TV: Capital case study

 Reviews and features

Read the following review and feature on Capital:

Guardian review by Sam Wollaston
London Evening Standard: five things you need to know about Capital

1) What positive points does the review pick out about Capital? What criticisms are made - either of the TV drama or the original novel?

• the cast is good
• based on a novel
• based around real life events people will relate to
• set in present day

2) What references can you find in the reviews and feature to the idea Capital is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama? How does it capture modern-day London?

The Drama follows multiple people who live on the same street and shows the similarities and differences in their lives and how they have been affected by the 2008 financial crisis.

Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for Capital:



1) How does the drama use camerawork to capture London life?

The fast paced cuts represent the urgency and rush in day to day London life. It cuts continuously between people to show how overpopulated and busy everyone is in London. The close up and medium shots focusing on the people rather than the location shows how it is not glamourising life in London but focusing on the people who live their and their struggles. The medium shots also only show small parts of the setting and it is a normal gentrified road in London which also shows how they are reflecting the average life for people who live in London and not just the wealthy people who live in central London.

2) How does the trailer introduce the different narrative strands suggesting tension or enigma in the 40-second running time?

The trailer shows all of the characters and small pieces about their stories, they are speaking about their issues and opportunities. It makes the audience want to know more about them. It also shows the letters being put through doors and pictures being taken of the road which acts as an enigma code because it makes the audience want to know what they have,

Capital in Media Magazine

Issue 83 of Media Magazine has a feature exploring Capital as a media product. Read ‘We Want What You Have’ in MM83  (p10). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about the 'state of the nation' genre and how Capital is an example of this?

Capital (BBC 2015), is based on a ‘state- of-the-nation’ novel of the same name by John Lanchester. Such novels try to represent an entire country at a particular moment in time. As such, they involve multiple storylines and a large cast.

2) What does the article suggest regarding the setting of Capital?

Setting the drama entirely in the capital city might enrage those who see the UK as being too London-centric, but it makes sense in the context of a multi-stranded production. Centring the action on a single street then helps bring some focus to the narrative.

3) What are the major themes in Capital and what does the article suggest regarding the impact of money on communities?

The street contains characters from all walks of life with different levels of economic security and income. Given the houses are unaffordable to large numbers of Londoners, some of the themes are tackled through people with links to the street.

4) What different representations in Capital are discussed in the article?

The production leaves us in little doubt that the banks are the bad guys. Banker Roger is a weak, feckless character. Almost all of the other characters are set against Roger and Arabella as ‘good’ people. The representations of good versus bad, rich versus poor and industrious versus feckless make for straightforward drama. (Binary opposition)

5) What does the final section of the article suggest regarding genre and overall message of the drama?  

The words ‘WE WANT WHAT YOU HAVE’ have been written in red along the entire length of the road. If the state-of-the-nation is in some ways unseen, perhaps the job of the artist is to make it clear. Perhaps that is just what Capital is trying to do.

Capital positions the actions of the banks as criminal.

Capital Media Factsheet

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or on Google Drive here (you'll need your Greenford Google login) to find Media Factsheet #194 on Capital (BBC TV Drama). 

Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What does the factsheet say about the characters on the first page?

The multi-stranded narrative is explored through the different residents. The characters also demonstrate the state-of-the-nation aspect of this drama. The interactions between the characters reflect the tensions between different cultures and costume is used to quickly communicate the different character roles.

2) Focusing on the industrial contexts, how does Capital help the BBC meet its obligations as a public service broadcaster?

1) To provide impartial news and information to help people

understand and engage with the world around them.

2) To support learning for people of all ages. 

3) To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive

output and services.

4) To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of

all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in

doing so, support the creative economy across the United

Kingdom.

5) To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the

world. 

3) What do we learn about the ownership structure for production company Kudos? 

It is a British production company that makes TV dramas for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It is a horizontally integrated company.

4) How can David Hesmondhalgh's ideas in The Cultural Industries be linked to Capital and Kudos? 

Commodification 

5) How does the factsheet suggest Capital meets the genre conventions of crime and social realism?

It uses genre key conventions like tension and mystery for crime. Social realism is seen through the diverse cast who are all facing different problems and accurately reflects the life in London for a variety of people at that time.

6) How does the factsheet analyse the DVD packaging and what this communicates to the audience?

The DVD cover uses the same promotional images that feature in media pack, website and press coverage. This creates the recognisable brand for the audience. The silhouette skyline of London contains clear geographical markers that denote the setting, and also establish the themes of British culture and financial issues

7) Look at page 5 of the factsheet. Choose one of the audience theories in the table and apply it to Capital.

• personal identity - The diverse cast portray the struggles of people from different classes, ages and race with different struggles and they are all affected by the same thing which people may relate to.
• personal relationships - Since the show follows the characters struggles and the audience sees how vulnerable they are they will feel for them.
• surveillance - People can watch Capital and see a reflection of what it was like to live in London during the financial crisis.
• Diversion - people can watch Capital and forget about the struggles and pressures of their own lives

8) What does the factsheet suggest regarding binary oppositions in Capital?  

The binary opposition between the different characters easily shows and puts emphasis on the inequality and the differences between their lives.

