Very Bad News

[Petruchio - Good God]

Zen can be only play by Roof... he's perfect for Zen....

[robela]

Mar 2, 2011 22:17:55 GMT robela said:

Good news that it has been sold abroad but I want it on t.v. here.

Hope some other t.v. company will pick it up. None of it seems to make sense when it has been so well received by critics and public.

Thank you Rai for the information. We are all keeping our fingers and toes crossed and have also written to Left Bank Pictures and ITV and Channel 4 and also complained bitterly to the BBC. There are a lot of people challenging the BBC's decision here in England. It is so not fair.

Sorry if I have offended you Numbat. I didn't mean to sound selfish.
Of course I want all of us to be able to see Zen on t.v. and hopefully by it being sold all over the world this will happen.

Hopefully we will all get what we want and Rufus will get the recognition he so deserves as I am of the same opinion as Ophelia.
He is made for this part and in Andy Harries' words ' it fits him like a glove'

So sorry!

[numbat]

I didn't mean to sound grumpy robela, i just think that the more countries that Zen is able to be sold to, the better the ammunition Left Bank has to get the second series made by another broadcaster.

But i don't think there's any implication that Zen will be played by someone else is there? It's the actual series that's being sold, not the concept. I read that the ABC here in Australia has bought it (thank goodness - TPOTE still hasn't been shown here yet!!), and i'm quite certain that they wouldn't be remaking it.

Zen does fit Rufus like a glove, but only because he's an actor talented enough to pull off playing a complex character like Aurelio. It suits him physically and he obviously enjoys Aurelio's cool irreverance, but in the end it's his talent that carries him through. As it has with all the characters he has played and owned before and all the wonderful, as yet unknown characters he will play and own in the future.

It's just what he does

[robela]

Yes, agree wholeheartedly with you Numbat. Rufus is a great talent but I think underused.
Now that we know the Zen series is being sold to other countries there is more likely to be more series' made and Rufus will get more recognition for his talent.

This has caused all of us a lot of anxiety and stress. I don't know what it must be like for Rufus and the rest of the team that produced Zen.

Its just that everyone seems to agree that it is an outstanding and refreshingly different t.v. project which has been acclaimed as a success, it is dumbfounding trying to understand where the BBC are coming from with their attitude. They are completely unbelievable.

[anniem]

Mar 2, 2011 23:06:39 GMT GreenEyesToo said:

Thanks Dippy and Rai.

Interesting paragraphs in that Guardian article:

Zen's demise has left some drama executives mystified as it was well-received by most critics.

Ironically, one of the BBC's exhibits at BBC Showcase is a sign which tells the international buyers that: "Zen beat the broadcaster's slot average share and comfortably ranked first in its time slot."

I found those quotes interesting too. Just shows how ridiculous the decision was.

[zenina]

Here is another article about how well it sold internationally.

www.atvtoday.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=854:strong-international-sales-boost-zen-hopes&catid=1:tv-media&Itemid=3

Strong international sales boost Zen hopes
Written by Doug Lambert
Thursday, 03 March 2011 09:37
Strong international sales of axed BBC One drama Zen boosts hope that a new broadcaster will be found for the detective drama. The three-part Italian based drama starring Rufus Sewell aired on BBC One in January with a big advertising campaign. The drama performed well with it averaging 5.7 million viewers across its three episodes despite tough competition on ITV from Dancing on Ice and Wild at Heart. As announced last week though Zen has not been renewed by the BBC for a second season as new controller Danny Cohen stamps his mark on the station.

The news has prompted much criticism from fans and comes just weeks after Cohen axed Lark Rise to Candleford also to the anger of much fans. Despite the axing of Zen the producers, Left Bank, vowed to find another broadcaster. The hope of doing that has been boosted by strong international sales reports Media Guardian. The detective drama has been sold to Australia, Denmark, Japan and Sweden (amongst others) raising hopes another broadcaster will step forward.

Ironically Left Bank is actually partly owned by BBC Worldwide, the corporations commercial arm. The BBC may well change their minds and bring Zen back - after all Not Going Out was originally cancelled by the BBC before a change of heart. If the BBC don't change their minds possible new broadcasters in the UK include ITV, Channel Four or Sky.

