This is truly dreadful. Steve Pemberton has butchered E F Benson's wonderful books, shuffling characters like the guru and Georgie's sisters from one book to another without any justification at all. And now he seeks to "improve" on Benson by inventing events that didn't happen. This nonsense about Lucia copying her picture from a book is utter rubbish that never happened in any of the books and achieves absolutely nothing. This is a wonderful opportunity that has been squandered. Such a shame.
This is truly dreadful. Steve Pemberton has butchered E F Benson's wonderful books, shuffling characters like the guru and Georgie's sisters from one book to another without any justification at all. And now he seeks to "improve" on Benson by inventing events that didn't happen. This nonsense about Lucia copying her picture from a book is utter rubbish that never happened in any of the books and achieves absolutely nothing. This is a wonderful opportunity that has been squandered. Such a shame.
Another great episode, I'm really enjoying this even if going off the ratings not many are. I'm Team Lucia all the way of course, but Miranda Richardson is absolutely terrific as Mapp.
Another great episode, I'm really enjoying this even if going off the ratings not many are. I'm Team Lucia all the way of course, but Miranda Richardson is absolutely terrific as Mapp.
Whose side are we meant to be on I wonder?
I prefer Mapp because while she is domineering she doesn't do things out of spite; she just likes to show off.
Lucia is scheming and vindictive.
Have enjoyed both shows so far, especially Miranda Richardson who has created an excellent Mapp. However I found each episode too long and shapeless - the books are essentially a series of stories without a lot of pacing or narrative arch, but what just about works in a book is not right for an hour of TV. I put this down to Steve Pemberton's adaptation, which is religiously true to the spirit of the books but perhaps shouldn't be.
Anna Chancellor looks wonderful and contrasts nicely with Miranda Richardson, but to my mind Geraldine McEwan got more of Lucia's shallowness and low cunning. Neither adaptation really matches the books for the portrayal of small-minded snobbery and adults behaving like naughty children. For anyone who's not read the books and find these characters despicable - yes, they're meant to be
I wanted Evie Bartlett to squeak more, and I wanted Quaint Irene to be bigger and butcher. But Richardson is superb, with her hyena smile.
A pale imitation of the original, if anything so colourful can be pale. I could only watch for 15 minutes. The BBC just can't cast these days, and they just can't resist fixing things that aren't broke!
I really don't get the love for Miranda Richardson's Mapp. She seems out of kilter with the rest of the acting. So much gurning and those teeth....
Anna Chancellor is a very different interpretation of Lucia compared with other versions but, for me, it works with the spirit and the detail of the originals.
Have no idea why the Guru plot had to be moved from book 1 (set in Riseholme) to book 4 - there is more than enough material in that book to justify three episodes.
Perhaps I love the books too much to enjoy this 'version'
I hadn't seen the original or read the books so had no expectations and nothing to compare this to....and I love it! Best bit of telly this Christmas. Deliciously acerbic and camp.
Having started out wanting Mapp taken down a peg or two, I'm now in the curious position of feeling somewhat sympathetic towards the character. I'd like to see her get one over on Lucia.
Aren't the costumes glorious? Especially loving all the hats - wish they'd make a comeback! Sumptuous locations too.
Can't wait for the final helping....it's great that we haven't had to wait a week for each one.
You are so right, it has none of the charm of the original, they all seem to be trying too hard, with minimal results.
This show is pretentious, self indulgent crap. They're not trying hard enough.
I get the feeling this show is just for them, the performers. Sick of seeing the same old faces. And not Mark Gaitiss again. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
It's a wonder David Walliams wasn't in it, or Stephen Fry for that matter.:o
I was so frustrated with this episode. As a previous poster has said: the Guru , Hermy, Ursy and Tiptree tale all happened while Lucia and Georgie lived in Riseholme.
Daisy Quantock was the character who was obsessed with health fads, not Diva.
I never understand why they have to muck about when books are adapted for the screen. There is so much in the Tilling books, perhaps it would have been an idea to concentrate 3 episodes to each book and do it properly, without stealing stories from the earlier 'unrelated' book.
I was looking forward to this adaptation. I was pleased to see the inclusion of Evie, missing from the original series, although as has been said, she doesn't squeak! But Quint Irene and Diva have barely featured. There's no real sense of Irene's crush on Lucia, nor of Mapp and Diva's on-off friendship.
Although I found Geraldine McEwan's interpretation of Lucia too overacted, Anna Chancellor has been too understated with no real feeling of the inner core of push she has in getting her own way.
As has been said, Miranda Richardson has borrowed from Prunella Scales, but that's no bad thing: Prunella's interpretation was pretty spot on. Mark Gatiss is not really Major material; perhaps he and Steve Pemberton should have swapped roles
It does feel rather rushed, which is a shame. Although I will probably buy the DVD, it has, I feel been an opportunity wasted.
