A new BBC sci-fi drama series. Hmmm. I have not seen some similar series that might have been half-decent and worth watching for a bit of innocent entertainment. Typically, I miss the first few episodes and then fail to jump onto the running train later in the series. The one that I did watch and enjoy was discontinued after a short while. Maybe I was the only one enjoying Defying Gravity.

So, when The Deep was announced, I thought I should watch the first episode. After all, it is a British production, and thus stands a chance of being less silly and stereotypical and boring, with more plausible characters and all that, compared to pure American productions.

Ah well. The Beep missed a good chance here, but missed by a couple of miles. Frustrating:

A mostly inexperienced grew of mainly psychologically unstable young people with unknown qualifications (presumably, scientists), embark on a deep diving mission (The phenomenal depth of 2000ft is noted at 25:40 into the first episode. So much for sci-fi deep diving). The whole mission starts just 6 months after the catastrophic failure of the previous mission – that alone being implausible enough.

A long string of implausible events and details follow, acted out by equally unconvincing characters. At the end of the first series, the crew faces “that big thing” which now hovers above them. It could be alien. It could be a giant Russian foreign nuclear space deep sea station. It could be the new submarine Taliban division. It could be anything, but it is already certain not to be convincing or original.

Good lord BBC. Give me a few days, a room to think, and two creative free-thinking co-thinkers. We’d think up a better story-line for you.

It’s Only a Theory is the perfect example. It’s the perfect example for what makes BBC4 television what it is: a TV station regularly criticised for the fact that it fails attracting the huge big audience (criticised by those who oversee the BBC‘s spending of license money), and regularly praised for failing to attract the big audience (like, by myself).

How’s that?

It’s got to do with engaging the mind. Take a look at It’ Only a Theory, for example. A comedy program in which candidates propose and defend a theory, challenged by Andy Hamilton, Reginald D. Hunter, and a guest judge. The theories are serious, but of course chosen for their headline and entertainment value. Their party-talk value, if you like. Previous theories included “Texting improves children’s literacy,” “The first person to reach the age of 1000 years is already born,” and “Romantic comedies make people miserable.”

Similar to QI, It’s Only a Theory doesn’t strike a balance between comedy and something more serious. It’s not serious. It’s comedy, its pure entertainment, but it goes without the roaring-out-load, thigh-slapping style of humour.

Not the kind of show that will save BBC4, and not a show ever to make it out of BBC4. Nice entertainment though.