There is no reason why they could not have redited the final episode, they had about six months between cancelation and this episode airing. I think it would have been pretty easy to stop the tape with thirty minutes left to go.
I'd of imagined that it would of been for contractual reasons....the BBC paid for an end of series episode of x minutes length and thats what was delivered and who knows what an edit of the program would of cost especially if they needed to rehire the cast/crew to do something to properly finish off the show
Who knows another channel could decide its worth it and recommission the series but i doubt it
BBC controllers probably knew well before the end of filming Series Two that Series Three was not going to happen so the scripts could easily have been changed..
Filming of season 2 ended in October 2014, but the cancellation was only announced in January 2015 so money would have had to be spent rehiring the cast and rebuilding sets if they'd reshot the episode - however, they could have done a re-edit and finished the episode after getting back to Atlantis and omitting the last part completely.
I'd of imagined that it would of been for contractual reasons....the BBC paid for an end of series episode of x minutes length and thats what was delivered and who knows what an edit of the program would of cost especially if they needed to rehire the cast/crew to do something to properly finish off the show
Who knows another channel could decide its worth it and recommission the series but i doubt it
All they needed to do was replace the bits from Pasiphae's resurrection onwards with a scene of Jason waking up in modern times (like Bobby Ewing) and realising it was all a dream. That would avoid the expenditure of expensive sets and hundreds of extras. Solution found lol ;-):D
Not a bad finale. I liked the actual set up for the Golden Fleece and then became annoyed when I realised that it was a plot that won't be resolved any time soon.
I wish Pasiphae had been killed off pernamently though, so maybe the lack of a third series means we're spared having to see going around in circles yet again.
Nice that we got to see Icarus fly and that the show confirmed his relationship with Pythagoras as well. Too bad we won't get any more than what we saw here though.
The wedding scenes with Jason and Ariadne were nice, but Medea has proven to be a better match and character for him. Even Cassandra pushed Jason into going to Colchis alone now.
Hercules had decent moments too, even if he looked like he was wounded pretty badly but other than that, there was the usual meandering about the place as well. 7/10
BBC1 and BBC2 are broadcast live to many countries on the continent through cable TV, and you have no idea how many tens of thousands of other non-UK mainland viewers such as myself were watching the programme. BBC has no way of calculating these figures.
Viewing figures are still important. Obviously tv channels can't monitor the numbers outside the UK, but they need a rough idea from the UK itself to see whether or not it's worth carrying on making programmes. Hence utter dross like Eastenders and SCD keeps getting made because the viewing figures are high enough to justify it.
Cannot help noticing how often the BBC wastes air time on rerunning whole series of ancient creaking shows such as "Dad's Army", "Only Fools and Horses" and now "The Vicar of Dibley". If this suits the average British TV audience, then you may soon expect Teletubbies to be promoted to the Saturday evening slot. Anything more highbrow might not make the rating figures!
Patronising again. Plenty of people still enjoy Dad's Army, Only Fools and The Vicar of Dibley. I recently bought the box set of Dad's Army and my 15 year old son chortled his way through the whole thing - then asked if I'd buy the film too to complete the whole set. He also enjoys the Vicar of Dibley. He hasn't seen Only Fools yet (if it was cheap enough to buy I would), but all three of these series are far better than most modern comedies.
But presumably the BBC have known for a while it was cancelled, and it wasn't beyond their powers to have it edited to a more complete finish... it just looks daft now after they recaptured Atlantis.
I only heard via a US site the other day that it had been cancelled, but when I saw the ending, I had to check again to make sure they were correct - why would you leave such an open ending, once the decision was made and you had time to edit it?
It's a shame - I did like it (though it did plod on in S2 in comparison to S1), but it wasn't in the same league as predecessors in that slot, Merlin and Robin Hood.
Do we know what's expected to replace it, in the BBC Saturday evening myths and legends slot? Assuming they can afford it of course... Tom Thumb...Jack The Giant Killer...
The programme was made by Shine. They turned in a completed set of episodes to the BBC to be broadcast for Series Two. After they'd done that, the BBC then said they weren't renewing for S3.
