Secret History: Charley's War - how not to make a TV series and how not to be included in an exhibition
I had automatically assumed that Charley would be featured in a significant way at this so-courageous, no-holds-barred exhibition of the truth about comics.
Welcome to my Secret History of Comics: my new book serialised on Substack. The first section was on Marshal Law: now it’s all about Charley’s War.
If you’re joining me for the first time, you can read the intro to the Secret History here, it’s available for everyone, and so is the intro to Charley’s War.
Every subsequent post has a free preview, but if you want access to my entire rant post, you’ll need to subscribe. Full access to ALL of my Secret History of Comics as I release them every week (plus other perks, check them out), will set you back just £5 per month or £50 per year, and it helps me to continue giving you my best writing. I even have a free seven-day trial on Iconoblast, so you can try it first.
How Charley’s War was silenced
There had been considerable media interest in Charley for the centenary: a Radio 4 drama series pitch, a radio documentary, a BBC TV education programme, a film documentary, and a movie director and various production companies wanting to option it.
Here was the exciting news about the successful option from John Packard, Brand Manager at Egmont. He wrote to me in July 2013:
In terms of TV I’ve really good news to share – we’ve optioned to Company Pictures. They are the largest independent TV producer in the UK and have worked on Skins, Shameless and are currently adapting Wolf Hall. Mark Catley would be brought on board as screenwriter and he did Call the Midwife – which won awards both sides of the Atlantic. Their pitch was to keep it as faithful to the original as possible, and come the time we get a broadcaster on board we’d be keen to get you in as an advisor. I know Mark is a big fan of your work. In terms of creative, to get across the fact it’s based on a graphic novel, they are looking to use the same technology as used on things like Sin City and 300 – could be really stunning.
It sounded very promising, but as time passed it became clear it wasn’t moving forward. I can only speculate as to the reason but it seems most likely that it didn’t get the green light from a TV channel – BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or Sky. Without that commitment, there was no way Company Pictures could proceed.
How does censorship work? It doesn’t have to be as obvious as an official or unofficial directive. It’s more insidious than that. And simpler. Those who promote the State narrative – deliberately or unconsciously – will tend to have successful careers and rise to positions of power. Those who call out lies or hypocrisy, or who try to focus on uncomfortable subjects that jeopardise the State, will find their careers stalling, their story ideas passed over.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Iconoblast to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.