After all the hype of the last couple of weeks, countless interviews with the cast when we were told this programme was "amazing", that we'd be hooked, that with Julian Fellowes at the helm (scuse the pun) it was a sure hit (scuse the second pun), that the effects were out of this world etc etc.....all I can say is:
that was complete rubbish.
The only point in making it would have been to have brought a fresh perspective on how Titanic was remembered 100 years on, compared to what we've already seen on the big and small screens. This episode failed miserably in doing that in any way, shape or form.
I think that's what "Inside Titanic" on C5 did well - bringing up survivors' testimonies at the enquiry (although I understand they took some liberties with the real stories for effect...)
There were too many characters for starters - and no time to distinguish between them properly (let alone get to know them in any depth and grow to care about them). By the time I learn their names they'll be dead.
The love story was weak. There was more chemistry between the girl and the Italian waiter!
And the TV adaptation made the mistake of trying to replicate the film too closely - even when it came to details such as the violin players. It was always going to seem inferior.
A strong cast wasted.
The only think that interested me was whether Celia Imrie's character would get her dog. (Cant remember the characters name)
The episode should have been longer so we could get to know characters,
It reminded me of a French and Saunders parody. I was half expecting Dawn French doing a dodgy accent while acting in an Acorn Antiques style. There seemed to be limited money available for any kind of effects and surely this being the sinking of the Titantic, you kind of expect so see something!
I liked having the action at the same time as getting to know the characters however i feel a couple of characters were miscast,the actor who played john jacob astor should have played ismay( he looks more like the real ismay)
Where's the sound effects? The cutlery and glasses falling? The panic? Sigh! So underwhelming! :rolleyes:
In actual fact, most of the passengers didn't actually realise anything was amiss. All they noticed was a slight judder to the ship, then the engines stopped. It took them quite a while before they realised they were in any danger.
BTW I'm off on the Titanic Memorial Cruise in a fortnight's time. :-)
I'm a massive Downton Abbey fan too so it's even more disappointing because of that.
I'm hoping it gets better. wish i watched all the eps in a row now. that's usually what i do with things.
i got excited when i found out Julian fellows was doing it because I'm such a Downton Abbey fan. my fiancé bought me the box set for xmas. id never seen it before and watch that in blocks i think i need to do that with this too.
I really don't think I can stomach yet more episodes of this...i was rolling my eyes at the naff, cheesy dialogue. Plus we seem to hit the iceberg 30 nautical miles out from Southampton! It really seemed like a complete retread of the James Cameron film, including all the tired stereotypes only with added clunky dialogue. Afer watching Channel 5's Inside the Titanic I feel I never need to ever see this story told again.
Ok, the problem with re doing the titanic is always going to be a comparison issue, and we know the outcome to a certain extent. Think this will be a grower, and it will not be until we get into the other episodes until we really get griped, I look forward to the next episode, just to see what new characters come forward. Continuity is always going to be compromised by the breaks, that's where BBc have one up man ship . Let's not slag this off too early in the day.
That was way too rushed and somehow incredible slow at the same time!
Barely were the characters introduced than the ship was sinking. Suddenly everyone's rushing around in lifejackets but strangely with no real sense of urgency?!
The non-liner style just doesn't work here. It felt very disjointed. In reality the passengers didn't think they were in any danger to begin with, in fact most of them were asleep, they didn't just suddenly all start trying to get on boats. With people trying to get on to the last lifeboats I would have expect to see far more chaos/panic by that point and to see/hear the ship breaking apart from the strain. Unfortunately I couldn't care less about any of the characters either.
Its like we skipped certain parts of the story, which after watching the teaser for episode two, I realise that we did just that, and we will now have to go back over and over again to see the whole story from different characters points of view. This could have been an exciting way to tell the story but I feel they blew it on this first episode, because characters poorly introduced. Apparently it gets better but I doubt people will bother to tune in a whole week later based on that first episode.
Channel 5's documentary was very good in comparison. Isn't there meant to be a BBC series on the Titanic?
I'm impressed they included the (real life) Allison family. Makes a change!
Indeed - I think we'll see the scene of them shown tonight from their point of view in a future episode. Sadly, from the glimpse of them tonight, it looks like Fellowes is going down the same route as the 1996 TV miniseries and making Alice Cleaver a nutter. This is a myth that sprung up from newspapers mixing Miss Cleaver up with a different person and implying that she snatched the baby and left its parents and sister to die.
It felt as if huge chunks were missing. Like watching a DVD that keeps skipping forward.
That's the fault of this silly experimental format. There were lots of blanks that are only going to be filled in by the rest of the episodes. In the end, one will have to have seen them all to actually understand the storylines.
I switched off after about twenty minutes, but noticed at the end when I turned it back on the ship was already sinking. Why so rushed?
The show restarts, follows a different set of characters and then the ship starts to sink at the end of episode 1, 2 and 3. Episode 4 is the "what happens next" of each episode.