I suspect the BBC weren't interested in paying Shine more money to re-edit and possibly re-film scenes to do that.
There is no reason why they could not have redited the final episode, they had about six months between cancelation and this episode airing. I think it would have been pretty easy to stop the tape with thirty minutes left to go.
They didn't have six months. This was filmed and in the can in time for the show to begin broadcasting in September last year. The BBC chose not to renew it after Shine's work had been completed.
I expect the BBC didn't want to pay Shine any more money to re-edit the show or have to shoot new footage.
I'd of imagined that it would of been for contractual reasons....the BBC paid for an end of series episode of x minutes length and thats what was delivered and who knows what an edit of the program would of cost especially if they needed to rehire the cast/crew to do something to properly finish off the show
Who knows another channel could decide its worth it and recommission the series but i doubt it
I doubt it too although the brilliant Ripper Street, amazingly imo, has been extended by three series since the BBC initially axed it.
I haven't seen the last few epiosdes yet but I will say one thing for Atlantis. Like Merlin it looked gorgeous and had a tremendous atmosphere, and its great that fantasy can be made to look authentic on television and away from Hollywood studios. I do hope the BBC continue with pre watershed fantasy.
The story though was struggling from the first ten minutes of series 1-the scene setting was rushed and ill thought out imo. Arguably series one too light and series 2 too dark in compensation. I don't think the story ever really settled and to this day I don't understand the point of the characterisation of Hercules and Pythagoras.
Like Merlin it looked gorgeous and had a tremendous atmosphere, and its great that fantasy can be made to look authentic on television and away from Hollywood studios.
Unfortunately, unlike Merlin, its lead actor had absolutely no charisma or connection with his fellow cast. Most of what made Merlin rise above its sometimes appalling storylines and plot holes was the partnership of Bradley James and Colin Morgan and a cast of great supporting actors.
Atlantis had Mark Addy and Sarah Parish and everyone else dragging them down sadly. Jack Connolly might have been nice to look at but he was a weak actor imo.
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Shawn_Lunn
nice that we got to see Icarus fly and that the show confirmed his relationship with Pythagoras as well. Too bad we won't get any more than what we saw here though.
I presume you mean in the fictional programme context. Because Icarus was a legend and Pythagoras was a real person and as I stated on a previous post was actually married with children. Icarus in Greek mythology died whilst attempting to escape to Crete by flying to close to the sun. So there was no actual meeting between myth and reality.
They didn't have six months. This was filmed and in the can in time for the show to begin broadcasting in September last year. The BBC chose not to renew it after Shine's work had been completed.
I expect the BBC didn't want to pay Shine any more money to re-edit the show or have to shoot new footage.
So they actually had more than six months to realise that stopping the tape (didn't even need a reedit just stopping the tape) with 30 minutes left to go would have given a better ending to the two series.
In the end it doesn't really matter, it is just a bit irritating that there was a way they could have given it a neater finish rather than the garbled last 30 minute and now pointless series three teaser trailer at the end.
As does ignoring the existing thread to make your point.
The title of my thread made the focus quite clear - it follows from the other thread - there is no more speculation about Episodes and plots.
The existing thread on 'Atlantis' is unreadable (I tried ages ago and gave up) and has been/is being run by a handful of posters who were always gunning for the series in the first place.
And it would be nice to be able to post an opinion without being kicked in the face.
Filming of season 2 ended in October 2014, but the cancellation was only announced in January 2015 so money would have had to be spent rehiring the cast and rebuilding sets if they'd reshot the episode - however, they could have done a re-edit and finished the episode after getting back to Atlantis and omitting the last part completely.
I think just omitting the Pasiphae resurrection and the soldiers plotting, and having the final scene in the temple before the riot outside would have done it.
If Atlantis is repeated or sold abroad,, let's hope they do this re-editing just to create a better ending.
I've just caught up with the last episode on iPlayer and I loved it! Found series 1 a bit boring but much preferred series 2. Shames it's not carrying on.
Bet bits for me - Pythagorus and Icarus, excellent chemistry between them. Medea having to leave Jason behind . Hercules is always good in every scene.
