Capital: Case study

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

It’s more complicated – and more interesting – than just wonderful and terrible It’s all so instantly recognisable t’s not just a brilliant allegorical portrait of London Is it that kind of Capital, too: not just principal city and wealth, but also punishable by death? 

Cast is brilliant Released in 2012, John Lanchester’s novel of the same name offered a hilarious and incisive look at the boom-and-bust economics of 2007 and 2008 as the backdrop for its characters. It received significant praise from critics, and its themes remain disappointingly relevant almost a decade later We may technically be moving out of the recession now, but the bonkers housing market and increasing rate of gentrification across London means that Capital’s ideas still stand Here’s a series that truly gets it. The characters are relatable and well-drawn, and the mystery about who’s sending the notes will have you gripped.

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?

How it is still relevant today, housing prices have only kept increasing even after moving out of the recession while many can also find the series relatable as they live in London and associate many of the themes within the drama as very similar to their own while making references to many of the changes to London not just then but also now, like immigration, foreign investment and the government.

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

By showing many different medium close ups of many of the characters it establishes not only the large ensemble cast but also the fact that there are many different types of people living in London ranging from many backgrounds while the constant straight cuts and fast pacing just creates the feeling of bustling and rushed life that keeps going n without stopping for anyone. Also the setting is established through the close up of the sign for the road that all of the characters live on only further exemplifying how many different types of people live in London let alone this small street.

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

There are a lot of different characters and builds off of many repeating themes of the person taking the pictures of the homes to letters being dropped through the letter box that link all of these characters together but are separated by how and who they are living with.

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

The characters also demonstrate the state-of-the-nation aspect of this drama. Episode 1 focuses on Petunia, Roger and Arabella Yount We are also introduced to the Kamal family, who run the corner shop, and Quentina Mkfesi, a religious asylum seeker with a PhD working illegally as a traffic warden. The interactions between the characters reflect the tensions between different cultures and costume is used to quickly communicate the different character roles.

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

might enrage those who see the UK as being too London-centric, but it makes sense in the context of a multi-stranded production. It is vast, complex and endlessly fascinating. Aerial shots of large chunks of the city zoom in to smaller

segments, before zooming in on Pepys Road in particular, and then a single house or character.

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

economic security and income. exploration of housing and house prices Immigration is explored through the character of Zimbabwean-born traffic warden, Quintana. money is breaking up the community and, by extension, breaking up social bonds up and down the country. The opening sequence foregrounds this sense of disharmony.

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

Banker Roger is a weak, feckless character, in thrall to wealth and capable of uttering phrases like ‘What use is £30,000 to

anyone?’ His wife Arabella, obsessed with interior design and foreign holidays, is only with him for his money.We have community-minded (if borderline racist in an old-person way) Petunia, similarly community- minded Ahmed, the hard-working Eastern European builders and the spirited Quintana of good versus bad, rich versus poor and industrious versus feckless make for straightforward drama.Daily Mail was outraged by what it saw as yet another attack on the banks and an uncritical portrayal of immigrants as unfailingly good and hard-working.

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

The drama first focuses on the actual events of the financial crisis, portraying the banks as criminals and demonstrating how challenging it is to learn about their actions because they are purposefuly from the public. Capital eventually reveals all of this. Bringing these acts to light is one approach, but in the first episode, there is also an invisible character who is depicted as the deliberate criminal when, in fact, they are an urban artist, Bansky. It appears that the producer has assigned this artist the task of revealing the real identity of the criminal in London.

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

The multi-stranded narrative is explored through the different residents. 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. The BBC will provide accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and the world.

2) To support learning for people of all ages. Educational content will help support learning for children and teenagers across the UK, whilst audiences will be encouraged to explore inspiring and challenging new subjects and activities through a range of partnerships.

3) To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services. Innovative content covering many different genres will be provided across a range of services and platforms, setting the standard both in the UK and globally.

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. The lives of the people in the United Kingdom today will be accurately and authentically portrayed in the BBC’s output and services to raise awareness of different cultures, contribute to social cohesion and invest in the development of each nation’s creative economy.

5) To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world. High quality, accurate, impartial news coverage will be delivered to international audiences, aiding understanding of the UK as a whole.

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

Capital was written by Peter Bowker, and directed by Euros Lyn. It was produced by Kudos Film and Television, a British production company that makes TV dramas for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Kudos specialises in TV series which can be sold or remade for the US market, making it typical of contemporary media institutions which operate globally rather than nationally. A horizontally integrated company. The parent company, Endemol Shine UK, own a range of TV production companies across different formats and genres.

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

Horizontally integrated so is a part of many industries that they aren't specialised in and so are at risk of losing money and links o Hesmondhalghs idea of a risky venture and is involved in FOX and News Corps .

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

Capital fits well within these two genres, and uses generic conventions from both areas. It reflects genre development, and contains aspects of crime genre and social realism. 

Conventions of crime genre: Use of narrative enigmas. Restricted narrative.

Resolution of a mystery. Question of morality. Debates around innocence and guilt. Verisimilitude – representations of ‘ordinary’ people in everyday life are recognisable to audience. Power struggles (within different divisions of police or

within community). Teamwork and pleasures in successful resolutions. Corruption and betrayal often key theme within a narrative. Villainy is evident through the characteristics of various characters. 

