The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the most significant TV adaptations in Spain from 1956 to 2012. First of all, the following article comprises a brief overview of a number of the most significant fiction adaptations produced by the public television network TVE, rounded out with a more in-depth account of the TV adaptations developed from the 1990s onwards, when a commercial television networks, such as Antena 3 and Tele 5, entered the audiovisual market. Recently, the adaptation of TV series based on foreign programmes has become widespread in Spain. One special category encompasses programmes adapted to the Spanish television market from foreign series formats (US, Latin America and Europe). Television networks and production companies turn to such major television market in order to identify successful series and formats that may be remade into the buyer’s context.
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The Production of Tv Fiction Adaptations in Spain (1950-2012)
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THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)
Patricia Diego, Universidad de Navarra
María del Mar Grandío, Catholic University of San Antonio (UCAM)




  Abstract

  in Spain from 1956 to 2012. First of all, the following article comprises a brief overview of a

  TVE, rounded out with a more in-depth account of the TV adaptations developed from the


  Recently, the adaptation of TV series based on foreign programmes has become widespread
  in Spain. One special category encompasses programmes adapted to the Spanish television


  series and formats that may be remade into the buyer’s context.




Introduction



of TV series based on foreign programmes, such as Doctor Mateo (Antena 3, 2009-2011) and
Las chicas de oro                                La chica de ayer

                                                                                                    -


to 1990, the period during which the television sector was dominated by the state-supported TVE,


genres began to conform to standard formats during that time: plays and serialized novels in the
1950s and 1960s, followed by miniseries and drama series from the 1960s onwards.1 Many of

CINÉMA & CIE, vol. XII, no. 19, Fall 2012                                                      105
PATRICIA DIEGO, MARÍA DEL MAR GRANDÍO


had enjoyed national and/or international success.
  In order to study the production of TV adaptations in any country, it is necessary to clarify


characters, genre, form and main themes.”2 According to this author, genre is a set of characteris-
                                                                       3

underline that television formats can be adapted into texts because they have several rules which
                                                            4

  There are several authors who have studied the concept of adaptation as regards to cinema5
although it is quite unexplored within the Spanish television context.6 In this respect, we should
underline the differences between a traditional adaptation (from a novel, a poem, or an historical


context. As Linda Hutcheon states: “an adapted text migrates from its context of creation to the
adaptation’s context of reception. Because adaptation is a form of repetition without replication,
change is inevitable.”7
it always involves creating something new.



The production of TV fiction adaptations at TVE (1956-1990)

                                                                                                  -




standardize the production process. Such plays were thirty minutes in length, they were recorded
on a single set using two or three cameras, and had limited production values in terms of lighting
and sound.
  The advent of video-recording in 1960 enabled a radical overhaul of the production process for

                                                                                                  -




Theater) and Estudio 1 (Studio 1).8 Over the course of thirty years, television viewers became
used to seeing high-quality national and international plays produced for the small screen. The
most renowned adaptations included Before Breakfast by Eugene O’Neill (1957, Teatro en la
Televisión Española, Theatre on Spanish Television), La herida luminosa (The Light Wound) and
La señorita Trevelez (Miss Trevelez) by Carlos Arniches (1958, Fila cero                Richard
III (1967, Teatro de siempre, Old Theatre), among many others.

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                                  THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)

  As was the case in relation to the televised play, the advent of the video-recorder had a trans-
forming impact on the production criteria for the adapted novel as a television genre. Live broad-

such broadcasting were still the norm.

daily televised novels. Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Gas Light
and Dial M for Murder                                                                             -
                                                                            9

programme in the category of daily televised novels was Novela (Novel), which was broadcast for

the Novela time-slot; each episode ran between twenty and thirty minutes; each novel comprised

  The adaptation of novels for television also entailed the further implementation of a number of
production standards, which were to be put into practice in the national series produced from the
1990s onwards, albeit to a much lesser extent because of the relatively speedy production process
and low budgets. The adjustment of shots to broadcast criteria, the combination of (video-based)
studio scenes with scenes shot in exterior locations using cinematic devices, and the use of a num-


that had run their course, largely due to factors beyond TVE’s control. A new television genre had
                                                                                                 -

                                                                                   One of the de-
                                                                                  10

                                                                                 The Forsyte Saga


tailor-made production schedule and budget. The production process for a miniseries was similar