As has been said before, the reason Merlin was so good the was 2 main leads. Not so much in Atlantis. I never felt the love between Ariadne and Jason.
So they actually had more than six months to realise that stopping the tape (didn't even need a reedit just stopping the tape) with 30 minutes left to go would have given a better ending to the two series.
In the end it doesn't really matter, it is just a bit irritating that there was a way they could have given it a neater finish rather than the garbled last 30 minute and now pointless series three teaser trailer at the end.
No they didn't, you don't seem to have any idea about how it works. Shine were given a contract by the BBC, they fulfilled that contract, tied up filming, got the episodes in the bag, sent them to the BBC and then went on their merry ways expecting to get an order for Series Three.
The BBC paid for those episodes as was so they're going to air them in the original format not bugger about editing them (which they probably don't even have contractual permission for).
Atlantis made an incredibly unconvincing start, with people scratching their heads over the messing up of Greek mythology. But by the start of Series Two, that didn't matter because the atmosphere of the show had correctly darkened to match the gore and cruelty of the Greek mythology and life in the ancient world. I was actually looking forward to each new episode, moving forward to a splendid Episode "The Queen must die" then - nothing - nada.
The "Atlantis" Saturday audience got turfed out, like ushers pushing an early-evening cinema audience out by all exits before the late show audience is allowed in.
This shows extraordinary discourtesy to both actors and viewers: BBC controllers probably knew well before the end of filming Series Two that Series Three was not going to happen so the scripts could easily have been changed. If there was no chance of "Jason and the Argonauts" then Pasiphae could have remained safely dead, Jason and Ariadne regain Atlantis to rule as king and queen, then quick switch to future time where submarine divers find the lifeless Jason in a damaged sub at the bottom of an ocean trench.
That would have been closure. Howls of fury, sighs of relief, say what you will, but the actors would have had a wrap up party, and all moved on.
Now all Atlantis fans can hope for is that some other TV channel will take up "Jason and the Argonauts" and maybe produce something in the future, preferably with different script writers and probably with a different cast.
Just goes to show that BBC Programme Controllers are a bunch of supermarket shelf stockers, without imagination, and not worth their inflated middle-management salaries. If Atlantis was going to end anyway, why not do it properly? Sad really.
No they didn't, you don't seem to have any idea about how it works. Shine were given a contract by the BBC, they fulfilled that contract, tied up filming, got the episodes in the bag, sent them to the BBC and then went on their merry ways expecting to get an order for Series Three.
The BBC paid for those episodes as was so they're going to air them in the original format not bugger about editing them (which they probably don't even have contractual permission for).
It's all very corporate these days at the expense of the viewing public.
It's all very corporate these days at the expense of the viewing public.
It was the show itself that struck me as being a bit corporate, actually. It felt like it'd been designed by committee. "Right lads, we need a tea time replacement for Merlin, throw me some of the usual fantasy ingredients to bolt together, it'll be fine, 5 series in the bag, happy days!" And the tougher decision was that it just wasn't working, and wasn't worth chucking a big budget at when they can use it for something else.
I think they tried to improve it, but didn't succeed. There were 2 or 3 epis in the last batch that were better - the ones with Medusa and her sacrifice, mainly. They actually felt like they were getting somewhere, with Head Prefect Ariadne finally standing up to Pasiphae. But the rest just went round in circles. They were in the forest, they took back the city, they were sent back to the forest, they took the city again, they were thrown in jail, they escaped to the forest, yada yada.
The supporting cast almost managed to prop up the cardboard leads, but I also got a bit tired of the "here is this week's guest star actor ... oh now they're dead" pattern. And bringing Pasiphae back to life at the end, awesome as Sarah Parrish was, was just stupid.
Time for something new - hopefully something not just straight out of a mould this time.
It's all very corporate these days at the expense of the viewing public.
