CHANNEL 5
George Lamb hosts In Solitary as well as taking part in the experiment
They didn’t say why this one was being allowed but possibly, different rules govern the levels of torture you’re allowed to inflict on people in TV studios (this would explain why Patrick Kielty got a chat show, for example).
Possibly, such experiments are not so much banned as considered pointless, since everyone knows what happens to people when you lock them up in solitary confinement.
If, by any chance, you didn’t or you just enjoy watching people disintegrate in front of you, then this programme would have been right up your alley.
That’s not to say that it was entirely lacking in purpose or point, however. It was interesting that at least two of the people who volunteered to sit out five days in a sealed Portakabin were social media junkies.
Scaffolder Lloyd had a vast internet following, not least for his video pranks and gags.
When she introduced herself, Lucy listed three jobs that wouldn’t have even have existed fifteen years ago.
The ‘digital strategist, lifestyle blogger and social media consultant’ had, on her own admission, spent the last eight years sharing every detail of her life with others via the internet, from meeting the love of her life to very abruptly parting with him.
This pair, at least, weren’t just going to be alone, they were going to be alone in ways they’d never been, or couldn’t imagine.
Lloyd, so used to being the centre of attention and performing for the cameras, ‘befriended’ one of the CCTV modules keeping a constant watch on all the subjects.
When the camera stopped following him around the room, he became increasingly upset and aggressive.
His ride was a bumpy one but he came out of it wondering why he was so bothered about all these people he didn’t know and resolved to enjoy real relationships with the people he did.
CHANNEL 5
Some people break down almost immediately after the doors are locked
For Lucy, it was as if a stream of chatter had suddenly been switched off. She spent hours and hours drawing quietly.
She came out of her sealed pod, not looking crumpled or bowed but renewed. For others, the experience of solitude was like being expertly beaten up by the secret police.
The cheery, lively Charmayne pressed her emergency button and came out, sobbing, before day one was out.
It seemed to have forced her to look into herself, where she had found things she didn’t want to see.
She was in a state of Zen-like calm, though, compared to Sarah, who curled up like a hedgehog in her duvet and spent the nights waiting to bash intruders with a plate.
We are clearly not meant to be alone, at least, not alone in Portakabins with cameras watching our every move.
BBC
Strike is able to make its viewers trick themselves
Strike (BBC1) plays on our paranoia, too, in unexpected ways.
At the end of Sunday’s episode, the trail segment showed the P.I.’s capable Girl Friday, Robin (Holliday Grainger) heading up in a glass lift for some City job interview.
‘Trap!’ we all thought, smugly. We kept on thinking it last night, too, and it was a trap, of sorts.
The smart City firm offered Robin a well-paid position in HR but Robin, of course, would prefer to work for an alcoholic sleuth who can’t pay her.
Good storytelling isn’t just about surprising the audience.
It’s not even about misleading them. It’s about making them mislead themselves.
Daily Express :: TV and Radio Feed
