Have Been WatchingYou Have Been WatchingYou Have Been Watching is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre and Riverside Studios in London. It first aired on Tuesday 7 July 2009, for a weekly eight-episode run...
- How TV Ruined Your LifeHow TV Ruined Your LifeHow TV Ruined Your Life is a six-episode BBC Two television series written and presented by Charlie Brooker. Charlie Brooker, whose earlier TV-related programmes include How to Watch Television, Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe and You Have Been Watching, examines how the medium has bent reality to fit...