120,000 for Los gozos y las sombras                                                              to
€ 300,000 for Goya.11

to be replaced with outsourced or independent production through international or part-funded
co-production agreements.




option was for TVE to outsource the production of miniseries to independent production compa-
nies in Spain.

and fostered the establishment of new production criteria. Moreover, as described in some detail

2012 period. Parameters of progress in this regard included the use of a more cinematic language
in the mise-en-scène, such as the extensive use of natural locations to give the production a sense

                                                                                               107
PATRICIA DIEGO, MARÍA DEL MAR GRANDÍO


cameras; higher budgets; lengthier production schedules; and episode running-times of between
sixty and ninety minutes.
  An analysis on the subject-matter of miniseries discloses that the genre is dominated by adap-
                                                                                     12
                                                                                                -
ing feature of literary miniseries is that they involve the adaptation of renowned Spanish novels
such as Cañas y Barro (Reeds and Mud, 1978) and La Barraca (Hut, 1979) by Blasco Ibáñez,
Fortunata y Jacinta                                    Los pazos de Ulloa (The houses from Ulloa,
1985) by Emilia Pardo Bazán, among many others. Biographical miniseries are based on the lives


that represent ‘real’ and invented situations in a convincing setting.”13 Among the most important
biographical miniseries of the 1980s were Cervantes (1981),                      (1982), Teresa de
Jesús (1984), Goya (1985), Lorca, muerte de un poeta (Lorca, Death of a Poet, 1987) and Miguel
Servet (1988).


                                                                                                 -
erably.
                                                                                                 -

                                                                                                -
tics of television as a medium.14
1956 and 1990; adaptations were less common than series produced by pioneering Spanish creative
screenwriters and producers, such as Antonio Mercero (Verano Azul, Blue Summer, 1981-1982),
Adolfo Marsillach (
Ibáñez Serrador (Historias para no dormir                                         Historias para
no dormir comprised stand-alone episodes, some of which were based on original scripts and others
on horror stories written by famous authors as Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe.



Adaptation in a competitive television market (1990-2000)

                                                                                                 -

production strategies. Because of the widespread establishment and development of independent

                                          15




ratings led to a new emphasis on the idea of audience “loyalty,” a concept that had been more or
less invisible during the period in which TVE held a monopoly on the television sector in Spain.
Television series play one of the most powerful roles in generating audience loyalty. Thus, both

108
                                  THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)



programmes that were produced to be broadcast over the course of more than one season, peo-
pled with characters and storylines designed to hold the viewer’s interest from one episode to the
next. The main difference to the short run series broadcast by TVE before the privatization of the

of the series; rather, the plot might be extended for as long as it continued to generate audience
ratings. The script is written as the series progresses and in light of viewer preferences. Hence, a
much closer relationship arises between the programme and its audience and the immediate social
context, prompting the inclusion of more relevant and real plotlines in the evolving narrative.16
  Most of the long-running series produced in the 1990s (Farmacia de guardia, Pharmacy on
Duty; Médico de familia                                                                            -
cast alongside series and miniseries based on adaptations, although the latter were fewer in num-

period are outlined in more detail below.
                                                                                            -
ing a range of innovative initiatives such as the Taller de Telecomedias                   17

Although the production of literary and biographical adaptations went into decline at TVE, it

line with its previous strategy, TVE remained committed to the development of miniseries based
                                       Blasco Ibáñez (1997), Severo Ochoa: La conquista de un
Nóbel (Severo Ochoa: The Conquest of a Nobel, 2001) and Vientos del pueblo: Miguel Hernández
                                                                                                 Los
                 (Riders of the Dawn, 1991),             (Don Quixote, 1992), Celia (1992), Entre
          (Among Orange Trees, 1998), La Regenta (1995), Don Juan (1997) and El secreto de la
porcelana (The Secret of the Porcelain, 1999).
   In 1995, TVE adapted The Golden Girls
                                                                 Juntas pero no revueltas (a Spanish
expression meaning “together, but apart…”).                 , a sitcom produced in 1995 was based
                                    El último choriso (The Last Thief, 1992) depicted the life and
                                                                          El Jueves.
   The strategy adopted at Antena 3 was to focus on original Spanish series, including such
achievements as                                                                                 ¡Ay,
Señor, Señor!                                                                                   Far-
macia de guardia (1991-1995). Antena 3’s production of an adaptation and sequel to TVE’s Curro
Jiménez (1976-1979) during the 1990s should also be noted in this regard. In 1994, the production
company Aurum, which belonged to Antena 3 at the time, produced Curro Jiménez, el regreso de
una leyenda                                                                                        -
ciones, a series comprising thirteen episodes that portrayed the life and times of the famous Span-
ish outlaw almost twenty years after the original television production. Finally, the series
solos!

only seven episodes were broadcast.

