D83

• Episode 1 - Quantum Jump
• October 2015- released in USA
• January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK
• Episode titles taken from actual NATO military exercises
• Subtitled 
• ABC1 audience- Lexus advertisement, subtitles and knowledge of the cold war
• Split screen from the two sides of Germany- Strauss- binary opposition 
• Genre- Romance, action
• Similar to Stranger Things as it follows the point of view of young people fighting against an evil.
• Cold war Spy thriller set in 1983
• Early action sequence- Barthes proairetic code
• Iconic 80's signifiers- Ronald Reagan, Frankie goes to Hollywood- Two Tribes song
• Potentially sexualised narrative with romantic sub plot
• Action sequences as USP, high production values
• Surveillance equipment as part of the mise-en-scene encodes spy conventions
• Spy thriller but also a hybrid coming of age drama- Steve Neale repetition and difference theory.
• Medium/ high production value drama
• Moritz Stamm/ Martin Rauch- 2 characters- Moritz (West) Martin (East)
• Evil Empire- 1983 Ronald Reagan speech
• Walter Presents- This is the distributor
• Costs a lot to recreate the 80's- Industry
• Culturally relevant German export
• East German Socialist ideology- Seen as aspirational through the character of Martin Rauch but then reverts to stereotype e.g. harsh eastern block representations
• Using Gauntlett D83 oscillates between diversity and encoding at times a singular, straightforward east/west identity
• Premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, globally distributed
• Critical success
• Commercial success- highest rated subtitled drama in the UK but flopped in Germany
• East VS West symbolism
• Sundance TV and RTL TV German/American co-production
• Sundance are U.S. pay TV channel owned by AMC specialising in non mainstream content
• RTL largest free-to-air TV channel in Germany
• Point- D83 had pedigree and backing in terms or production and distribution
• June 2015 Sundance TV premiere, Germany November 2015, UK January 2016
• Direct synergy with programme and 1980's soundtrack. Spotify playlist for each episode- marketing to youth audiences also nostalgia as key appeal
• Todorovian equilibrium
• Episodic it is open ended- micro narratives connected by narrative arcs.
• Disruption- Aunt pushes him to join East secret service. Gets job as aide to West German General in charge of nuclear deterrence