Tried hard to get into it but felt it was lacking, what it was was lacking I can't quite put my finger on but it seemed to be setting the story but then rushed it in the end. All of a sudden out of nowhere came to iceberg, I know that is what happened all though years ago, but I really feel JF made a bit of a mish mash of the start of this story.
I also have an aversion to anything Celia Imrie and/or Imelda Staunton appear in - and one of them was in this.
I don't mind either but I must admit I associate Celia in particular with comedy so I find it hard to take her seriously. Mind, a bit of comedy would have made this more watch able, I got bored after half an hour.
Usually in period dramas even when the story isn't that interesting or engaging it's still interesting to see the sets, costumes and overall look of the piece. For instance I think that Downton is badly scripted to the point of being laughable sometimes (series two mostly) but it is still always, I'll admit, absolutely lovely to look at. However in Titanic even the look was was muted and understated somehow. Those sets seemed more town hall than luxury ocean liner. Surely The Titanic was more grand than that?
With that, the dull characters who I don't care about and no sense of suspense what with the fate of the ship being so well known, I don't think I'll bother next week.
Comments
I think that's what "Inside Titanic" on C5 did well - bringing up survivors' testimonies at the enquiry (although I understand they took some liberties with the real stories for effect...)
The only think that interested me was whether Celia Imrie's character would get her dog. (Cant remember the characters name)
The episode should have been longer so we could get to know characters,
The music should have been more epic/emotional
and
The scenes where too rushed.
The music that was heard sounded like
remixes of the music used in the 1997 film.
In actual fact, most of the passengers didn't actually realise anything was amiss. All they noticed was a slight judder to the ship, then the engines stopped. It took them quite a while before they realised they were in any danger.
BTW I'm off on the Titanic Memorial Cruise in a fortnight's time. :-)
www.titanicmemorialcruise.com
I'm hoping it gets better. wish i watched all the eps in a row now. that's usually what i do with things.
i got excited when i found out Julian fellows was doing it because I'm such a Downton Abbey fan. my fiancé bought me the box set for xmas. id never seen it before and watch that in blocks i think i need to do that with this too.
I watched on +1 after Upstairs Downstairs and don't know why I bothered.
That was way too rushed and somehow incredible slow at the same time!
Barely were the characters introduced than the ship was sinking. Suddenly everyone's rushing around in lifejackets but strangely with no real sense of urgency?!
The non-liner style just doesn't work here. It felt very disjointed. In reality the passengers didn't think they were in any danger to begin with, in fact most of them were asleep, they didn't just suddenly all start trying to get on boats. With people trying to get on to the last lifeboats I would have expect to see far more chaos/panic by that point and to see/hear the ship breaking apart from the strain. Unfortunately I couldn't care less about any of the characters either.
Its like we skipped certain parts of the story, which after watching the teaser for episode two, I realise that we did just that, and we will now have to go back over and over again to see the whole story from different characters points of view. This could have been an exciting way to tell the story but I feel they blew it on this first episode, because characters poorly introduced. Apparently it gets better but I doubt people will bother to tune in a whole week later based on that first episode.
Channel 5's documentary was very good in comparison. Isn't there meant to be a BBC series on the Titanic?
Robin Gibb did the music:p
Still the best Titanic-related story I've ever seen is the excellent old film 'A Night To Remember'.
Indeed - I think we'll see the scene of them shown tonight from their point of view in a future episode. Sadly, from the glimpse of them tonight, it looks like Fellowes is going down the same route as the 1996 TV miniseries and making Alice Cleaver a nutter. This is a myth that sprung up from newspapers mixing Miss Cleaver up with a different person and implying that she snatched the baby and left its parents and sister to die.
i just made the same point on FB
If I miss the next episode/s, maybe someone will be kind enough to let me know how it ends!
That's the fault of this silly experimental format. There were lots of blanks that are only going to be filled in by the rest of the episodes. In the end, one will have to have seen them all to actually understand the storylines.
The show restarts, follows a different set of characters and then the ship starts to sink at the end of episode 1, 2 and 3. Episode 4 is the "what happens next" of each episode.
I don't mind either but I must admit I associate Celia in particular with comedy so I find it hard to take her seriously. Mind, a bit of comedy would have made this more watch able, I got bored after half an hour.
Usually in period dramas even when the story isn't that interesting or engaging it's still interesting to see the sets, costumes and overall look of the piece. For instance I think that Downton is badly scripted to the point of being laughable sometimes (series two mostly) but it is still always, I'll admit, absolutely lovely to look at. However in Titanic even the look was was muted and understated somehow. Those sets seemed more town hall than luxury ocean liner. Surely The Titanic was more grand than that?
With that, the dull characters who I don't care about and no sense of suspense what with the fate of the ship being so well known, I don't think I'll bother next week.