                                                                                                109
PATRICIA DIEGO, MARÍA DEL MAR GRANDÍO

                                    Médico de familia (1995-1999), as well as other similarly suc-
cessful series such as Periodistas                          Siete vidas (Seven Lives, 1997-2006), El
comisario (Police Inspector, 1999-2009), Hospital Central (2000-2012) and serials such as El súper
                                   Al salir de clase (After School, 1997-2002), Tele 5 also began to
focus on the development of home-grown series. Tele 5 also produced a wide range of adaptations

to drop them from the programming schedule. Such adaptations may be subdivided into three cate-

                                                               Truhanes (Rogue, 1993-1994), which

starred Paco Rabal and Arturo Fernández. The series Historias de la puta mili (Stories About the

been adapted for cinema; insofar as possible, the scripts for the series followed the graphic stories
published in El Jueves which parodied the depiction of US troops in American movies.18 The same
                                   Todos los hombres sois iguales (All Men Are the Same, 1996-

  The adaptation of foreign series formats included imports from Italian commercial television
Canale 5: Casa para dos (House For Two, 1995), which lasted for only six episodes on Tele 5
because of low audience ratings; Querido maestro (Dear Teacher, 1997-1998), which was more
successful and ran over three seasons; and Hermanas (Sisters, 1998) which lasted for two seasons.
  Finally, the series Petra Delicado (1999) was an adaptation of the literary character invented

                                   Ritos de muertes (Death Rites) in 1996; the series, comprising
thirteen episodes, starred Ana Belén.

                                                                                                    -
                                                                                                    -

of the fact that there is no such thing as a sure success in the audiovisual industry.



A typology of television adaptations in Spain (2000-2012)

                                                                                                   -
ogy of the programmes produced in recent years may be categorised as follows. These distinctions
are made by the authors of the article after the examination of the most important titles adapted in

adaptations; and 3) adaptations based on foreign series formats.
  First, there has been an increase in the number of historical or period drama series produced.
The preferred format used by Spanish production companies is the miniseries. In 2010, a total
of seven miniseries made the top twenty list of television broadcasts for the year. The miniseries
with the highest audience ratings was Felipe y Leticia


110
                                   THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)

of the main historical and/or biographical series produced during this period is provided below:
  - Miniseries, biographical, made-for-TV movies (biopics). This category comprises series

cultural life. These productions are shaped by a common theme: they tell the story of Spanish
                                                                  La Duquesa (Telecinco, 2010),
about the Duchess of Alba; Los Borgia (Antena 3, 2008), which recounted the life and times of
the Borgias, the family to which the only two Spanish popes in history belonged; Adolfo Suárez,
El Presidente (Adolfo Suárez, the President, Antena 3, 2010), which dealt with the political career

         Felipe y Letizia (Felipe and Letizia 2010, Telecinco), which tells the story of the early days
of the romance between the heir to the Spanish throne and his future bride.
   - Miniseries or made-for-TV movies based on recent historical events. Many of the television ad-
aptations based on historical events have drawn on the recent history of Spain, especially the transi-
tion to democracy; for example, 23-F, El día más difícil del Rey (The Hardest Day of the King, TVE,
2009), which dealt with the failed coup d’état in 1981, and more recently still, the failed attempt by

the made-for-TV movie, Una bala para el Rey (A Bullet to the King, Antena 3, 2009).
  - Miniseries or made-for-TV movies based on major news stories or contemporary issues. Such pro-

events. Among the most prominent programmes in this regard were                      (Father Courage,

                                                    (48 Hours, Antena 3, 2008), an account of the
murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco at the hands of ETA; El caso Wanninkhof

nineteen-year-old girl, in 1999; Días Sin Luz (Days Without Light, Antena 3, 2009) which followed the

(the girl’s father oversaw the production of the miniseries);               (Flight IL8714, Telecinco,

                               Alakrana
                                                    11M, para que nadie lo olvide (11 M, For nobody

  The second category in the typology of adaptations produced between 2000 and 2012 com-

                                                                                      Arroz y tartana

Blasco Ibáñez; Las cerezas del cementerio (The Cherries of the Cemetery, TVE, 2005), based
                                                                                                -
tween a young engineering student and an older woman who is unhappily married to an English
ship-owner (the story is set on the Valencian coast at the turn of the twentieth century); and Un
Burka por Amor


trying to return to Spain.

