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BBC Shetland Series - Ann Cleeves novels filmed in Shetland


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^ What could be wrong with made up names as long as they sound reasonably realistic, it is the convention for how these things are usually done after all. You'll seek a long time before you find Glendarroch, Walford or Lochdubh anyplace, despite Bible John being sent to make a phone call at Bigton.

 

Its fiction, as folk seem fond of keeping on reminding us, so lets just keep to fiction. Using real placenames for the wrong places is just a weird mish mash that ruins whatever passes for a storyline at the time, for folk that know the real places.

 

Taking the subject of misused placenames in general, I'd put money on it that if for the purposes of the series they'd decided Lerwick would be known as Scalloway, the comments on this thread would be singing to a very different tune. ;-)

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^ What could be wrong with made up names as long as they sound reasonably realistic, it is the convention for how these things are usually done after all. You'll seek a long time before you find Glendarroch, Walford or Lochdubh anyplace, despite Bible John being sent to make a phone call at Bigton.

 

 

I think they owe more to geographical accuracy because they use the Island name, that's just my view.

 

If there was a fictional TV drama called London that used made up place names, would it be seen as acceptable?

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^ What could be wrong with made up names as long as they sound reasonably realistic, it is the convention for how these things are usually done after all. You'll seek a long time before you find Glendarroch, Walford or Lochdubh anyplace, despite Bible John being sent to make a phone call at Bigton.

 

 

I think they owe more to geographical accuracy because they use the Island name, that's just my view.

 

If there was a fictional TV drama called London that used made up place names, would it be seen as acceptable?

 

 

Excactly. Hence my earlier point regarding 'The Edge of the World'. They didn't call that film or the island 'Foula', and it made the film 'work'. With this they've chosen to call the series 'Shetland' which starts the footing off on "factual", so either use whatever other "real" names that are used, accurately, or don't use "real" ones at all.

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The series is based on a series of books called Shetland - should they have changed the location to somewhere fictitious?

 

When they come to film a book, they want to keep it as close to the book as possible, but they do need to find places suitable to film. It might not always be possible to keep it completely accurate.

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I think you'll stuggle to find any fictional programme that is 100% geographically accurate when you look at the continuity.

 

Take, for example, 'Last of the Summer Wine' - which is situated in Holmfirth, Yorkshire. The locations used are spread across three villages: Holmfirth, Meltham and Marsden.

So when a character walks round the corner from Sids Cafe to Auntie Wainwrights shop, they have actually been magically teleported from Holmfirth to Marsden - 12 miles away.

 

Does anybody care? Not really.

 

Good fun people and place spotting, though. :)

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Taking the subject of misused placenames in general, I'd put money on it that if for the purposes of the series they'd decided Lerwick would be known as Scalloway, the comments on this thread would be singing to a very different tune. ;-)

 

Nope, I still wouldn't care a jot. 

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Taking the subject of misused placenames in general, I'd put money on it that if for the purposes of the series they'd decided Lerwick would be known as Scalloway, the comments on this thread would be singing to a very different tune. ;-)

 

Nope, I still wouldn't care a jot. 

 

 

I believe you, but my money still says a significnt number of residents of both named locations would care a lot.

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I was confused by the get-away boat part in that they contacted the Norway coastguard (amongst others) to look out for it. But, if on a clear day, you can see Norway... why didn't they just hae a look eastward themselves? Pff!

As I'm sure the film crew will attest, there aren't many clear days! 

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They could've gone to the Knab with their spy glasses then surely? Or, more likely, shot the scene looking to Norway in Walls (after a 5 minute ride getting there fae Lerwick). These fiction writers really should get their facts straight!

 

I almost choked at the, "Go back to Shetland" line. That one made the show.

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