[GreenEyesToo]

I just read that before coming here, Zenina - thanks for saving me the trouble of posting it!! BTW, Not Going Out is a sitcom, so isn't necessarily in the same category as a drama series as far as renewal is concerned. However, the fact that there is so much buzz about Zen in the international market can only be good. (It occurs to me that maybe BBC marketing is also appalled at it being axed, and are really pushing it to force a re-think. Whatever works!)

Maybe Mr Cohen is thinking hard about how to give it the green light after all without getting egg all over his face.....

[nell]

Mar 3, 2011 20:31:39 GMT GreenEyesToo said:

Maybe Mr Cohen is thinking hard about how to give it the green light after all without getting egg all over his face.....

I really hope so GE2.

If the international sales are going really well maybe all is not lost if Zen isn't picked up by another broadcaster immediately. As long as the international sales are enough to get a new series made and then another and another. It's probably Bob Hope or no hope for the BBC but one of the other broadcasters must eventually wake up and smell the roses - and then there is always dvd.

[robela]

Thanks for posting that article Zenina.

Agree GE2 and Nell, there is a lot to hope for now! There is so much media press about it. I think you're right Danny Cohen must feel like
he's got egg on his face.

With all the international sales he must surely realise he has made a mistake! I really, really, cannot come to terms with his decision.
The man must be one of those guys who though totally misguided is arrogant enough to think he is always right!
We've all come across men like that before - a pity one's in charge of the BBC. Sorry some bitterness is creeping in.

[vmaciv]

I do not think the countries that bought it intend to remake it. They intend to show it as is. You do not spend money on a concept when you are buying an already proven product. You spend money on the finished product. And I am certain that Andy Harries is not selling Zen without Rufus. Unless he has trouble reading all the posts that indicated many of these women needed their RUFUS fix.

[nell]

I received this reply this morning - pretty standard by ther look of it :

Thanks for contacting us.

We have received complaints from some viewers unhappy that Zen has been decommissioned.

BBC Drama has a lot of very exciting projects in development and going forward we have taken the decision to look at some of these new titles, rather than commission a second series of Zen. We've recently announced five new commissions including One Night - a four part drama from Paul Smith, Call The Midwife - a six part adaptation by Heidi Thomas of Jennifer Worth's best selling memoir, and a three part adaptation of Great Expectations by Sarah Phelps to mark Charles Dickens' bicentenary.

We hope that fans of Zen will take to these new dramas in the same way.

We would like to assure you that we’ve registered your comments on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management. It ensures that your points, and all other comments we receive, are circulated and considered across the BBC.

Thanks again for contacting us.

Regards

BBC Audience Services
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided

Kind Regards

Victoria McCollum
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

[walt]

Nell, this really looks pretty much like the BBC standard answers

at least they have to count one more vote in favour of Zen ;D

[kissmekate]

Oh yes, that's the one we all got, Nell!

Thanks for posting the article, Zenina. More and more reason for hope, it seems.

[robela]

I wrote letters to ITV and Channel 4.

Today I received a reply from ITV as follows:

Thank you for your letter dated 25th Feb regarding ITV's schedules and Zen.

Compiling a transmission schedule to suit all tastes takes a great deal of expertise. As ITV is funded by advertising revenue, it is important to achieve the highest audience possible to encourage advertisers. If ITV showed the type of programmes that do not attract a mass audience the advertisers would not want to spend money with us.

I can confirm that your comments and thoughts about acquiring Zen have been noted here at ITV Viewer Services.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to contact us here at ITV as we always welcome viewers' feedback.

Yours sincerely


Stephen Morris
Head of ITV Viewer Services

I think it was worth putting the word around.

[vmaciv]

I do not know what the average viewership for programs at ITV is but the letter is a little condonscending because it seems as if they do not think ZEN has enough viewership to be on their channels and we should not be telling them how to manage their network. I believe that broadcaster had the ice dance contest or whatever so maybe they might like porgramming like American Idol. I could be reading into it but that it is how I read it.