A contract is a contract..why should jason and the crew give up their free time (or whatever they're doing) to finish it off a bit better and given it wouldn't be free there would be a moan about the BBC paying extra to finish off what they'd already paid for and thus more moans about the license fee
No they didn't, you don't seem to have any idea about how it works. Shine were given a contract by the BBC, they fulfilled that contract, tied up filming, got the episodes in the bag, sent them to the BBC and then went on their merry ways expecting to get an order for Series Three.
The BBC paid for those episodes as was so they're going to air them in the original format not bugger about editing them (which they probably don't even have contractual permission for).
this is quite true, although I never claimed I did. Fact is it would have made more sense to delete the final 30 minutes of the last episode and I believe the BBC should have asked if they could stop the tape with 30 minutes to go. Perhaps they did and Shine said no.
this is quite true, although I never claimed I did. Fact is it would have made more sense to delete the final 30 minutes of the last episode and I believe the BBC should have asked if they could stop the tape with 30 minutes to go. Perhaps they did and Shine said no.
Perhaps they did, I doubt it however. They will have taken what was produced by Shine and aired it in its existent format because that's how most broadcasters operate.
Comments
And the Argonauts for S3 would have been really good
I'd of imagined that it would of been for contractual reasons....the BBC paid for an end of series episode of x minutes length and thats what was delivered and who knows what an edit of the program would of cost especially if they needed to rehire the cast/crew to do something to properly finish off the show
Who knows another channel could decide its worth it and recommission the series but i doubt it
Filming of season 2 ended in October 2014, but the cancellation was only announced in January 2015 so money would have had to be spent rehiring the cast and rebuilding sets if they'd reshot the episode - however, they could have done a re-edit and finished the episode after getting back to Atlantis and omitting the last part completely.
All they needed to do was replace the bits from Pasiphae's resurrection onwards with a scene of Jason waking up in modern times (like Bobby Ewing) and realising it was all a dream. That would avoid the expenditure of expensive sets and hundreds of extras. Solution found lol ;-):D
I wish Pasiphae had been killed off pernamently though, so maybe the lack of a third series means we're spared having to see going around in circles yet again.
Nice that we got to see Icarus fly and that the show confirmed his relationship with Pythagoras as well. Too bad we won't get any more than what we saw here though.
The wedding scenes with Jason and Ariadne were nice, but Medea has proven to be a better match and character for him. Even Cassandra pushed Jason into going to Colchis alone now.
Hercules had decent moments too, even if he looked like he was wounded pretty badly but other than that, there was the usual meandering about the place as well. 7/10
How patronising
Viewing figures are still important. Obviously tv channels can't monitor the numbers outside the UK, but they need a rough idea from the UK itself to see whether or not it's worth carrying on making programmes. Hence utter dross like Eastenders and SCD keeps getting made because the viewing figures are high enough to justify it.
Patronising again. Plenty of people still enjoy Dad's Army, Only Fools and The Vicar of Dibley. I recently bought the box set of Dad's Army and my 15 year old son chortled his way through the whole thing - then asked if I'd buy the film too to complete the whole set. He also enjoys the Vicar of Dibley. He hasn't seen Only Fools yet (if it was cheap enough to buy I would), but all three of these series are far better than most modern comedies.
The programme was made by Shine. They turned in a completed set of episodes to the BBC to be broadcast for Series Two. After they'd done that, the BBC then said they weren't renewing for S3.
I suspect the BBC weren't interested in paying Shine more money to re-edit and possibly re-film scenes to do that.
They didn't have six months. This was filmed and in the can in time for the show to begin broadcasting in September last year. The BBC chose not to renew it after Shine's work had been completed.
I expect the BBC didn't want to pay Shine any more money to re-edit the show or have to shoot new footage.
I doubt it too although the brilliant Ripper Street, amazingly imo, has been extended by three series since the BBC initially axed it.
I haven't seen the last few epiosdes yet but I will say one thing for Atlantis. Like Merlin it looked gorgeous and had a tremendous atmosphere, and its great that fantasy can be made to look authentic on television and away from Hollywood studios. I do hope the BBC continue with pre watershed fantasy.
The story though was struggling from the first ten minutes of series 1-the scene setting was rushed and ill thought out imo. Arguably series one too light and series 2 too dark in compensation. I don't think the story ever really settled and to this day I don't understand the point of the characterisation of Hercules and Pythagoras.
