Story idea

[Anemic_Newt]

A while back people were suggesting ideas of what they thought might make a great story. Many of the ideas sounded interesting particulalry the ones about near future.

My two pence worth of an idea - to have a story simialr to the BBC's dramamentary about an outbreak of smallpox in the US and around the world. It wouldn't need guns and violence but could be a superb near future story, without lots of whizzes and bangs and just be good gripping storytelling.
What do others think? Anyone else see the programme?

Newt (What the hell am I doing coming back here at 4.45 am!)

[nathan]

Near future stories are great! There's nothing better than seeing giant robots or cruel slavering aliens smashing up recognisable towns and having an impact on lifestyles and situations we can relate to. Trouble is they date fast. Look at Bill Savage and the Dirty Volgs, they should have been here by now!

N

[paulvonscott]

Bloody hell newt, even I signed off at 3am!

Well done that weirdo!

I'll go for 5am tomorrow morning!

[Rex Gambill]

I've just read the entire Invasion! series with Bill Savage, and it holds up pretty well, if you take it in the spirit it was intended. Imagine someone doing a near future war story, but this time focusing on the more topical threat of terrorism! Same concept...more relevant. Savage was a great cipher of a hero...tough as nails, takes no sh*te from anyone. Kind of an English John Wayne.

[Anemic_Newt]

My thoughts on this revolve around not atating a year, but setting it in real recognisable places, with current visible technology eg cars as opposed to hover speeders. Use a real killer disease such as smallpox, rabies, ebola etc. so as not to date the strip quickly like the Volgans stuff.
Yes it may seem a little insensitive with events in America but I don't see people screaming at the BBC for what they did - and they included footage of Sept 11th in the dramamentary.
Even if there is "outrage" it gets 2k publicity and more people will buy it just to see whjat the fuss is all about - you never know they might stay for the ride.

However the idea behind this very loose idea (which needs a lot of development) is to create a dramatic story. It could focus in a short run of a few characters living their ordinary lives and one person gets infected - end of first short 4-6 episode series its revealed what the disease is and hints at how this is going to affect the world .... or something - a cliffhanger that does make us want to see what happens next but the story is allowed to develop over short series even one offs to develop character who we care about before seeing them overcome with fear, desperation, paranoia, quarantined under army guard, and in some cases catching the disease. Some main characers would die in it, others would catch it and recover.

Anyway I know this isn't sounding great yet - just think along the lines of the film Outbreak and similar stories but even more humanised.

Newt

[paulvonscott]

I think neo-contemporary (you must be kidding PVS) stories would be really good.

I FULLY reccomend a seventies series called survivors about the wrold wiped out by a deadly disease released from a lab in china.

I am constantly amazed that people think that their civilisation is secure and that all these post apocalyptic scenrarios could never happen.  The more advanced a civilisation we get, the more unlikely we will be unable to survive a major calamity.

If Survivors ever comes on UK gold again.  Watch it, it is bloody brilliant