If people aren't prepared to stick around, that isn't their problem - it's Sky's. Critical lost over 100,000 viewers last night, against feeble opposition.
Medical jargon may keep you glued, but it's never been used to pull in audiences on any other mainstream drama and, from what we're seeing, it's clearly not working here. There was even a repeat of a moment from the first episode about whether or not to do a CT scan or an x-ray first - which is just lazy.
I'm all for a slow burn drama - Mad Men being the prime example - but that is extremely character-driven. Burying characters under so much medicine that they can't breathe isn't letting them develop. It's stifling them. And when the most discernible characters are ones we'e seen a thousand times before, that's not saying much.
If you're enjoying Critical, that's good. Nobody says we all have to like the same thing. But I shan't be wasting any more of my time on it.
It's not Sky's fault. If a programme does exactly what it was heavily advertised to do and viewers then complain that it is, then my sympathy isn't with the viewers turning off. that's like complaining a mint choc cornetto has mint in it!
I am enjoying it, you're not and yeah that's OK. But I feel compelled to write some support for it in the face of so much negativity, especially from people whose minds have clearly been made up from the start like you
It's not Sky's fault. If a programme does exactly what it was heavily advertised to do and viewers then complain that it is, then my sympathy isn't with the viewers turning off. that's like complaining a mint choc cornetto has mint in it!
I am enjoying it, you're not and yeah that's OK. But I feel compelled to write some support for it in the face of so much negativity, especially from people whose minds have clearly been made up from the start like you
Of course it's Sky's fault. They spent a long time publicising it as a new medical drama starring Lennie James - who then didn't appear until the very end of the pilot - and sold it as something different, which it plainly isn't. To use your analogy, it's like being sold a mint choc cornetto that's somehow different from any other on the market - but, when you take off the wrapping, what you find has just added a bit of extra topping (the medical jargon), but is still full of all the ingredients you'd expect to find.
What you call negativity is actually disappointment from myself and other FMs that Critical is not what we expected and hoped it would be. My mind wasn't made up at all until I saw the pilot and then the super cliché character of Glen in last night's episode. For me, and obviously others, it's a missed opportunity.
One minute you're saying it's too different; not enough characterisation, using medical jargon and procedures to sell a show to viewers, the next you're saying its not different enough!
As a fan of Mercurio I read everything about this going in and let me tell you NOTHING that has subsequently appeared has led me to thinking I've been misled.
Look I don't want to push the point but when you read comments like 'I switched off it was all procedure' then frankly, there's no one to blame but that viewer. Like I say a cursory glance at any TV review would have highlighted to them that it was all procedure.
And extreme injuries are EVERY trauma based programmes trademark!
Mercifully, the press have a completely different view of the show than the negativity or disappointment on display here!
Anyone know what the abbreviations on the badges stand for? Am assuming N is nurse, but no idea about ODP or the ST(followed by number). Does the number indicate seniority? Not made my mind up about this series yet.
Anyone know what the abbreviations on the badges stand for? Am assuming N is nurse, but no idea about ODP or the ST(followed by number). Does the number indicate seniority? Not made my mind up about this series yet.
Ni is nurse yeah and the numbers after it represent the band they are.
ODP is Operating Dept Practitioners
ST is Specialty Training, the old Reg grade. Doctors nowadays are F1 and F2 (House Officer) CT1/CT2 (SHO) ST grade (Reg) or thereabouts
It's not Sky's fault. If a programme does exactly what it was heavily advertised to do and viewers then complain that it is, then my sympathy isn't with the viewers turning off. that's like complaining a mint choc cornetto has mint in it!
I am enjoying it, you're not and yeah that's OK. But I feel compelled to write some support for it in the face of so much negativity, especially from people whose minds have clearly been made up from the start like you
Hold on, are you saying it's not Sky's fault that they have broadcast a programme that not many people like?
I have enjoyed the first two episodes but then I am a qualified nurse who has worked in an ED, so its a compelling subject and I know the jargon.
What I have found really irritating so far is that it has been really doctor-centric and the two nurses featured are the Welsh misery who likes to chew patient's sweets and take the mick and the senior nurse who has a face filled with fury and just seems to want to put obstacles in the way and stand by watching without ever doing a thing. It really is not representative of the excellent work done by ED nurse all over the country (yes, I know it's a drama)
As for last night's episode: it was a big step forward in some ways, so much so that I have to wonder why Episode 1 (as it was) was ever aired. There was nothing in that episode that was necessary to understand what was going on in Episode 2, and we finally got Lennie James' character inside the hospital, where he should have been in the pilot.
