I found it quite dull for most of the time. I was interested whenever Susan (MyAnna Burley) was on screen. She's very good and there's something about her face and her eyes that draw you in.
and apparently she's in the next Marple episode sometime in 2013 too.
I'll watch one more and if I'm still bored, I'll move on. It will be interesting to see if it holds viewers for the second ep.
I'm guessing most people's minds didn't wonder off in the 10 minutes of rapes and boobs.
There was nothing in last night's episode to suggest I should be coming back for more. It may get better as the series goes on but take away the gore and nudity and you have a pretty wafer-thin dialogue.
Interesting that someone on the Guardian comment section picked up on the fact that the houses used were Edwardian, not Victorian.
The American Surgeon for me was a Clone of the real " Doc Holliday " just transplanted from the Wild West to London . Doc Holliday was the Sidekick of Wyatt Earp, all the facts of Doc's real life were copied for the Ripper Street surgeon
One of the Whitechapel Murders, the Pinchin Street Torso is often connected with the Whitehall Mystery
which was mentioned in an episode of ITV series Whitechapel
Then care to tel me what you didn't understand coz granted there maybe one or two words I didn't understand, but that was more to do with me not knowing what the words where rather then the dialog.
You want me to tell you the bits I couldn't hear?
Well there was some mumbling at around 3m12s, some at 4m47s, again at 8m03s, etc, etc.
As you can see, giving you details of what I couldn't hear isn't very easy (all timings are estimates! )
I'm playing the audio through a good quality hifi amp and speakers not the rubbish built in TV speakers. This is probably better quality than 95% of the audience.
I have NEVER had a problem with dialogue in any previous series. This is the first time I have ever felt the need to mention it, but the dialogue was really difficult to follow.
This isn't to say the plot was difficult to follow. I found the story line had just the right amount of twists, turns and reveals to keep it interesting. It was just annoying to have characters on screen talking to each other and not being able to hear the conversation.
I will be watching episode 2 as I think the series has a lot of potential (if they can clean up the sound).
i thought it was good.....it was well made, the only bit that i didn't like is when they ventured out into the suburbs and the big houses,,,,,,,i'm sure i could see pvc windows on a house in the background LOL.
Its a good concept so i'll see if its still good next week. I didnt have any problems with dialogue so i can't comment on that:)
Matthew Macfadyen was the spitting image of Harry H Corbett in Carry on Screaming.
My hubby said the same thing while watching it.
I enjoyed it, after all the repeats and other rubbish on tv over the past week or so I was glad of something different. I will be tuning in for the next episode so will see if it can keep me watching.
I found the Victorian dialogue ok and thought it added authenticity to the production (unlike the American surgeon who reminded me of the token Yank in British post-war movies who was there for the sole purpose of selling the product on in the US). Good start - the preview of next week's episode look less interesting!
I liked the dialogue too. Obviously I can't say whether that's how they actually spoke back then in conversation or not, but it seemed a little more "Dickensian" than I'm used to with drama set in this time period, and helped to sell some of the less plausible aspects (e.g. Victorian snuff movies.)
It did enough to make me give it another go next week anyway.
I thought it rattled along at a good pace, and didn't have me looking at my watch all the time..always a good sign. As a period police drama, I don't think it was as good as City of Vice..that series about the birth of the Bow Street runners set in the 18th century. But for pure entertainment, it did the job for me anyway.
Yes I can agree with that. The action never stopped..it could even have been a little slower for me..how anyone could find it boring is beyond me. It went for this slightly misty look about the filming..murky would probably be more like it but hey ho costuming, sets all very good and I liked the charaters straight off and the villains were very propery villainous. For "detection " this is one of my favouriter eras and this was pleasing and a relief after the dreadful Crimbo TV. I hope it carries on in the same vein.
Yes I can agree with that. The action never stopped..it could even have been a little slower for me..how anyone could find it boring is beyond me. It went for this slightly misty look about the filming..murky would probably be more like it but hey ho costuming, sets all very good and I liked the charaters straight off and the villains were very propery villainous. For "detection " this is one of my favouriter eras and this was pleasing and a relief after the dreadful Crimbo TV. I hope it carries on in the same vein.
I was half watching (half browsing) this last night, downloaded it and watched it properly tonight.
I enjoyed that, rattled along nicely, I'll be watching the next one.
Looked nice enough too, they've spent a few bob on that.
I did watch The Violent Highway, before it, which might have affected my mood. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kmp4t
There was some mumbling, indistinct dialogue, hopefully someone will have words with the BBC and they can fiddle with the mix.
People wondering why you can't hear dialogue clearly in shows sometimes. It's because the producers can only be arsed to do a 5.1 surround mix, so you get the audio that's meant to be going to the back two speakers coming through your normal stereo speakers at the same time, so dialogue is overwhelmed by sound effects and music.
Of course, if you are watching the show on a HD channel (which can broadcast in 5.1 surround) and with a surround sound speaker setup yourself, this won't be a problem as the dialogue has a the centre speaker all to itself. This doesn't help if you are just using your TV's speakers, which 99% of us do.
