Steve McQueen has opened up about his follow-up to Widows, revealing that he’s moving from the big-screen to the small-screen with a 6 part drama for the BBC.
There’s just one problem, the “12 Years A Slave,” “Hunger” and “Shame” director hates TV.
Before making this admission to me over the phone McQueen revealed exactly what his drama will revolve around and the rather beautiful reason why he was eager to work with the BBC.
“I am working on a BBC drama, this is correct. It is 6 stories about the West Indian experience, starting from 1968 to the early 80s. The reason I did it for the BBC is because I wanted my mum to see it.”
“Literally. Rather than it being on cable or something. Same thing with ‘Widows’ when that was on TV. It was is in our home and free and accessible. It was about bringing it to a wider audience.”
“Which is very, very important. It is the only way that change will happen, if we do things in the context that people can afford and have the access to.”
“It is very important to have that direct communication with the public. As artists we have great responsibility to entertain and say something of importance.”
However when I asked McQueen whether he plans to leave the world of movies for its younger brother he instead revealed just how much he despises the current TV landscape.
“Not really no. No, no, no. Absolutely not. 100% The thing about this series is that each, individual episode has its own unique story arc. It has a beginning, middle and end.”
“The thing about TV series right now is that they’re too long. It is like they’re trying to squeeze too much toothpaste out of the tube even when they know it is done. They just go on and on and on and on.”
“So much TV right now is fodder. It is just content so that they have it on their screen. The quality is going down. As the amount of TV is made the quality goes down.”
“That is in any industry. The more that gets made the quality goes down. This isn’t the early 2000s or 90s we’re talking about now. It is a very different time.”
We’re still not exactly sure when Steve McQueen's BBC drama will be released.
While we wait to find out, make sure to check out his scintillating action heist thriller “Widows,” which itself is based on an 1980s ITV television series and is now in cinemas.
