[QUOTE=Fudd;63409960]If anything, The Paradise lifted it from Mr. Selfridge; Mr. Selfridge is based on a non-fiction book while The Paradise is based on a fictional novel. I presume Agnes is in the book (though I cannot guarantee it); if so, no doubt the author of The Paradise had heard about the Selfridge history and thought it would be a good human interest angle.
Also, Mr. Selfridge was filmed before The Paradise; the BBC even rushed The Paradise to air before they had finished the final episode to beat ITV to the punch. Rumours were ITV had lined up Mr. Selfridge for the autumn schedule.[/QUOTE
According in an article in the Mail online, the scriptwriter Andrew Davies invented Agnes Towler and Ellen Love, Harry's first mistress. I have also read that the Paradise was filmed first, but who really knows, or cares come to that.
At the moment I love the Paradise and just like Mr Selfridge but who knows by episode 8 I may just love Mr Selfridge too!! (I doubt it somehow but you never know)
If anything, The Paradise lifted it from Mr. Selfridge; Mr. Selfridge is based on a non-fiction book while The Paradise is based on a fictional novel. I presume Agnes is in the book (though I cannot guarantee it); if so, no doubt the author of The Paradise had heard about the Selfridge history and thought it would be a good human interest angle.
Also, Mr. Selfridge was filmed before The Paradise; the BBC even rushed The Paradise to air before they had finished the final episode to beat ITV to the punch. Rumours were ITV had lined up Mr. Selfridge for the autumn schedule.
The book was released in 1883 so I think there is doubt that the author travelled to the future read the non-fiction book and then, since Agnes doesn't exist in it, made a deal with the BBC to copy Mr Selfridge.
Also as for who had the idea to do a series first, and this will probably never be 100% known, I believe it was the BBC. I remember looking into it when The Paradise first aired, and ITV was crying to anyone who'd listen that the BBC copied them, and found an article from about 4 years ago about The Paradise planning to film in North East, and there's an interview with Bill Galagher where he said he brought the book with him to his first meeting with the BBC, years before even Lark Rise was made. As for official announcements, the BBC announced there's nearly a year before ITV. I would post links but I'm on my phone
None of this matters in terms of enjoyment however, I will stick with Mr Selfridge because I was looking forward to it and first episodes are rarely brilliant, especially when bloated to 90 minutes, and I hope it steers off into a different direction than The Paradise.
The book was released in 1883 so I think there is doubt that the author travelled to the future read the non-fiction book and then, since Agnes doesn't exist in it, made a deal with the BBC to copy Mr Selfridge.
Also as for who had the idea to do a series first, and this will probably never be 100% known, I believe it was the BBC. I remember looking into it when The Paradise first aired, and ITV was crying to anyone who'd listen that the BBC copied them, and found an article from about 4 years ago about The Paradise planning to film in North East, and there's an interview with Bill Galagher where he said he brought the book with him to his first meeting with the BBC, years before even Lark Rise was made. As for official announcements, the BBC announced there's nearly a year before ITV. I would post links but I'm on my phone
None of this matters in terms of enjoyment however, I will stick with Mr Selfridge because I was looking forward to it and first episodes are rarely brilliant, especially when bloated to 90 minutes, and I hope it steers off into a different direction than The Paradise.
It is good to see that with all the criticism the BBC gets, they have the flexibility to get their series out earlier than the ITV one. They must have known that ITV would probably be throwing more money at their one so it could have overshadowed The Paradise even if that was a better production.
So far I think that The Paradise was much better than Mr Selfridge, but it will, as previously mentioned, be interesting to see this show goes into a different direction.
As Selfridges is a much bigger store than The Paradise, there should be more room for more characters to appear, but obviously there is a limited budget.
It is already apparent that Mr S is a flawed character and is likely to succomb to temptation, whereas Moray, being a widower, had more room for manouevre.
I feel out of step in that I thought it was really disappointing. It wasn't a patch on The Paradise, let alone Downton, and all the characterisation was very two dimensional and thin. Piven was the best thing about it.
Don't get me wrong, I think it will be a hit and crush Ripper Street in the ratings - having seen one episode of both, I much prefer Ripper in terms of story and acting, but it's too dark and nasty for me on a Sunday night, I'd rather watch it on the player later in the week.
Considering how similar they were, I thought it made the Paradise cast and direction look really brilliant, in terms of making you care about the characters, and seeing their strengths and weaknesses. Agnes was all right, but by the end of the first hour of the Paradise I really believed Denise had a special gift for selling and a drive about her, and Agnes's red rose scene didn't work anywhere near as well. This has a better budget, the sets are better, etc, but I thought the scenes that should have had real magic were just OK.
