Distant Shores (British TV series)
{{short description|British TV series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| camera = single camera
| runtime = ~ 46:30
| creator = Caleb Ranson
| developer =
| executive_producer = Carolyn Reynolds (series 1)
Kieran Roberts (series 2)
| starring = Peter Davison
Samantha Bond
Tristan Gemmill
Emma Fildes
Justin McDonald
Matthew Thomas-Davies
Gareth Thomas
| opentheme = Nick Bicat
| country = United Kingdom
| network = ITV
| first_aired = {{Start date|2005|01|05|df=yes}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2005|02|09|df=yes}}
| num_series = 2
| location = mainly Craster, Northumberland{{cite web|url=http://www.northumberland-coast.co.uk/craster.php|title=Craster – A Visitor's Guide|publisher=northumberland-coast.co.uk|accessdate=23 October 2009}}
| num_episodes = 12
| composer = Nick Bicat
| producer = Sue Pritchard
| company = Granada Television Ltd.
(Granada Manchester)
}}
Distant Shores is a comedy-drama first shown in the United Kingdom on ITV in January 2005. Like the similar fish out of water dramedies, Northern Exposure and Doc Martin, it focuses on the difficulties of an unwillingly-transplanted metropolitan doctor who is forced to adjust to a rural environment.
Concept
Peter Davison plays a successful London plastic surgeon Bill Shore. In a bid to save their marriage, his wife Lisa, played by Samantha Bond, accepts a six-month veterinary research job on a small Northumbrian island called Hildasay.Not to be confused with the real-life Scottish Hildasay. Bill reluctantly agrees to relocate on the island with his wife, daughter and son. The stories revolve around the various ways in which the family adjust to the island and its welcoming, but sometimes peculiar, inhabitants. The dominant themes of series 1 are Bill's attempts to leave the island, and the tragedy which befalls Lisa as she gradually pursues an adulterous relationship with one of its inhabitants. This overarching storyline is essentially reversed in series 2, with Lisa wanting to return to London and Bill considering starting an affair on Hildasay.
Broadcast history
The first series was broadcast in 2005 on ITV. According to one of the show's recurring co-stars, Yvette Rowland, it was "immensely popular", and brought in a viewership of over 6 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.yvetterowland.co.uk/DistantShores.html|title=Distant Shores|last=Rowland|first=Yvette|publisher=self|accessdate=22 October 2009}} Canadian press releases put the number slightly lower at 5.2 million, but still called the programme "a major hit for Britain's ITV".{{cite web|url=http://www.visiontv.ca/Media/Releases/Distant_Shores.html|title=Prisoner of paradise|date=1 August 2005|accessdate=22 October 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Actual ratings data shows both these numbers to be correct, if incomplete. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board reported that the debut episode of the series was the 20th most popular programme in the United Kingdom for the week ending 9 January 2005, with 7.53 million initial viewers. It was one of only three non-soap operas in the top 20 that week.{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/multi-platform/news/ratings-whos-reaping-rewards-of-freeview-sales-uplift/1019195.article|title=Ratings – Who's reaping rewards of Freeview sales uplift?|date=27 January 2005|work=Broadcast Now|publisher=broadcastnow.co.uk|accessdate=23 October 2009}} From this high-water mark, however, the show's audience declined, hovering between 5.2 and 6.2 million viewers. Despite this slip, it usually won its 9 pm time slot. In the last two weeks of the run, however, BBC1 won the time slot due to special programming.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/13/overnights|title=Houswives favourite for C4|last=Plunkett|first=John|date=13 January 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/20/overnights|title=BBC1's FA Cup drama brings in over 8m|last=Brook|first=Stephen|date=20 January 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/27/overnights|title=Football gives Sky a second leg up|last=Deans|first=Jason|date=27 January 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/feb/03/overnights|title=Good night's sleep for BBC1|last=Deans|first=Jason|date=3 February 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/feb/10/overnights|title=Football bore draw pulls in nearly 8m|last=Deans|first=Jason|date=10 February 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}