I hadn't seen the original or read the books so had no expectations and nothing to compare this to....and I love it! Best bit of telly this Christmas. Deliciously acerbic and camp.
Having started out wanting Mapp taken down a peg or two, I'm now in the curious position of feeling somewhat sympathetic towards the character. I'd like to see her get one over on Lucia.
Aren't the costumes glorious? Especially loving all the hats - wish they'd make a comeback! Sumptuous locations too.
Can't wait for the final helping....it's great that we haven't had to wait a week for each one.
Agree with everyhing you've said
The scenes involving Mapp and Lucia are an absolute delight with the latter calmly yet menacingly patroninsing and poor Mapp getting more and more frantic!
I really hope Mapp gets one over on her in the end!
The costumes and location etc are delicious too - and vibrant somehow.
This has been one of the triumphs of Christmas TV for me - 1st rate stuff.
This is truly dreadful. Steve Pemberton has butchered E F Benson's wonderful books, shuffling characters like the guru and Georgie's sisters from one book to another without any justification at all. And now he seeks to "improve" on Benson by inventing events that didn't happen. This nonsense about Lucia copying her picture from a book is utter rubbish that never happened in any of the books and achieves absolutely nothing. This is a wonderful opportunity that has been squandered. Such a shame.
I could say exactly the same about the Jeeves and Wooster series with Fry & Laurie. Stephen Fry was @ 30 years too young to play Jeeves, for a start, and I could write a novella on what was "wrong" with every episode.
However I had, and still have as I purchased the DVD boxset, no problem in enjoying Jeeves and Wooster for what they were and for me Mapp & Lucia is the same.
The reality is the majority watching won't have read the books and probably even fewer, like me, will have seen the 'original' of 30+ years ago.
Agree with everyhing you've said
The scenes involving Mapp and Lucia are an absolute delight with the latter calmly yet menacingly patroninsing and poor Mapp getting more and more frantic!
The costumes and location etc are delicious too - and vibrant somehow.
This has been one of the triumphs of Christmas TV for me - 1st rate stuff.[/
Aren't the costumes glorious? Especially loving all the hats - wish they'd make a comeback! Sumptuous locations too.
Lucia gets some fab outfits. I loved those wide-legged trousers with the white, red and black top.
All the outside scenes are shot in a very small part of Rye town centre: the street where the town hall is, Church Square and Mermaid Street, plus a bit around the Landgate and Ypres tower (the Ypres Tower pub is the Traders' Arms in the show). Mapp's house (the one she's rented to Lucia) is actually Lamb House, now owned by the National Trust and once home to Henry James.
It is every bit as lovely in real life and well worth a visit.
Lucia gets some fab outfits. I loved those wide-legged trousers with the white, red and black top.
All the outside scenes are shot in a very small part of Rye town centre: the street where the town hall is, Church Square and Mermaid Street, plus a bit around the Landgate and Ypres tower (the Ypres Tower pub is the Traders' Arms in the show). Mapp's house (the one she's rented to Lucia) is actually Lamb House, now owned by the National Trust and once home to Henry James.
It is every bit as lovely in real life and well worth a visit.
Was it you that informed us it was Rye before? As you say, looks like it's well worth a visit. I bet it's a tourist magnet, like Lacock in Wiltshire.
Agree with everyhing you've said
The scenes involving Mapp and Lucia are an absolute delight with the latter calmly yet menacingly patroninsing and poor Mapp getting more and more frantic!
The costumes and location etc are delicious too - and vibrant somehow.
This has been one of the triumphs of Christmas TV for me - 1st rate stuff.[/
Was it you that informed us it was Rye before? As you say, looks like it's well worth a visit. I bet it's a tourist magnet, like Lacock in Wiltshire.
It might have been.
I wouldn't describe it as a tourist magnet, exactly, but it's becoming a bit of a haven for red-trouser-wearing braying DFLs, so I daresay it won't be long.
Three years ago it was a traditional Sussex market town, small, pretty and with loads of character, lots of proper pubs, useful shops and junk shops. The junk shops have trebled their prices, the pubs are mostly gastrified and most don't allow dogs in any more and house prices have risen more than the average for the county.
It's now got an overpriced "cookware" shop, a very poncy deli, a shop that sells nothing but hats and a retro sweetshop, so I give it about 2 years before it becomes intolerably trendy and full of hipsters, Boden-clad yummy mummies, monstrous off-road buggies and kids with pretentious names.
I'd get there quick if I were you.
Lacock's a bit different imo, a proper estate village preserved by the National Trust. Rye is kind of like Whitstable, but not on the coast.
Comments
Don't care. Never read the books!
Looks like Frances Barber is in the last one - should be good.
Whose side are we meant to be on I wonder?
I prefer Mapp because while she is domineering she doesn't do things out of spite; she just likes to show off.
Lucia is scheming and vindictive.
The whole cast is magnificent but Miranda Richardson as Miss Mapp is quite quite wonderful.
