It's tricky, though. If Barry had died in the first few minutes, the audience wouldn't have been aware of his links with people and his character. In the books, we get all that via internal monologues, which you obviously can't get in a TV series.
I liked how they gave Barry proper airtime, as you just would not have got a sense of his character had they killed him off straightaway.
I do not want the child abuser to get it nor do I want miles as he will support his father. Regarding the teacher it is the son smoking pot which will raise a few eyebrows
Thereis a bit more to it than that. Great to see Revs archdeacon, he was very good in Utopia too.
I've not read the book, but this a very bad adaptation.
We should be able to know what's going on without having to reference the source material.
It seems the only people who've enjoyed this have read the book previously.
I've not read the book, and I managed fine. Then again, I wasn't trying to read and post on DS at the same time.;-)
It's the first of a three-parter, and I was expecting a bit of mystery, so it seems right that I don't know exactly what's going on.
I enjoyed it. It's a bit different from what we are used to. I like that they've got a glossy look, which doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny when you look more closely. The whole opening sequence with the centre was like that, and flagged up what I anticipate the whole thing is about.
I enjoyed this. I'm a big fan of JK Rowling but did not much like this book. When I was reading it, I thought it was a story that'd be better for TV so was not surprised to find I enjoyed this more.
I don't know who the reviewer was, but I assume they watched it through left-wing tinted glasses.
Does Private Eye still have a Pseud's Corner:
Barry, the voice of reason, calls it as he sees it - referring to the plans as "social engineering" and "apartheid" - adding: "We don't turn our backs on people in need." In these times, when the rise of the far right and those who would blame social problems on "outsiders" is becoming more prevalent, the issues expressed here are apposite and not to be ignored.
Going by the "also reviewed", they've reviewed only two other programmes this year : various episodes of Cucumber and Broadchurch. All of which, apparently, were 'exquisite'.
ETA : Oops. I have my zoom level at a value where I can see only the post itself. Hence I never know who the poster is until I see the quote. If the poster and reviewer are the same - sorry, but my opinion's unchanged.
I've not read the book, and I managed fine. Then again, I wasn't trying to read and post on DS at the same time.;-)
It's the first of a three-parter, and I was expecting a bit of mystery, so it seems right that I don't know exactly what's going on.
I enjoyed it. It's a bit different from what we are used to. I like that they've got a glossy look, which doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny when you look more closely. The whole opening sequence with the centre was like that, and flagged up what I anticipate the whole thing is about.
But this is TV not some obscure Romanian arthouse film, the viewer should know what's happening early on - it needs to hook us so we want to come back for more (I certainly won't be tuning in next week).
This first Ep seems to have wasted a lot of time and space; narratively nothing happened. I'm sure if an hour was cut it would have made for a much tighter and coherent story. At the mo, it seems the screenwriter has just written for the sake of it.
I have read the book and really enjoyed it. Sadly the transfer to tv is a bit disappointing at the moment (which is usually the case) but I still enjoyed watching as I understood who the characters were and know from the book the back story. But I can understand that people that have not read the book struggling with this as its all very poorly disjointed.
Not read the book, so it was a bit confusing. The best parts were the kids, Fats and Krystal. I like Krystal, looks out for Robbie, hates her mother being a druggie, dobs in the idiot with the knocked off tv's.
I think I enjoyed it, enough to watch again next week. Indian Summers recorded so I'll watch that tomorrow!
I don't know who the reviewer was, but I assume they watched it through left-wing tinted glasses.
It's a laughable bad review, from someone who sounds like they'd rather be working for The Guardian rather than Digital Spy.
I've not read the book, and I found the tone of the TV adaptation a little strange ... on the one hand it displays a clear liberal bias, but on the other hand it cosily middle class, whilst depicting working class people an a pretty one dimensional and patronising fashion.
But I found it easy enough to follow and there's enough going on for me to continue watching for another week at least.
But this is TV not some obscure Romanian arthouse film, the viewer should know what's happening early on - it needs to hook us so we want to come back for more (I certainly won't be tuning in next week).
This first Ep seems to have wasted a lot of time and space; narratively nothing happened. I'm sure if an hour was cut it would have made for a much tighter and coherent story. At the mo, it seems the screenwriter has just written for the sake of it.
Perhaps you should have spent more time watching it instead of posting on DS while it was on air.
To be honest I found it incredibly slow. Rory Kinnear was great as ever but the whole thing seemed to lack any drive. They seemed to have padded out Barry's role when I think they should have killed him off right away and then revealed more about him in flash backs as it was in the book (well I've been told it was like that, I haven't actually read it). I think Keeley Hawes is a great actress but after her amazing performance in Line of Duty this role felt a bit beneath her. Also, having 'Dumbledore' in it was a little distracting. However the girl playing Crystal was really amazing. The whole thing wasn't really my cup of tea and the characterization of everyone felt really obvious and cliche to me but maybe I'm being a bit harsh. I'll certainly watch again next week.
To be honest I found it incredibly slow. Rory Kinnear was great as ever but the whole thing seemed to lack any drive. They seemed to have padded out Barry's role when I think they should have killed him off right away and then revealed more about him in flash backs as it was in the book (well I've been told it was like that, I haven't actually read it). I think Keeley Hawes is a great actress but after her amazing performance in Line of Duty this role felt a bit beneath her. Also, having 'Dumbledore' in it was a little distracting. However the girl playing Crystal was really amazing. The whole thing wasn't really my cup of tea and the characterization of everyone felt really obvious and cliche to me but maybe I'm being a bit harsh. I'll certainly watch again next week.