                                                                                                   111
PATRICIA DIEGO, MARÍA DEL MAR GRANDÍO

Foreign TV series adaptations in Spain

 Finally, the third category encompasses programmes adapted to the Spanish television mar-
                                                                                          -
wide and has been studied by many European scholars,19 many international formats have been


that may be remade in the buyer’s context. Examples include Mesa para cinco (La Sexta, 2006),
an adaptation of the US series Party of Five (Fox, 1994-2000);                        (Cuatro,
2006), the Spanish adaptation of the US comedy Married with Children (ABC, 1987-1997).
The series entitled Suárez y Mariscal: caso cerrado (Suarez and Mariscal: closed case, Cuatro,
                                       Niedrig Und Kuhnt (Sat 1, 2003-); Los simuladores (The
Simulators, Cuatro, 2006-2007) was based on the Argentinian series of the same name (Telefé,
2002-2003); Hermanos y detectives
based on the 2006 Argentinian series of the same name; the soap opera Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso
(Without Breasts There is No Paradise, Telecinco, 2008-2009), based on the Colombian series

                                                                                 Doctor Mateo
(Antena 3, 2009-), based on the British series Doc Martin (ITV, 2002-); the comedy series Lalola
(Antena 3, 2008-2009) was based on the Argentinian comedy of the same name broadcast on
América TV in 2007 and 2008; and most recently, the second adaptation of the famous sitcom
The Golden Girls (NBC, 1985-1992) Las chicas de oro; Pasión de Gavilanes (Antena 3, 2010)


another succeful TV adaptation in Spain has been the soap-opera Yo soy Bea (Telecinco, 2006-
2009) from the original Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la Fea (I am Betty, the Ugly; which
also inspired the American TV series Ugly Betty). As Chicharro suggests, soap-operas are more

through the Spanish television trends of the last decades.20
  We want to pay special attention to one of the most important TV adaptation coming from the
                  La chica de ayer
British TV series Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-2007). The original series has been broadcast in a
number of countries, including the US, Canada, France, and also Spain; and the series format has
                                                         21
                                                            ABC adapted the Life on Mars format


as a failure to establish a clear identity, have been cited as possible explanations for its underper-
formance.22

                                                                                              -
cluding Mia Sarah                          Americano (Kevin Noland, 2005) and Green Zone (Paul
                                                           Life on Mars and felt that a Spanish


112
                                      THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)

3, which was intrigued by the possibility. Sonia Martínez, the Director of TV Fiction at Antena 3,


  We were intrigued by Life on Mars. It was one of the formats we wanted to get our hands on. We had
  very high expectations from the very beginning: a love story, a family to be rebuilt, a trip to be seen as a

  past. A second chance at life, to learn how to approach it... A great format.23

   Enthused by the project, Antena 3 requested adaptation pitches from a number of Spanish pro-
duction companies. The most convincing pitch was made by Ida y Vuelta, which developed the
production of the series. Ida y Vuelta had already produced a number of series for Antena 3, such
as               (Red Circle, 2007) and Física o química (Physics and Chemistry, 2008-). Antena
3’s only condition was that Álvaro Ron, who had come up with the idea, be included in the pro-
duction team. The series comprised a total of eight episodes, each with a running-time of seventy
minutes. The shooting schedule ran over six months, from September 2008 to February 2009.
There were a series of meetings with the BBC in London throughout the production process for La
chica de ayer, the purpose of which was to oversee the eight episodes of the Spanish version that
had been approved by the BBC. Representatives of the BBC visited the set in Madrid, observed

episode, which reached an audience share of 19.7%, the series failed to meet the viewer ratings

close in the eighth episode.