Unfortunately, unlike Merlin, its lead actor had absolutely no charisma or connection with his fellow cast. Most of what made Merlin rise above its sometimes appalling storylines and plot holes was the partnership of Bradley James and Colin Morgan and a cast of great supporting actors.
Atlantis had Mark Addy and Sarah Parish and everyone else dragging them down sadly. Jack Connolly might have been nice to look at but he was a weak actor imo.
Shawn_Lunn
nice that we got to see Icarus fly and that the show confirmed his relationship with Pythagoras as well. Too bad we won't get any more than what we saw here though.
I presume you mean in the fictional programme context. Because Icarus was a legend and Pythagoras was a real person and as I stated on a previous post was actually married with children. Icarus in Greek mythology died whilst attempting to escape to Crete by flying to close to the sun. So there was no actual meeting between myth and reality.
So they actually had more than six months to realise that stopping the tape (didn't even need a reedit just stopping the tape) with 30 minutes left to go would have given a better ending to the two series.
In the end it doesn't really matter, it is just a bit irritating that there was a way they could have given it a neater finish rather than the garbled last 30 minute and now pointless series three teaser trailer at the end.
The existing thread on 'Atlantis' is unreadable (I tried ages ago and gave up) and has been/is being run by a handful of posters who were always gunning for the series in the first place.
And it would be nice to be able to post an opinion without being kicked in the face.
.
I think just omitting the Pasiphae resurrection and the soldiers plotting, and having the final scene in the temple before the riot outside would have done it.
If Atlantis is repeated or sold abroad,, let's hope they do this re-editing just to create a better ending.
The trolls have moved over here, so am moving on.
Bet bits for me - Pythagorus and Icarus, excellent chemistry between them. Medea having to leave Jason behind
As has been said before, the reason Merlin was so good the was 2 main leads. Not so much in Atlantis. I never felt the love between Ariadne and Jason.
No they didn't, you don't seem to have any idea about how it works. Shine were given a contract by the BBC, they fulfilled that contract, tied up filming, got the episodes in the bag, sent them to the BBC and then went on their merry ways expecting to get an order for Series Three.
The BBC paid for those episodes as was so they're going to air them in the original format not bugger about editing them (which they probably don't even have contractual permission for).
Excellent post!
It's all very corporate these days at the expense of the viewing public.
It was the show itself that struck me as being a bit corporate, actually. It felt like it'd been designed by committee. "Right lads, we need a tea time replacement for Merlin, throw me some of the usual fantasy ingredients to bolt together, it'll be fine, 5 series in the bag, happy days!" And the tougher decision was that it just wasn't working, and wasn't worth chucking a big budget at when they can use it for something else.
I think they tried to improve it, but didn't succeed. There were 2 or 3 epis in the last batch that were better - the ones with Medusa and her sacrifice, mainly. They actually felt like they were getting somewhere, with Head Prefect Ariadne finally standing up to Pasiphae. But the rest just went round in circles. They were in the forest, they took back the city, they were sent back to the forest, they took the city again, they were thrown in jail, they escaped to the forest, yada yada.
The supporting cast almost managed to prop up the cardboard leads, but I also got a bit tired of the "here is this week's guest star actor ... oh now they're dead" pattern. And bringing Pasiphae back to life at the end, awesome as Sarah Parrish was, was just stupid.
Time for something new - hopefully something not just straight out of a mould this time.
A contract is a contract..why should jason and the crew give up their free time (or whatever they're doing) to finish it off a bit better and given it wouldn't be free there would be a moan about the BBC paying extra to finish off what they'd already paid for and thus more moans about the license fee
this is quite true, although I never claimed I did. Fact is it would have made more sense to delete the final 30 minutes of the last episode and I believe the BBC should have asked if they could stop the tape with 30 minutes to go. Perhaps they did and Shine said no.
Perhaps they did, I doubt it however. They will have taken what was produced by Shine and aired it in its existent format because that's how most broadcasters operate.