I’ve been eager for more news about this proof-of-concept project, now called the Mythology Engine, because I’m enchanted by the idea behind it.
The Mythology Engine is envisioned as a guide to stories on the web: a database of characters, places and, crucially (the most unusual bit) events in fiction and drama.
Now, in its complete form this would be a paradise for pedants and canon geeks, but it can be a lot more than that. The ideas is that the site would let you (points quoted from the introductory blog post):
- Catch up on stories you’ve missed
- Explore stories and characters and help you understand plots and relationships
- Find the stories you are looking for and share your favourite moments or characters
That’s right. In addition to solving arguments, giving you ideas for what episodes to watch to see more of your favourite character or showing you what she meant by “This is exactly what you did last time!”, this site could be the most advanced, most thorough spoiler experience ever created. (Naturally, however, the pages are in fact very polite in hiding spoilers.)
The proof-of-concept, unsurprisingly, uses Doctor Who. Not just because it’s popular, but also because a show whose central theme is time travel ought to be an especial challenge to represent in a sensible form. See what they’ve come up with…
More about the Mythology Engine at BBC Blogs.
The bad news: as I’ve said, this is just a proof-of-concept and I don’t know that there are any plans to make a full version.
By OngoingWorlds 5 April 2010 - 22:42
This is really interesting, and I can definately see how it will be useful for long running dramas such as Dr Who, Casualty, Hollyoaks and any soap. I can see why they chose Dr Who as an example as it really works, Dr Who has a lot of mythology spanning decades and constantly references itself.
For soap operas however, I can see how it would be useful for a bit of trivia and casual interest, but the way soaps are written is usually so set in the present that there isn't usually a need to delve back into the history.
I wonder though, if this Mythology Enging becomes popular, will we start to see storylines becoming much more complicated and reference past episodes more, so that people will be able to follow along better than they have previously?
By Paul Rissen 8 April 2010 - 14:17
Herm,
Thanks for the comments. Having been working on these ideas for the past year or so (including the 2 months on the prototype..) I'd go further than it being "a guide to stories on the web" – I'd say it *is* the story on the web. i.e. it's the web adaption of the story, in the same way that a story can be adapted for television or radio.
Spoilers are, of course, a difficult area – one we need to explore further if this does go ahead.
It's interesting to note, also, that when we were showing this around the BBC internally, people 'got' the version that we made with Eastenders much more quickly than the Doctor Who example. For instance, it's the first time you can see all the relevant events that led up to the murder of Archie Mitchell, without having to trawl through various disconnected episodes.
Fingers crossed we can take this further than just a prototype… (!)