Representations: close-textual analysis

Capital offers a range of fascinating representations - from London and asylum seekers to capitalism and inequality. You need to be able to confidently discuss these issues in the context of 2015 London - with reference to key scenes from episode 1. Representations include: London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, capitalism, aging and more.

These notes from a lesson analysing these clips will help with this element of the case study. You'll need your Greenford Google login to access the document.

1) Write an analysis of the representations in each of the key scenes from episode 1 we studied in the lesson:

Scene 1

• Setting shows the gentrification of London
• Unaffordable house prices
• Different races
• Shows Petunias life to gain empathy and show how long she has lived there for and her happy memories compared with how lonely she is now

Scene 2

• Very busy/dirty and overcrowded reflects life in London
• Birds eye view of London shows how grand the city is
• Fast cuts reflects how fast paced life is in London
• series of shots between people who all look unhappy
• the male is the breadwinner and the wife stays at home and looks after the house and children
• competition between Roger and the other employees reflects the competitive nature of the financial industry

Scene 3

• "which of those isn't absolutely essential" - shows how money orientated people are and how their whole live revolves around how much money they make and earn
• materialistic way of living
• Arabella does not love Roger unless he is making money - she does not care for him just money
• caricature of the middle class

Scene 4

• shows how people flee to London
• Living in a very loud crowded flat
• Shows how people can exploit vulnerable people
• Her religion helps her cope
• black female lawyer - subverts stereotypes
• she is cared for by the lawyer but not by the many who is paying her which could be because of the gender difference and how women are seen as more understanding and caring stereotypically
• just trying to survive

Scene 5 

• Drone shots of London showing the allure of the financial district
• Rogers commute is sped up which shows how he is losing touch with reality
• Very out of touch - does not know the actual value of money
• Thinks luxuries are essential to life 

Scene 6 

• Shows the differences in culture
• They live on the same street but do not recognise each other showing how different they are and how different their lives are
• one son has become more westernised whereas his brother is more connected to his Muslim heritage which causes conflict between the family
• the contrast between how close their family is compared to Rogers who have fallen apart
• male running the family business

2) How does Capital use stereotypes? Do the characters and issues represented in Capital reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we typically see in the media?

Capital uses stereotypes to help quickly show the audience who they should support and who they should hate. The Characters both reinforce and subvert the stereotypes at times in the episodes for example the immigrants are hard working whereas the rich banker is not doing well a his job.

Industries and production context

Capital was produced by independent production company Kudos for the BBC. Look at the Kudos website and also read the Kudos Wikipedia page.

1) Who is the parent company for Kudos? What changes of ownership have there been for Kudos? This is an example of conglomerate ownership.

They are a British film production company. They have produced series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Amazon and Netflix. It was formed in 1992 and has been part of the shine group since 2007. The shine group was then acquired by News Corporation and was part of a 50/50 deal with Endemol Shine group. In 2020 Banijay bought the studio.

2) Watch the showreel on the Kudos website. What other TV dramas have Kudos produced and for which channels? What awards have they won?

• BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Amazon, Sky and Netflix
• Then you run, SAS rogue heroes, Tin star, Code 404, Two weeks to live, Grantchester, Deep water, Responsible child
• 2021 Venice Tv - best comedy winner, best mini series Emmy winner, best performance by an actor Emmy winner

3) How does Capital help the BBC to fulfil its remit as a public service broadcaster? You may want to look back at our work on public service broadcasting last term. 

Inform - Capital helps to inform people about life in London during the financial crisis, it informs the audience about what happened, the struggles it caused people as well as what life in London was like generally.

Educate - Capital educates people on what happened during the financial crisis and also educates them about the inequalities between the people who lived in London. Even though they all lived in the same place their lives were completely different and it educated the audiences on some of the issues that people face that is usually not talked about.

Entertain - It helps the audience escape from the real world and provides entertainment for them as they follow the characters lives and build emotional connections with them.

Grade A/A* extension - further reading on marketing and promotion

We strongly recommend you read the full BBC Press Pack for Capital.

1) How does the programme information on page 3 make Capital sound interesting to audiences?

It name drops actors and directors using star power and leans into the anonymity of the person who is sending the post cards building tension through just reading it

2) Who commissioned Capital for BBC?

Peter Bowker

3) Read the interview with Toby Jones. What does he say about the character of Roger?

He says that he isn’t an evil banker but he has become use to a certain lifestyle filled with luxury and now has a self imposed pressure to continue living that way and he is not in charge of his life or his work.

4) Read the interview with Adeel Akhtar (page 10). What does he suggest Capital says about the fictional Pepys Road and the sense of community (or lack of it) in London?

He says that Pepys road is a manifestation of a lot of things happening slowly economically, socially and culturally.

5) Read the interview with Shabana Azmi (page 12). What does she say about Asian representations in Britain? 

She says that there is awareness that the world is shrinking and becoming a ‘global village’ and that we are absorbing culture and trying to understand them.

6) Read the interview with Derek Wax, the Executive Producer for Kudos (page 16). Why did he produce Capital and what does it say about the way we live now?

He loved the sense of the big expensive panorama of life as well as the small details of human behaviour. He likes the idea of seeing all of London represented on one street and it allowed him to illustrate some political points as well.