Conclusions


most important TV adaptations in Spain from 1956 to 2012; in historical terms, TVE, the state
public service broadcaster, has been the biggest investor in such productions. The wide-ranging
                                                                                                  -
ence of plays, novels and also foreign TV series as sources in the production process. Traditional-

These TV adaptations produced by TVE from 1956 and 1990 have mainly a pedagogical objective

on these materials, the producers had easy access to them.
  On the contrary, from 1990 onwards, TV adaptations stemming from private channels, and from
TVE, have mainly a commercial objective. Miniseries or made-for-TV movies based on major
news stories or contemporary issues have a great appeal for contemporary viewers. Recently, there
has been a notable increase in the adaptation of foreign television series (comedy, soap opera, and

in these formats due to the previous success they have in the original country. Therefore, produc-

Angeles TV Screening (Los Angeles), among others, to sell and buy television formats.

                                                                                                            113
PATRICIA DIEGO, MARÍA DEL MAR GRANDÍO

  By and large, the circulation of European TV series has been quite positive in Spain, as the
                                                                       Life on Mars or La Chica de
Ayer are symbolic examples of the complexities involved in (re)producing a series from another
                                                                                                    -
cessful international series. However, the results in artistic terms and in terms of audience ratings
have been mixed. Some of the adaptations have not matched the success of the original versions
on which they are based. Spanish media professionals cannot limit their approach to the simple

are issues relating to the content that require in-depth revision and re-construction on the part of
scriptwriters, producers and directors.




written by Patricia Diego, whereas “A typology of television adaptations in Spain (2000–2012)”, “Foreign



1     Patricia Diego,                                                                        , Eunsa, Pamplona
      2010, p. 11.
                       An Introduction to Television Studies, Routledge, London 2004, p. 118.
3     Ibidem.
4     Albert Moran, The Pie and The Crust: Television Programs Formats, in Id., Copycat TV: Globalisation,
      Program Formats and Cultural Identity, University of Luton Press, Luton 1998, pp. 13-15.

                        Comunicación y Sociedad, vol. 23, no. 2, 2005.

      Comedy in Spain,” in Scope. Journal of Film and TV Studies, no. 16, 2010, http://www.scope.nottin-

7  Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation
                       Del teatro al cine y a la televisión: el estado de la cuestión en España, in Rafael
                                                    Televisión, Teatro y Cine, Padilla Libros, Sevilla 2003,
   pp. 61-77.
9 Mariona Rebull and El viudo Rius (The Riu Widower) by Ignacio Agustí might also be highlighted in this
   context. See: Patricia Diego,                                    , cit., pp. 22-23.
10 Manuel Palacio, Historia de la television en España
11 Patricia Diego,                                   , cit., p. 26.
12 See: Patricia Diego, La producción de miniseries durante la etapa hegemónica de TVE (1956-1990), in

                                           Los desafíos de la televisión pública en Europa, Eunsa, Pamplona
      2007, pp. 445-455.
13    Manuel Palacio, Historia de la television en España, cit., p. 157.
                                                                    El relato electrónico, Filmoteca Valenciana,
      Valencia 1989, p. 37.
15    Patricia Diego,                                  , cit., p. 51.
16    Idem, p. 53.
17    Idem, pp. 72-76.
18    Idem, p. 68.
                                                                                                               -
      ropean Broadcasting Channels Revised,” in European Journal of Communication, vol. 16, no. 51, 2001,

114
                                     THE PRODUCTION OF TV FICTION ADAPTATIONS IN SPAIN (1950-2012)

   pp. 51-76; Daniel Biltereyst, Phillippe Meers, “The International Telenovela Debate and the Contra-Flow
   Argument: a Reappraisal,” in Media, Culture and Society, no. 4, 2001, pp. 469-497; Kristin Moran, “The
                                                                                   Sesame Street in Spain,”
   in Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 31, no. 3, 2006, pp. 287-300.

   género,” in Comunicación y Sociedad, vol. 24, no. 1, 2011, p. 212.
                                El trasvase de formatos exitosos: el caso de Life on Mars, in Alejandro Sal-
   gado (ed.),                                                     , Fragua, Madrid 2010, pp. 202-225.
22 Serra Tinic, “Life on Mars as Seen from the United States: The Cultural Politics of Imports and Adap-
   tations,” in Flow TV Journal
   cultural-politics-of-imports-and-adaptations-serra-tinic-the-university-of-alberta/, last visit 10 October
   2012.
23 Production Diary, La chica de ayer, p. 5.




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