Apparently she's Scottish as well, did a decent accent, I think.
I didn't find it confusing, although I haven't read the book. I did find it really dull though. I can understand the need to set the scene and lay the groundwork before really getting into the story, but even the worst of dramas will usually have something remotely interesting going on while everyone is being introduced.
It didn't pick up for me until the last minute and the 'ghostly' forum posting. Had such a thing happened at the end of the first episode of a typical drama, it's likely I'd have been left wondering what the impact was going to be on the characters I'd just spent the last hour getting to know, but my reaction to the event was just 'Blimey, something's happening!' There was only one character that I found the slightest bit compelling, and they've already killed him
I'll probably watch the rest if I've nothing better to do, because I've already invested time in watching a third of it. There's no way I'd have stuck it out if it was an eight-parter though. The idea of changing the original ending because it might cause the viewers to disengage amuses me a bit (especially since boring them rigid for an hour apparently won't!). If viewers have sat through the entire thing and only 'disengage' once they've seen the ending, I'm not entirely sure why that would matter
I don't understand what was confusing about it? All seemed pretty straightforward mystery tale to me but with some added social commentary/class struggle. There's quite a large cast to manage but I think I got a good grip on most of them and set up the tales that are going to unravel over the next couple of hours- I reallyI enjoyed it, well made and some top notch actors, It reminded me a lot of a serious take on Agatha Raisin that was on Sky over Christmas
I'm no fan of J.K Rowling but this was ok. More than a little stereotyped but easy watching and I want to see what happens next which I guess is a vote in favour. I can't believe that people couldn't follow the plot
I found it riveting. I read the book and enjoyed it very much, but I watched it with my mum and dad and neither had read the book but both very much understood what was going on so I fail to see how people could find it confusing? No, you won't know every character's name and purpose immediately but that's what you get when you watch a TV show with a relatively large cast. The best the writers can do within the first hour of a large ensemble cast drama is make each character's personality strong enough to shine through, and firmly establish the story, and I felt both of those things were very well done.
With this and Wolf Hall (and the upcoming Poldark which also looks amazing), the BBC are absolutely killing it with their adaptations recently.
Comments
I liked how they gave Barry proper airtime, as you just would not have got a sense of his character had they killed him off straightaway.
Thereis a bit more to it than that. Great to see Revs archdeacon, he was very good in Utopia too.
I've not read the book, and I managed fine. Then again, I wasn't trying to read and post on DS at the same time.;-)
It's the first of a three-parter, and I was expecting a bit of mystery, so it seems right that I don't know exactly what's going on.
I enjoyed it. It's a bit different from what we are used to. I like that they've got a glossy look, which doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny when you look more closely. The whole opening sequence with the centre was like that, and flagged up what I anticipate the whole thing is about.
Sorry I should have mentioned it earlier
I don't know who the reviewer was, but I assume they watched it through left-wing tinted glasses.
Does Private Eye still have a Pseud's Corner:
Going by the "also reviewed", they've reviewed only two other programmes this year : various episodes of Cucumber and Broadchurch. All of which, apparently, were 'exquisite'.
ETA : Oops. I have my zoom level at a value where I can see only the post itself. Hence I never know who the poster is until I see the quote. If the poster and reviewer are the same - sorry, but my opinion's unchanged.
I realised that I had no interest in the life of any character and the story was a pantomime cliché.
But this is TV not some obscure Romanian arthouse film, the viewer should know what's happening early on - it needs to hook us so we want to come back for more (I certainly won't be tuning in next week).
This first Ep seems to have wasted a lot of time and space; narratively nothing happened. I'm sure if an hour was cut it would have made for a much tighter and coherent story. At the mo, it seems the screenwriter has just written for the sake of it.
I think I enjoyed it, enough to watch again next week. Indian Summers recorded so I'll watch that tomorrow!
It's a laughable bad review, from someone who sounds like they'd rather be working for The Guardian rather than Digital Spy.
I've not read the book, and I found the tone of the TV adaptation a little strange ... on the one hand it displays a clear liberal bias, but on the other hand it cosily middle class, whilst depicting working class people an a pretty one dimensional and patronising fashion.
But I found it easy enough to follow and there's enough going on for me to continue watching for another week at least.
Perhaps you should have spent more time watching it instead of posting on DS while it was on air.
Apparently she's Scottish as well, did a decent accent, I think.
Neither do I........but.....I think I will take a walk to the local pub and see some real life! At least it won't be boring.
It didn't pick up for me until the last minute and the 'ghostly' forum posting. Had such a thing happened at the end of the first episode of a typical drama, it's likely I'd have been left wondering what the impact was going to be on the characters I'd just spent the last hour getting to know, but my reaction to the event was just 'Blimey, something's happening!' There was only one character that I found the slightest bit compelling, and they've already killed him
I'll probably watch the rest if I've nothing better to do, because I've already invested time in watching a third of it. There's no way I'd have stuck it out if it was an eight-parter though. The idea of changing the original ending because it might cause the viewers to disengage amuses me a bit (especially since boring them rigid for an hour apparently won't!). If viewers have sat through the entire thing and only 'disengage' once they've seen the ending, I'm not entirely sure why that would matter
With this and Wolf Hall (and the upcoming Poldark which also looks amazing), the BBC are absolutely killing it with their adaptations recently.