(Un)Necessary Adaptations in Recent Historic Spanish TV Series

Abstract

Most film and television critics agree that fiction series are currently living a golden age, referring to recent American productions and very especially to HBO products. TV series have taken much of the creativity and quality standards that we could only find in films. Moreover, series such as The Tudors or Vikings have driven a change in aesthetics and content arrangement that has had its reflection in Spanish TV industry. Isabel, one of the recent Spanish TV blockbusters, has imitated the standards of international TV fiction creating a quality product, with many common points with The Tudors. Isabel and El Ministerio del Tiempo are the main topics of this article. If historical novels are a trend, television is gradually producing more and more fiction products of this particular genre. The basic aim of this article, apart from the general comment on the successes and failures of recent Spanish historical series, is the judgement of historical facts and its treatment in fiction. We will put on emphasis on historical accuracy but will also respect the rules of television fiction, highlighting the difference between necessary or unnecessary adaptations, as we may consider that the diachronic or fictionalized situations could have been avoided or not. We will have two very important points of interest: the respect of historical facts in its television adaptations, and the hypothetical explanation of the reasons which have led to producers, directors and writers to make certain decisions and manipulate historical facts or if, on the contrary, they have been respectful with whatever actually happened.