I will probably stick with it to see what happens - recording it next time so I can ff through the adverts - and I'm hoping that so many usually good actors is a sign the scripts are going to get better. But, yes, first impression - real disappointment.
I feel out of step in that I thought it was really disappointing. It wasn't a patch on The Paradise, let alone Downton, and all the characterisation was very two dimensional and thin. Piven was the best thing about it.
Don't get me wrong, I think it will be a hit and crush Ripper Street in the ratings - having seen one episode of both, I much prefer Ripper in terms of story and acting, but it's too dark and nasty for me on a Sunday night, I'd rather watch it on the player later in the week.
Considering how similar they were, I thought it made the Paradise cast and direction look really brilliant, in terms of making you care about the characters, and seeing their strengths and weaknesses. Agnes was all right, but by the end of the first hour of the Paradise I really believed Denise had a special gift for selling and a drive about her, and Agnes's red rose scene didn't work anywhere near as well. This has a better budget, the sets are better, etc, but I thought the scenes that should have had real magic were just OK.
I will probably stick with it to see what happens - recording it next time so I can ff through the adverts - and I'm hoping that so many usually good actors is a sign the scripts are going to get better. But, yes, first impression - real disappointment.
I totally agree with you except for one thing I am not that keen on Jeremy Piven. He's ok but his voice is so booming.
There was a previous poster who said he reminded her of one of the Gibb brothers, all teeth.I can see what she means!!
I sat through it all comparing it to the Paradise all the way through.
I much prefer the Paradise, the acting, the characters and the production were way more enjoyable. I will continue to watch, but I too will probably record and FF the ads.
I saw that. He said Mr Selfridge's life ends up quite tragically, but does that mean all that is covered in series one? I want facts
I very much doubt that. ITV invested in this as a returning series, so will want to milk it as long as it is popular.
Mr Selfridge didn't 'crush' Ripper Street in the ratings at all - indeed, it held up pretty well against it given how heavily ITV have promoted their series. Selfridge also lost viewers over the 90 minutes it was on. Interestingly, Ripper Street won more male viewers while, predictably, Mr Selfridge's audience was heavily skewed towards women (figures in the Ratings thread).
The Selfridges setting is actually not much more than window dressing (excuse the pun) for a Casanova story. I found Piven's acting excruciating at times - all those cheesy raised hands gestures :eek: - and the 'charisma' felt very forced. PMSL at the Bee Gees comparison ... so true!
As a period bonkfest, I'm sure it will succeed. But there's not really much at stake dramatically - we all know Selfridges became a big success, so all the stuff about whether or not the store would survive lacks any genuine jeopardy. The Paradise may have been flawed - and yes, it was in development first - but at least with a fictional shop, we don't know what is going to happen ...
I sat through it all comparing it to the Paradise all the way through.
I much prefer the Paradise, the acting, the characters and the production were way more enjoyable. I will continue to watch, but I too will probably record and FF the ads.
Just my opinion ..
I'm the complete opposite, I gave up on The Paradise after one episode.....the acting, the characters and the production, all awful imo.
Loving Mr Selfridge, everything so much better, from the acting to the MUCH higher production values, it's as if The paradise was a Corner Shop.
I'm the complete opposite, I gave up on The Paradise after one episode.....the acting, the characters and the production, all awful imo.
Loving Mr Selfridge, everything so much better, from the acting to the MUCH higher production values, it's as if The paradise was a Corner Shop.
Liking Zoë Tapper 'Ellen Love' too.;)
I agree with you. I found The Paradise not at all to my taste....and I appreciate Emile Zola, who originally wrote the story, having read a few of his books.
Mr Selfridge is far more enjoyable to watch and I am looking forward to next week.
I would have expected that the people who like this type of thing would all have liked both series . It looks as though you have to join one camp or another.
I quite enjoyed watching the first episode of Selfridges; so I am hoping the standards of the following episodes are up to scratch. Great effort all round, and wasnt Katherine Kelly good too?
Comments
Also, Mr. Selfridge was filmed before The Paradise; the BBC even rushed The Paradise to air before they had finished the final episode to beat ITV to the punch. Rumours were ITV had lined up Mr. Selfridge for the autumn schedule.[/QUOTE
According in an article in the Mail online, the scriptwriter Andrew Davies invented Agnes Towler and Ellen Love, Harry's first mistress. I have also read that the Paradise was filmed first, but who really knows, or cares come to that.
At the moment I love the Paradise and just like Mr Selfridge but who knows by episode 8 I may just love Mr Selfridge too!! (I doubt it somehow but you never know)
And as it's based on fact it will not have the disappointing ending that so many recent dramas have had.
