After Dark, I read and cut 10 newspapers a day, 10 magazines a week, plus monthly digests of foreign press – a fantastic introduction to current affairs. I enjoyed the intellectual cut-and-thrust of the office, the thrill of live broadcasting, and the diversity of the subjects we covered." A senior member of staff described her working week: Direction About the look of the show director Don Coutts said "We used big close-ups, pulled focus or used a panning system. The camera work was radical...The idea was to use very low light conditions, and an atmosphere that was supposed to be dark and moody". Coutts is still pleased with the way viewers could turn the television on and within seconds know that what they were watching couldn't be anything other than After Dark." The producer wrote: "Guests sat in a circle and so concentrated on each other rather than the cameras. For the benefit of the watching audience at home, the participants were often filmed listening, a sight far more expressive than the faces we make when speaking. In fact After Dark gave such opportunities for listening that on occasion viewers even saw guests – slowly, perhaps only provisionally but nonetheless – changing their minds on air.". Legal A Channel 4 lawyer wrote: Cultural references After Dark featured in Biff cartoons, such as this one from The Guardian in 1988. After Dark was parodied on a regular basis as part of the BBC1 comedy series Alas Smith and Jones. An example can be seen here (from YouTube). The comic writer William Donaldson ran a column in The Independent newspaper about attempts made by After Dark staff to contact him (they "didn't know me from a hole in the road and merely wanted Janie Jones's number"). Simon Bell plays the part of an After Dark presenter in the 1989 film The Tall Guy. In 2011 Oliver Reed's appearance on After Dark featured in the BBC radio play Burning Both Ends by Matthew Broughton In 2016 After Dark was the inspiration for the touring production The Destroyed Room by theatre company Vanishing Point. See also List of After Dark editions Open Media References External sources Production company's list of all guests, hosts, programme titles and dates Selected press comment Credits of the first After Dark programme, 1 May 1987 (from IMDb) Interview with Helena Kennedy launching a new series of After Dark (The Sunday Times, 23 February 2003) Category:Channel 4 television programmes Category:British political television series Category:Censorship in the United Kingdom Category:1980s British television series Category:1990s British television series Category:2000s British television series Category:1987 British television series debuts Category:2003 British television series endings Category:British television talk shows Category:British television series revived after cancellation Category:Debate television series