The Stage

The Bill pioneers first interactive soap storylines

Published Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 15:00 by Joanna Taylor

Exclusive

TalkbackThames, the second largest independent producer in the country, is leading a technological revolution in television viewing by developing the first soap storylines which audiences can influence via mobile phones and the internet, the company’s head of drama Paul Marquess has revealed.

Speaking to The Stage, Marquess said that he has devised a series of episodes of long-running ITV1 series The Bill whereby audiences can register and get clues sent to their phone or computer to help solve a crime.

He added: “In the future I think our relationship with TV drama will be more about playing a game. My feeling is that if you can do it now then do it. We are working on an idea where the audience will be able to play along with a long-running story where someone has been abducted.

“One of the characters will have a set amount of time to find them before something terrible happens. People will be able to register and will get given leads to find the abductee before the character does.”

The episodes have been planned for autumn this year but Marquess said they may be put back to spring 2005 because producers are still working on the exact format.

TalkbackThames, which makes 800 hours of programmes a year, broadcast a live one-hour episode of The Bill to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary in October last year and later this month viewers will be able to decide the outcome of a love triangle in Channel 5’s Family Affairs, via texting and phoning.

Marquess denied that this was a money-spinning gimmick, saying C5 will be lucky to break even after ploughing extra cash into the programme in order to fund the filming of two different storyline results.

Radio 3 and 4 have broadcast interactive dramas since 2001, with audiences texting to hear a choice of plots and digital viewers have access to the ‘red button’ which provides additional programme information.