Art of Gothic - Documentary

BBC Presenter Andrew Graham Dixon created a 3 part series, all an hour long, based on this idea that Gothic Horror was an Art form, to what extent is this really true?

From watching the series I got the impression that this idea of Gothic was a way of portraying the gruesome, peoples fears and death in a more respected way. No one dared speak about horror during these times but this idea gave people a reason and opportunity to express it, either through writing or art.

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This idea of Gothic horror first came about by a man named Horace Walpole, a writer, who wrote the first Gothic Novel, The Castle of Otranto, despite having not actually read the book I actually feel privileged not to; it is said to be written very poorly with an extortionate of grammatical and basic English mistakes. However the ideas behind the lack of literacy skills were the start of a new era. It included many of the stereotypical ideas of horror that we see in today's society, such as haunted houses, supernatural beings and just general horror figures.

During these episodes he looked into the architecture of this era, which originated from the Anglo Saxons, mentioning the link between what the public feared and what they also spiritually believed - these were both reflected through what their own homes would look like, for example Walpoles Strawberry Hill mansion. I am mostly interested in this part of Gothic Horror. He mentioned majority of the stuff that I had previously researched into, however I am now mostly interested in the colours used rather than the shape of the buildings and windows which was my main inspiration before I had to change my ideas.

Overall, my personal opinion on the documentary was I felt it took the mick out of Gothic Horror, the soundtrack and special FX were a mockery of how beautiful this era should have been depicted. I understand they would like to engage a variety of audiences so making it slightly playful is understood, just maybe not for a BBC documentary.