As another member posted, I feel the pilot episode was mainly to set things up: Rappaport goes missing/sacked/suspended/sick (as yet we don't know which) and Boyle comes in to start turning the whole unit around and get the team working properly again. I don't see the point in comparing it to Casualty as that is obviously much more of a soap these days (and a parody of its former self in my opinion). But Critical has had enough in it, so far, to hold my interest and I'll be sticking with it, although whether it can develop enough to warrant a second season remains to be seen.
Finally had a chance to watch last night's episode, blimey, tense stuff. It's good that they do let some patients die although not easy to watch. So was Glen in Bastion or not, is he actually an imposter? I'm hooked, the little snippets of personal info each week are plenty for me, getting to know the characters more by the way they interact over the patient. I agree with the point above, the role of nurses is understated, hopefully they'll fix that but maybe it's deliberate with the focus being more on the doctors.
Finally had a chance to watch last night's episode, blimey, tense stuff. It's good that they do let some patients die although not easy to watch. So was Glen in Bastion or not, is he actually an imposter? I'm hooked, the little snippets of personal info each week are plenty for me, getting to know the characters more by the way they interact over the patient. I agree with the point above, the role of nurses is understated, hopefully they'll fix that but maybe it's deliberate with the focus being more on the doctors.
I am hooked too ( albeit from behind a cushion ! ) I know its not real but it is so well done that it feels and looks real.
I hope too that they remedy the nurses being understated.
Comments
It's not Sky's fault. If a programme does exactly what it was heavily advertised to do and viewers then complain that it is, then my sympathy isn't with the viewers turning off. that's like complaining a mint choc cornetto has mint in it!
I am enjoying it, you're not and yeah that's OK. But I feel compelled to write some support for it in the face of so much negativity, especially from people whose minds have clearly been made up from the start like you
Obviously not - but strange impalings and extreme injuries are two of Grey's trademarks.
Of course it's Sky's fault. They spent a long time publicising it as a new medical drama starring Lennie James - who then didn't appear until the very end of the pilot - and sold it as something different, which it plainly isn't. To use your analogy, it's like being sold a mint choc cornetto that's somehow different from any other on the market - but, when you take off the wrapping, what you find has just added a bit of extra topping (the medical jargon), but is still full of all the ingredients you'd expect to find.
What you call negativity is actually disappointment from myself and other FMs that Critical is not what we expected and hoped it would be. My mind wasn't made up at all until I saw the pilot and then the super cliché character of Glen in last night's episode. For me, and obviously others, it's a missed opportunity.
As a fan of Mercurio I read everything about this going in and let me tell you NOTHING that has subsequently appeared has led me to thinking I've been misled.
Look I don't want to push the point but when you read comments like 'I switched off it was all procedure' then frankly, there's no one to blame but that viewer. Like I say a cursory glance at any TV review would have highlighted to them that it was all procedure.
And extreme injuries are EVERY trauma based programmes trademark!
Mercifully, the press have a completely different view of the show than the negativity or disappointment on display here!
Ni is nurse yeah and the numbers after it represent the band they are.
ODP is Operating Dept Practitioners
ST is Specialty Training, the old Reg grade. Doctors nowadays are F1 and F2 (House Officer) CT1/CT2 (SHO) ST grade (Reg) or thereabouts
Con is Consultant
I have no idea why people keep bringing up Greys either. Dreadful show, more soapy than anything else. Greys has more in common with Holby than ER.
So true. And Greys is awful anyway, not a decent hospital drama.
Hold on, are you saying it's not Sky's fault that they have broadcast a programme that not many people like?
What I have found really irritating so far is that it has been really doctor-centric and the two nurses featured are the Welsh misery who likes to chew patient's sweets and take the mick and the senior nurse who has a face filled with fury and just seems to want to put obstacles in the way and stand by watching without ever doing a thing. It really is not representative of the excellent work done by ED nurse all over the country (yes, I know it's a drama)
As another member posted, I feel the pilot episode was mainly to set things up: Rappaport goes missing/sacked/suspended/sick (as yet we don't know which) and Boyle comes in to start turning the whole unit around and get the team working properly again. I don't see the point in comparing it to Casualty as that is obviously much more of a soap these days (and a parody of its former self in my opinion). But Critical has had enough in it, so far, to hold my interest and I'll be sticking with it, although whether it can develop enough to warrant a second season remains to be seen.
There are too many things on tv to give something time that was clearly nonsense in the first week.
Well with that attitude you'll miss out on some good shows.
They seem to be in a very modern hospital/office building and are wearing uniforms taken from Star Trek.
So glad it's surgeon centered and not all aboutnurses
I'm fairly confident I won't. Name me a good show that was absolute garbage in it's first episode.
I am hooked too ( albeit from behind a cushion ! ) I know its not real but it is so well done that it feels and looks real.
I hope too that they remedy the nurses being understated.