The DNA of Netflix hits Bridgerton and Squid Game

Crowd pleasers Squid Game and Bridgerton could not be further apart in subject matter, but they are currently the two most streamed programmes in Netflix’s history. We get under the bonnet and behind the mask of these phenomena by examining their precedents on both the big and small screen, tracing how previous works have covered similar themes in so many different ways.

Ellen looks at the death-match films from cinema history that form the DNA of Squid Game, with the help of The Purge creator James DeMonaco, critic Anna Bogutskaya and academic Dr Jinhee Choi.

And Mark is joined by screenwriter Andrew Davies and historical consultant Hannah Greig to investigate Bridgerton’s self-consciously modern style influences in historical drama, from The Draughtsman's Contract to Sofia Coppola’s derided but influential 2006 picture Marie Antoinette.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4