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TrentonUK's avatar

11 / 12 years old me practically shat myself at the man with no face on the staircase which you cite. I bought bootleg VHS tapes of this show in the early 90s and then proper official VHS releases. I rewatched it again fairly recently and brought a more critical, better educated eye to it.

Assignments 2, 4 (the photos one, which I think is 4 and 6 the final one are easily the best and hold up remarkably well. Unlike a lot of tv from back in the day which today seems dated.

It works because it assumes intelligence on the part of the audience and it leaves a lot to the imagination. Its an exemplary example of Freud's notion of the uncanny. Things out of joint...ever so slightly off. Childrens nursery rhymes somehow conveying a palpable sense of dread and unease.

I wish I had the reference. One academic TV studies book I came across had a chapter arguing Sapphire and Steel could be read as proto - Thatcherite figures. The essay by Mark Fisher titled 'The Slow cancellation of the future' offers up a great reading of the show, you can find the essay online but might need to dig around. I think its in his book 'Capitalist Realism'

It's definitely worth a read. He argues the final Assignment reflects the strange moment we're living in which 'there's no time here...not anymore' he argues that culture is at a dead end of endless pastiche and repetition, that it's increasingly hard to tell something from say 20 years ago to today. One era blurs into another.

Thankyou for writing, I appreciated your effort.

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Mapledurham's avatar

“Gingham curtains” at the end 👌

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