The book was released in 1883 so I think there is doubt that the author travelled to the future read the non-fiction book and then, since Agnes doesn't exist in it, made a deal with the BBC to copy Mr Selfridge.
Also as for who had the idea to do a series first, and this will probably never be 100% known, I believe it was the BBC. I remember looking into it when The Paradise first aired, and ITV was crying to anyone who'd listen that the BBC copied them, and found an article from about 4 years ago about The Paradise planning to film in North East, and there's an interview with Bill Galagher where he said he brought the book with him to his first meeting with the BBC, years before even Lark Rise was made. As for official announcements, the BBC announced there's nearly a year before ITV. I would post links but I'm on my phone
None of this matters in terms of enjoyment however, I will stick with Mr Selfridge because I was looking forward to it and first episodes are rarely brilliant, especially when bloated to 90 minutes, and I hope it steers off into a different direction than The Paradise.
It is good to see that with all the criticism the BBC gets, they have the flexibility to get their series out earlier than the ITV one. They must have known that ITV would probably be throwing more money at their one so it could have overshadowed The Paradise even if that was a better production.
As Selfridges is a much bigger store than The Paradise, there should be more room for more characters to appear, but obviously there is a limited budget.
It is already apparent that Mr S is a flawed character and is likely to succomb to temptation, whereas Moray, being a widower, had more room for manouevre.
Don't get me wrong, I think it will be a hit and crush Ripper Street in the ratings - having seen one episode of both, I much prefer Ripper in terms of story and acting, but it's too dark and nasty for me on a Sunday night, I'd rather watch it on the player later in the week.
Considering how similar they were, I thought it made the Paradise cast and direction look really brilliant, in terms of making you care about the characters, and seeing their strengths and weaknesses. Agnes was all right, but by the end of the first hour of the Paradise I really believed Denise had a special gift for selling and a drive about her, and Agnes's red rose scene didn't work anywhere near as well. This has a better budget, the sets are better, etc, but I thought the scenes that should have had real magic were just OK.
I will probably stick with it to see what happens - recording it next time so I can ff through the adverts - and I'm hoping that so many usually good actors is a sign the scripts are going to get better. But, yes, first impression - real disappointment.
I totally agree with you except for one thing I am not that keen on Jeremy Piven. He's ok but his voice is so booming.
There was a previous poster who said he reminded her of one of the Gibb brothers, all teeth.I can see what she means!!
I much prefer the Paradise, the acting, the characters and the production were way more enjoyable. I will continue to watch, but I too will probably record and FF the ads.
Just my opinion ..
True but it makes for some good online chat!! One thing though, I would not call the Paradise of Mr Selfridge soaps...pleeease have some respect!!
Jeremy Pivan in on This Morning right now, and comes across very well.
I saw that. He said Mr Selfridge's life ends up quite tragically, but does that mean all that is covered in series one? I want facts
I very much doubt that. ITV invested in this as a returning series, so will want to milk it as long as it is popular.
Mr Selfridge didn't 'crush' Ripper Street in the ratings at all - indeed, it held up pretty well against it given how heavily ITV have promoted their series. Selfridge also lost viewers over the 90 minutes it was on. Interestingly, Ripper Street won more male viewers while, predictably, Mr Selfridge's audience was heavily skewed towards women (figures in the Ratings thread).
The Selfridges setting is actually not much more than window dressing (excuse the pun) for a Casanova story. I found Piven's acting excruciating at times - all those cheesy raised hands gestures :eek: - and the 'charisma' felt very forced. PMSL at the Bee Gees comparison ... so true!
As a period bonkfest, I'm sure it will succeed. But there's not really much at stake dramatically - we all know Selfridges became a big success, so all the stuff about whether or not the store would survive lacks any genuine jeopardy. The Paradise may have been flawed - and yes, it was in development first - but at least with a fictional shop, we don't know what is going to happen ...
Loving Mr Selfridge, everything so much better, from the acting to the MUCH higher production values, it's as if The paradise was a Corner Shop.
Liking Zoë Tapper 'Ellen Love' too.;)
haha - so true!
i really wanted to like mr selfridge but just didn't because of the acting. hopefully it'll get better as the series progresses.
It's a ten part series so it's probably all covered in 'one go'.
I agree with you. I found The Paradise not at all to my taste....and I appreciate Emile Zola, who originally wrote the story, having read a few of his books.
Mr Selfridge is far more enjoyable to watch and I am looking forward to next week.
Katherine Kelly has done very well since leaving Coronation Street.
Just enjoy both !
That's what I've done!
oh yes, those bits irritated me too!