Conventions of social realism: Strive to represent regions of UK with authenticity. Narratives explore social issues (such as economic inequalities/immigration/Islamophobia). Triumph over adversity. Shooting on location to offer authenticity. Wide shots used to establish the location and setting as this is often key to understanding the narrative and

themes. Humour and seriousness intertwined in a narrative.

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. geographical markers that denote the setting, and also establish the themes of British culture and financial issues The layout of the characters on the cover carries a connotation to the crime drama, with medium close-up shots of DI Mills, The Kamal family and Bogdan. The colour, however, seeks to draw the audience away from a stereotypical crime drama and as yellow is not associated with crime, but instead moves towards the contemporary state of the nation representation.

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

Blumler and Katz: uses and gratifications

The trailer definitely portrays the Tv drama to be linked to a historical event, being the financial banking crisis of 2008 and reflects some semblance of surveillance in the way that it informs an audience who may have not experienced the financial crash in London, what had been going on and how it had been affected while on the other hand can act as also a diversion as it is clearly shown through the way that the trailer is edited that this will be a dramatized version of events with characters that establishes a narrative for the audience to follow and some may even relate to the wide range of characters from many backgrounds through Personal identification or may feel sympathy and show personal Relationship to these characters. Furthermore Diversion is only further emphasised through the fact the show itself starts of like a crime drama rather than a historical dramatized documentary.

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

The multi-stranded narrative uses binary oppositions throughout to highlight the difference or inequality in Pepys Road, and then raise questions about inequality in London more widely. Financial inequalities through Roger and Arabella. Their initial highly stereotyped dialogue (“How do you feel about cedar wood cladding?”) serves to position the audience to understand the change in society and the Pepys Road community from ‘normal’ residential street to million-pound properties.

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

Scene 1: opening sequence 00:30 – 4.49

• camera shots of house changing - social mobility
• Bird eye view of London (drone shot) power
• gentrification - integration
• Gender roles in family
• family dynamic (traditional)
• middle class
• Kamal family very close-knit 
• House prices 'not real millionaires' 2.75 million
• conservative views
• immigration
• old age - loneliness
• 'Albert wasn't much for change'

Scene 2: work in the City 6.28 – 8.10

• Overcrowding - London tube/ commute OTS
• Rush
• Financial building drone shot - power
• all white men in meeting
• lack of female representation
• Banker rivalry
• all about money -working for foreigner
• 'no need to over-elaborate on the terminology' - incompetency of seniors
• German Boss

Scene 3: “Which of those isn’t absolutely essential?” 14.00 – 15.35

• wife cares only for money - white and wealthy
• expectation for roger to make money - reinforces traditional roles
• 'I'm no feminist' - conservative, left wing ideology
• weekend house - Out of touch - 1 million spent before even gotten

Scene 4: asylum 18.03 – 19.42 AND 31.10 – 32.40

• other side of London - overcrowded accommodation - background sounds
• Black female traffic warden
• black female lawyer 
•  contrast to roger and Arabella
• 'its all politics' - 'perhaps I will be lucky' - 'perhaps a little kiss' - exploitation
• illegal working
• Austerity
• no asylum for Zimbabwean nationals

Scene 5: “What use is 30 grand?” 36.40 – 39.00 

• Drone shots - financial district - power
• cross-cutting depressed montage
• white men - rogers white privilege 'this isn't how it works' 
• 'Fundamentally not fair'
• 'not a question of greed its justice'
• roger throwing up
• contrast with kwentina 

Scene 6: life at the corner shop 40.10 – 42.55

• corner shop - staple of local life
• close-knit family crowded room
• ideology
• hospitality - coriander
• political ideals
• ambition
• social mobility
• contrast between Arabella and Ahmed
• 'White people have no idea'
• disconnect from modern life
• 'responsibility of providing food'

You can choose which aspects to focus on for each scene: e.g. London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging etc. Feel free to use bullet points for each scene - a summary of your notes is fine.

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 definitely reinforces some stereotypes such as the white people generally being much better off than others but in all Capital generally subverts stereotypes such as the belief that immigrants live off of benefits but we can see the hard working kwentina and Kamal family and that the old white woman Petunia is not as conservative as some might assume and is very tolerant of immigration into the area. 

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.

Banijay UK productions, first sold to Shine limited in 2006 and acquired by News corps in 2011 and shared 50-50 with Endemol shine studios that then was bought out by Banijay.


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

Then you run - SKY

SAS rogue heroes - BBC + EPIX

Tin star - SKY + Amazon

Code 404 - SKY + NBCU 

Two weeks to live - SKY + HBO max

Grantchester - ITV + PBS

Deep water - ITV

Responsible child - BBC

Dead water fell - Channel 4

2021 British academy Scotland awards best actress

2020 writers guild of great Britain award best long form TV drama

2021 Venice TV best comedy

2020 Rose D' OR 

Nominee BAFTA TV awards best single drama

2 international Emmy awards best TV movie/ mini series

Nominee for BAFTA TV craft

Nominee RTS craft 2020

Nominee British academy