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Themes

Time
Biding Time has been developed in London, a place synonymous with time. Big Ben is an international icon and time is measured relative to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). All geographical locations on earth have a latitude (their distance North or South of the Equator) and a longitude (their distance East or West of the Greenwich Meridian). With a general sense that our lives are speeding up, time continues to play a very special role with different attitudes to time in different parts of the world. In the UK, churches were once the rare places exhibiting clocks. During the Victorian era, public clocks were erected all over the country in town centres, in stations and on factories and life became more regimented. Personalised time, symbolised by the pocket watch and then the wrist watch became necessary comodities of modern life, but have now been abandoned by many people, instead relying on mobile phones to tell them the time. 

In the 21st century we have so many personal and public reminders of the time, technology taking us out the present into a fantastical space where we can contract and expand time to suit our own ends and mirror our experience of time passing. Our relationship with time is changing and yet we cannot alter what physicists call the 'arrow of time' determining our journey from cradle to grave.

The Biding Time story is set in the near future, just far enough to be different to the present, where our imaginations can play, but not so far as to become complete fantasy.

Natural Environment
The affect of human activity on eco systems and world climates is widely documented. The natural environment plays a fundamental role in this story, and takes place across a year, a cycle of the seasons. The four seasons, spring summer, autumn and winter have become universally recognised ways of articulating seasonal change however in some countries there are local ways of identifying the changes in nature. The natual environmant is also used (on screen) to reflect the emotional journey of Thyme and played out through Jake, who wants to save the world from natural disaster. Biding Time suggests that the disconnection between people and the natural environment is linked to our understanding of our emotional lives and our humanity.

London (or another urban centre)
The unfinished script sets Biding Time in London. It celebrates London,as home, favourite destination and symbol; an iconic city where millions of people have and will come to seek their fortunes. In this story London is a character, a cool, self-aware place of opportunity for all. The characters are all living in London looking for success of one kind or another and living in the capital is an important part of their journey.
In adapting this story it may be useful to imagine what role the city plays in your life, as cities are set to grow exponentially in the next thirty years. But the story can be set anywhere there are people striving to make a life and make sense of that life.

Love
All of the characters in Biding Time are looking for love. Love is both an opiate and a motivator. Thyme thinks love will make her happy. Mina is unlucky in love and believes she has been forgotten. Deek uses sex to avoid love and Jake, the eco warrior, has love of a different kind. Biding Time is exploring ideas about sexuality and romantic love in the 21st century, what people aspire to and how they work out what’s right for them.

Success
What constitutes success in a celebrity obsessed culture? In different cities of the world Hollywood stars stare out from billboards and news-stands. Is fame success? Is success being chosen ‘best’ in a competition, seeing yourself on TV or finding the right path for you? What values are endorsed by the measures of success we aspire to? Who are our role models? How do they impact on our sense of identity and national/cultural pride? Biding Time explores these ideas in both fun and serious ways.