Anna Chancellor looks wonderful and contrasts nicely with Miranda Richardson, but to my mind Geraldine McEwan got more of Lucia's shallowness and low cunning. Neither adaptation really matches the books for the portrayal of small-minded snobbery and adults behaving like naughty children. For anyone who's not read the books and find these characters despicable - yes, they're meant to be
I wanted Evie Bartlett to squeak more, and I wanted Quaint Irene to be bigger and butcher. But Richardson is superb, with her hyena smile.
Anna Chancellor is a very different interpretation of Lucia compared with other versions but, for me, it works with the spirit and the detail of the originals.
Have no idea why the Guru plot had to be moved from book 1 (set in Riseholme) to book 4 - there is more than enough material in that book to justify three episodes.
Perhaps I love the books too much to enjoy this 'version'
Having started out wanting Mapp taken down a peg or two, I'm now in the curious position of feeling somewhat sympathetic towards the character. I'd like to see her get one over on Lucia.
Aren't the costumes glorious? Especially loving all the hats - wish they'd make a comeback! Sumptuous locations too.
Can't wait for the final helping....it's great that we haven't had to wait a week for each one.
This show is pretentious, self indulgent crap. They're not trying hard enough.
I get the feeling this show is just for them, the performers. Sick of seeing the same old faces. And not Mark Gaitiss again. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
It's a wonder David Walliams wasn't in it, or Stephen Fry for that matter.:o
Daisy Quantock was the character who was obsessed with health fads, not Diva.
I never understand why they have to muck about when books are adapted for the screen. There is so much in the Tilling books, perhaps it would have been an idea to concentrate 3 episodes to each book and do it properly, without stealing stories from the earlier 'unrelated' book.
I was looking forward to this adaptation. I was pleased to see the inclusion of Evie, missing from the original series, although as has been said, she doesn't squeak! But Quint Irene and Diva have barely featured. There's no real sense of Irene's crush on Lucia, nor of Mapp and Diva's on-off friendship.
Although I found Geraldine McEwan's interpretation of Lucia too overacted, Anna Chancellor has been too understated with no real feeling of the inner core of push she has in getting her own way.
As has been said, Miranda Richardson has borrowed from Prunella Scales, but that's no bad thing: Prunella's interpretation was pretty spot on. Mark Gatiss is not really Major material; perhaps he and Steve Pemberton should have swapped roles
It does feel rather rushed, which is a shame. Although I will probably buy the DVD, it has, I feel been an opportunity wasted.
Agree with everyhing you've said
The scenes involving Mapp and Lucia are an absolute delight with the latter calmly yet menacingly patroninsing and poor Mapp getting more and more frantic!
I really hope Mapp gets one over on her in the end!
The costumes and location etc are delicious too - and vibrant somehow.
This has been one of the triumphs of Christmas TV for me - 1st rate stuff.
I could say exactly the same about the Jeeves and Wooster series with Fry & Laurie. Stephen Fry was @ 30 years too young to play Jeeves, for a start, and I could write a novella on what was "wrong" with every episode.
However I had, and still have as I purchased the DVD boxset, no problem in enjoying Jeeves and Wooster for what they were and for me Mapp & Lucia is the same.
The reality is the majority watching won't have read the books and probably even fewer, like me, will have seen the 'original' of 30+ years ago.
Lucia gets some fab outfits. I loved those wide-legged trousers with the white, red and black top.
All the outside scenes are shot in a very small part of Rye town centre: the street where the town hall is, Church Square and Mermaid Street, plus a bit around the Landgate and Ypres tower (the Ypres Tower pub is the Traders' Arms in the show). Mapp's house (the one she's rented to Lucia) is actually Lamb House, now owned by the National Trust and once home to Henry James.
It is every bit as lovely in real life and well worth a visit.
Was it you that informed us it was Rye before? As you say, looks like it's well worth a visit. I bet it's a tourist magnet, like Lacock in Wiltshire.
I'm enjoying Anna C and Miranda R a LOT. But I wish they'd pronounced Quaint Irene's name properly.
It might have been.
I wouldn't describe it as a tourist magnet, exactly, but it's becoming a bit of a haven for red-trouser-wearing braying DFLs, so I daresay it won't be long.
Three years ago it was a traditional Sussex market town, small, pretty and with loads of character, lots of proper pubs, useful shops and junk shops. The junk shops have trebled their prices, the pubs are mostly gastrified and most don't allow dogs in any more and house prices have risen more than the average for the county.
It's now got an overpriced "cookware" shop, a very poncy deli, a shop that sells nothing but hats and a retro sweetshop, so I give it about 2 years before it becomes intolerably trendy and full of hipsters, Boden-clad yummy mummies, monstrous off-road buggies and kids with pretentious names.
I'd get there quick if I were you.
Lacock's a bit different imo, a proper estate village preserved by the National Trust. Rye is kind of like Whitstable, but not on the coast.