F L I G H T S O F FA N TA S Y
(Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, 1940)
WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE FANTASY FOR TV?
Deputy TV Editor Lily Casson questions the lack of successful fantasy adaptions for the small screen and why Game of FEATURES | 14
Thrones can’t be the only one.
T
he scene: Westeros. The set-up: winter is here. Daenerys is (finally) there, and Game of Thrones is over for another year. It has turned dense, pseudo-medieval fantasy fiction into one of the most watched TV shows of the last decade. But what is the fantasy fan to do in the long wait between seasons, or the even longer wait between books, of pop culture’s current colossus, when quality fantasy TV is so hard to come by? Elsewhere in storytelling media, adventures that take place in fictional worlds — occasionally with magical or semi-historical elements — are a boomtown of sprawling sagas which regularly top bestseller lists or develop loyal fanbases. Some become beloved classics, exuding a kind of timelessness or otherworldliness rarely seen in other areas of fiction. Fantasy films, too, are a box office draw; there’s something about a two-hour stretch of escapism that continues to pull in audiences. Then there’s Lord of the Rings, which has been both. Tolkien’s works have been a formative influence on high fantasy, from its languages and creatures to its widely seen film adaptations, which remain cultural touchstones (I personally find second-breakfast one of the most important meals of the day). Yet fantasy is a notoriously difficult genre to get right on the small
