The City and the City (TV series)

The City and the City is a British television serial, first screened in April 2018. It is a science-fiction/crime drama, based on the novel of the same name by China Miéville. The story follows the investigation of a young woman's murder in the unusual twin cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma. The miniseries was produced by Mammoth Screen for BBC Two, scripted by Tony Grisoni and directed by Tom Shankland.

The City and the City
Based onThe City & the City
by China Miéville
Written byTony Grisoni
Directed byTom Shankland
Composer(s)Dominik Scherrer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producer(s)Tony Grisoni
Preethi Mavahalli
Lucy Richer
Tom Shankland
Robyn Slovo
Joanna Thapa
Damien Timmer
Producer(s)Betsan Morris Evans
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time56 minutes
Production company(s)Mammoth Screen
DistributorITV Studios
Release
Original networkBBC2
Picture format2:1 1080p
Audio formatStereo
Original release6 April (2018-04-06) –
27 April 2018 (2018-04-27)

Setting

The setting (the sci-fi aspect of the production) is the twin cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma, fictional city-states somewhere in eastern Europe. The two cities have differing societies, cultures, technologies and language, yet co-exist in the same geographical space. The separation is achieved by the residents of each city "unseeing" the other, while being aware of it, and the separation is enforced by a shadowy organization called Breach. While crossing the border is possible (after a lengthy re-orientation process), those who "breach" the separation illegally are taken by Breach and disappear forever.

Plot summary

The storyline (the crime/police procedural aspect) involves the investigation of the murder of Mahalia Geary, a student residing in Ul Qoma whose body is found in Besźel. The investigation is led by Inspector Tyador Borlú, a Besźel detective haunted by the disappearance of his wife, Katrynia. Like Mahalia, Kat was a student of the theory of a mythical third city, Orciny, hidden between the twin cities. Borlu's investigation, first in Besźel, then across the border in Ul Qoma, leads him to confront political extremists, sinister business interests, the possible existence of Orciny and the fate of his wife, and eventually Breach itself.

Production

The City And The City was scripted by Tony Grisoni and directed by Tom Shankland. China Miéville served as consultant. Bringing Miéville's setting to the screen presented the challenge of showing two distinct worlds co-existing, and to let the viewer share its inhabitants' point of view. This was achieved by differentiating the cities through architecture, clothing, décor, colour and lighting. Besźel resembles the old Eastern Europe of the early 1990s, the streets are filled with communist-era cars and most of the more modern technology such as computers consists of secondhand imports, coloured with soft yellows, greens and browns, while Ul Qoma is described on the DVD "making of" documentary as resembling the new Eastern Europe of the oligarchs, and bright red with blue or blue-white dominate. The scenes that reference Orciny use purple.

To let the viewer see this world with the characters' eyes, any view of the other city was blurred out, and pushed to the edge of the screen,[1] in line with the oft-repeated slogan/mantra, "when in Besźel see only Besźel; when in Ul Qoma see only Ul Qoma".

Both cities have a distinctive writing scheme, and scenes in Ul Qoma also feature some dialogue in its language, Illitan, which is sub-titled. Besź is shown as written in English, though with Czech diacritics and some Cyrillic letters, while Illitan was devised for the programme by linguist Dr. Alison Long. For this she produced a vocabulary of some 1800 words, with grammar, spelling and pronunciation rules, and used an alphabet based on Georgian Mkhedruli script.[2]

The series was shot on location in and around Liverpool and Manchester.

Cast

Episodes

The series was first shown as four one-hour episodes on BBC2 in April 2018.

No. Title Viewing numbers Airdate
1"Besźel"1.566 April 2018 (2018-04-06)
Borlú investigates the murder of a woman from Ul Qoma, found in neighbouring city Besźel.[3]
2"Ul Qoma"(TBA)13 April 2018 (2018-04-13)
Borlú crosses a border like no other to work with the Ul Qoman Militsya.[3]
3"Orciny"(TBA)20 April 2018 (2018-04-20)
Borlú faces the demons of Katrynia's past as anyone linked to the third city is at risk.[3]
4"Breach"(TBA)27 April 2018 (2018-04-27)
Under the vigilant eyes of Breach, Borlú chases the truth of what lies between the cities.[3]

Critical response

Critical response following the first episode was generally favourable, particularly over the realization of the two cities; Jeff Robson of the i stated it "looks fantastic" and was "equal parts Blade Runner, 1984, and John le Carré at his most downbeat".[4] Guy Pewsey of the Evening Standard said it was "a clever take on the genre".[5] Adrian Lobb of The Big Issue, in an interview with David Morrissey, describes The City And The City as "a fantastic adaptation of an off-kilter literary marvel" [6] However Ellen Jones of the Guardian was less complimentary, calling it a "flat-footed adaptation".[1]

References
  1. Sci-fi meets crime in parallel worlds fiction Ellen Jones, 7 April 2018, The Guardian
  2. Interview with Dr Alison Long at bradfordzone.co.uk; retrieved 22 April 2018
  3. Programme episode guide at BBC
  4. The City and the City, BBC2, review Jeff Robson 6 April 2018, i
  5. The City and the City, review Guy Pewsey, 6 April 2018, Evening Standard
  6. Interview with David Morrissey, Adrian Lobb, 10 April 2018, The Big Issue
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