A second series was filmed for the next television season, copyrighted 2006.{{cite episode|title=(untitled on screen)|series=Distant Shores|credits=Caleb Ranson (writer); Sue Pritchard (producer); Philip John (director)|series-no=2|number=1|minutes=46:30}} However, it was not aired in the United Kingdom,{{cite web|url=http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2009/08/30/tracy-beaker-heads-north-to-film-at-la-sagesse-79310-24565777/2/|title=Tracy Beaker heads North to film at La Gesse|last=Ford|first=Coreena|date=30 August 2009|work=Sunday Sun|accessdate=23 October 2009}} resulting in the original run of the programme being only six weeks. Rowland has described ITV's failure to broadcast the second series as "a mystery". Davison himself agreed with Rowland's diagnosis in April 2007 when he expressed puzzlement over the shelving of the show, adding, "There's a fair chance it will never be shown in Britain."{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv-entertainment/tv/tv-land/2007/04/27/down-the-drain-115875-18973610/|title=Down the Drain|last=Methven|first=Nicola|author2=Polly Hudson|date=27 April 2007|work=Daily Mirror|accessdate=23 October 2009}}
Nevertheless, the second series aired outside the UK. In Australia it debuted on Seven Network it was aired on Hallmark Channel in 2009 and repeated again in 2011 on 7TWO.{{cite web|url=http://au.hallmarkchannel.tv/programmes/distant_shores_(12_x_60_min)_261257?From=WhatsOn&EpisodeID=5|title=Australian Hallmark Channel series page|accessdate=22 October 2009}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.memorabletv.com/new/distant-shores-cast-profiles.html|title=Distant Shores – The Shore Family Profiles|accessdate=22 October 2009|location=Australia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925153654/http://memorabletv.com/new/distant-shores-cast-profiles.html|archive-date=25 September 2010}} In Canada, it premiered on VisionTV,{{cite web|url=http://www.visiontv.com/Programs/FallHighlights/20052006/primetime_showcase.html|title=VisionTV Fall Highlights 2005–2006|accessdate=22 October 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite web|url=http://www.visiontv.ca/Media/Releases/Distant_ShoresII.html|title=A Shore thing|date=1 March 2006|publisher=VisionTV|accessdate=22 October 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} while in the United States, it was initially syndicated to PBS stations for a two-year period from December 2006 to December 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.aptonline.org/catalog.nsf/bpt/7C5DB3C87CB8FEC8852571FE006F8A2F?OpenDocument|title=Distant Shores (Series II)|date=Summer 2006|accessdate=23 October 2009|publisher=American Public Television}}
Critical reception
During its initial run, two media reporters for The Guardian concluded much the same thing about the series: that it was "genial" or "very comforting" viewing, but that it was an obvious twin of shows like Doc Martin and Ballykissangel.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/05/tvandradio.television1|title=Pick of the day|last=Novakovich|first=Mary|date=5 January 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/06/broadcasting.tvandradio|title=Rearranged marriages|last=Smith|first=Rupert|date=6 January 2005|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 October 2009}} The Times agreed, calling the show "an even cosier version of Two Thousand Acres of Sky and Doc Martin" which was "undemanding, predictable and pleasant".{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article408302.ece|title=Viewing guide|date=5 January 2005|work=The Times|accessdate=24 October 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Indeed, the similarities to Doc Martin were obvious enough to have crept into pre-launch publicity. Peter Davison responded to the charges in a personality piece in The Journal of Newcastle by saying, "It's only like Doc Martin on paper ... Distant Shores has a completely different tone and feel to it."{{cite web|url=http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0300entertainment/onthebox/tm_objectid=15034787&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=doctor-on-distant-shores-name_page.html|title=Doctor on Distant Shores|last=Marlow|first=Wil|date=3 January 2005|work=The Journal|accessdate=23 October 2009|location=Newcastle upon Tyne}}
References
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