My Sony TV has a sound option called Voice Zoom which helps against this problem by increasing the volume of the centre of the mix, helping dialogue to be heard better. It's not a perfect solution but it's a definite improvement.
I thought it rattled along at a good pace, and didn't have me looking at my watch all the time..always a good sign. As a period police drama, I don't think it was as good as City of Vice..that series about the birth of the Bow Street runners set in the 18th century. But for pure entertainment, it did the job for me anyway.
Now that was a great drama, shame they only did the one series.
I found it really interesting after watching this that watching a documentary about Jack The Ripper, the scuzzy tabloid journalist working for The Star was a real person working for that paper who the evidence suggests was the real person that wrote the Dear Boss letter that was signed Jack The Ripper and contained the words Down on ****. The writers have done their research and deserve respect for that.
I really enjoyed it, despite some sound problems (same with Restless). But why did they introduce an American into the plot, especially one with an incomprehensible accent?
I really enjoyed it, despite some sound problems (same with Restless). But why did they introduce an American into the plot, especially one with an incomprehensible accent?
Probably because it is a BBC/BBC America co-production.
Comments
There was nothing in last night's episode to suggest I should be coming back for more. It may get better as the series goes on but take away the gore and nudity and you have a pretty wafer-thin dialogue.
Interesting that someone on the Guardian comment section picked up on the fact that the houses used were Edwardian, not Victorian.
I did think that this series would be more about the later Whitechapel Murders (after the canonical five by Jack).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper
One of the Whitechapel Murders, the Pinchin Street Torso is often connected with the Whitehall Mystery
which was mentioned in an episode of ITV series Whitechapel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders#Pinchin_Street_torso
You want me to tell you the bits I couldn't hear?
Well there was some mumbling at around 3m12s, some at 4m47s, again at 8m03s, etc, etc.
As you can see, giving you details of what I couldn't hear isn't very easy (all timings are estimates!
I'm playing the audio through a good quality hifi amp and speakers not the rubbish built in TV speakers. This is probably better quality than 95% of the audience.
I have NEVER had a problem with dialogue in any previous series. This is the first time I have ever felt the need to mention it, but the dialogue was really difficult to follow.
This isn't to say the plot was difficult to follow. I found the story line had just the right amount of twists, turns and reveals to keep it interesting. It was just annoying to have characters on screen talking to each other and not being able to hear the conversation.
I will be watching episode 2 as I think the series has a lot of potential (if they can clean up the sound).
Its a good concept so i'll see if its still good next week. I didnt have any problems with dialogue so i can't comment on that:)
My hubby said the same thing while watching it.
I enjoyed it, after all the repeats and other rubbish on tv over the past week or so I was glad of something different. I will be tuning in for the next episode so will see if it can keep me watching.
That's it! I knew he reminded me of somebody.
I'm surprised they didn't call it CSI: Whitechapel for the benefit of the American market.
It did enough to make me give it another go next week anyway.
Yes I can agree with that. The action never stopped..it could even have been a little slower for me..how anyone could find it boring is beyond me. It went for this slightly misty look about the filming..murky would probably be more like it but hey ho costuming, sets all very good and I liked the charaters straight off and the villains were very propery villainous. For "detection " this is one of my favouriter eras and this was pleasing and a relief after the dreadful Crimbo TV. I hope it carries on in the same vein.
Same here - I actually put subtitles on.
You're dead right. I knew he reminded me of someone and couldn't just twig who it was.
I was half watching (half browsing) this last night, downloaded it and watched it properly tonight.
I enjoyed that, rattled along nicely, I'll be watching the next one.
Looked nice enough too, they've spent a few bob on that.
I did watch The Violent Highway, before it, which might have affected my mood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kmp4t
There was some mumbling, indistinct dialogue, hopefully someone will have words with the BBC and they can fiddle with the mix.
Of course, if you are watching the show on a HD channel (which can broadcast in 5.1 surround) and with a surround sound speaker setup yourself, this won't be a problem as the dialogue has a the centre speaker all to itself. This doesn't help if you are just using your TV's speakers, which 99% of us do.
My Sony TV has a sound option called Voice Zoom which helps against this problem by increasing the volume of the centre of the mix, helping dialogue to be heard better. It's not a perfect solution but it's a definite improvement.
Annnnnd relax xD.
Now that was a great drama, shame they only did the one series.
Oh thirded, done for tuppence hapenny compared to this.
Lack of second series means it probably didn't put bums on seats though.
Just an excuse for a lot of semi-nudity. Got nothing against voiceovers but can only hear M&S adverts now when Matthew McWhatisface is on the box.
The American character was a caricature.
Jerome Flynn looked as if he had no clue what was going on. Don't blame him.
Thought it deeply unpleasant and won't watch again. Lasted about twenty minutes but the amount of female nudity really upset me.
Probably because it is a BBC/BBC America co-production.