[Liparus]

I really enjoyed it.

You have to pay attention, the content is greater than Downton and I'll certainly be sticking with it till the end.

[Andy-B]

LOL. I opened the thread and just saw a comparison with Downton Abbey. Is that because they're both on TV and of the same era?

It's a bit like comparing the Spice Girls with Maria Callas.

I think we're in very different territory with this one, folks

[Aerrow]

Originally Posted by Andy-B

LOL. I opened the thread and just saw a comparison with Downton Abbey. Is that because they're both on TV and of the same era?

It's a bit like comparing the Spice Girls with Maria Callas.

I think we're in very different territory with this one, folks

Well I suppose you can read into a one-hour TV show which has at least one eye on the ratings whatever you want, and if you've heard that this is More Serious Stuff and want to believe it that's up to you.The territory looks and sounds pretty damned familiar to me. In the end, it almost certainly wouldn't have been made without Downton Abbey going before it, so comparisons are inevitable. It's not really like comparing the Spice Girls with Maria Callas. More like comparing them with the Three Degrees, I'd say.

[Andy-B]

Originally Posted by Aerrow

In the end, it almost certainly wouldn't have been made without Downton Abbey going before it, so comparisons are inevitable. .

I think you might actually be serious.

Lets agree to live in our rather different worlds.

[LolaSvelt]

Originally Posted by Aerrow

Well I suppose you can read into a one-hour TV show which has at least one eye on the ratings whatever you want, and if you've heard that this is More Serious Stuff and want to believe it that's up to you.The territory looks and sounds pretty damned familiar to me. In the end, it almost certainly wouldn't have been made without Downton Abbey going before it, so comparisons are inevitable. It's not really like comparing the Spice Girls with Maria Callas. More like comparing them with the Three Degrees, I'd say.

Don't make me laugh. BBC2 have been making period dramas for years. People should stop acting like Downton Abbey is the a paragon of television drama. It's enjoyable TV at best.

[tealady]

Originally Posted by Aerrow

it almost certainly wouldn't have been made without Downton Abbey going before it,

Tom Stoppard reportedly said to Julian Fellows, "I'm going to do you in."

[Andy-B]

Downton is just a daft, camp, period soap opera - Julian Fellowes having a whale of a time, is all.

[Lizaj]

Beautiful. Great characters well acted..intriguing. The period "feel" fantastic and even if you didn't listen to a word, the landscapes were stunning.

[Doghouse Riley]

Originally Posted by guestofseth

BBC2 has aired loads of brilliant drama, the reason ITV don't put their drama on anything other than ITV1, is because first they don't have that much great drama and secondly BBC2 is a terrestrial channel unlike ITV2/3/4. It was commissioned for BBC2, it wasn't dumped on there.

I really don't understand this attitude, it's on BBC2 so it must be crap or the BBC must have no faith in it.

It's not an attitude, it's an observation. Nor did I say it was crap.

So there's your argument straight out the window.

BBC1 usually gets a bigger audience than BBC2 as it's the "home" channel for most people.

[Aerrow]

Originally Posted by LolaSvelt

Don't make me laugh. BBC2 have been making period dramas for years. People should stop acting like Downton Abbey is the a paragon of television drama. It's enjoyable TV at best.

Well, try reading the books and you might see that this is infinitely closer to Downton Abbey than anything that ever came from the pen of Ford Madox Ford! (And I'm glad I made you laugh! Thanks for returning the compliment by damning the occasionally shallow and risible Downton Abbey as 'enjoyable TV at best.' I'd have thought that that was a pretty decent achievement compared to a lot of what's on, but perhaps you know better?)

[willow32]

Originally Posted by Lizaj

Beautiful. Great characters well acted..intriguing. The period "feel" fantastic and even if you didn't listen to a word, the landscapes were stunning.

Nicely put. I agree

[nethwen]

My first comment is going to be shallow, I know, but why did they get Benedict to put something in his mouth to alter his face structure? Am I the only one to notice? It was like they didn't want to show his (gorgeous ) cheekbones or something. He seemed to have difficulty in pronouncing some words, such as lisping when he said "statistics" and the like. sigh

As to this first part of the drama: I liked it. There was some good acting - especially from the female leads, I found. The cinematography and scenery were spectacular. I'm afraid I haven't read the Ford books, so I cannot comment about the episode's merits, shortcomings etc. at this stage.

I have just bought the book but won't have time to read it for a while yet. It's got Benedict on the front cover too, so I felt I had to nab myself a copy to add to my tbr pile.

[striing]

I've watched half of it - so far I'm finding it ranges from boring to irritiating. I'm going to see how many epsisodes there are and then make a decision about whether to keep going.

[nethwen]

Originally Posted by striing

I've watched half of it - so far I'm finding it ranges from boring to irritiating. I'm going to see how many epsisodes there are and then make a decision about whether to keep going.

There are 5 episodes, I believe.

[nethwen]

Ahh, I've found the answer to my question in #37 above:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...rades-End.html

The make-up department helped with the actor's physical transformation, dyeing his naturally ginger hair blond, padding out his tall, slender body, and stuffing his long, hollow cheeks with plastic plumpers. 'I had Boris Johnson as a visual reference,' Cumberbatch says, retracting his angular face into his neck and tugging at his jowls. 'I wanted to go further with it… but I think they were slightly nervous about any kind of attractiveness being completely lost.'

[Andy-B]

Morning coffee thoughts:

The love triange that really wasn't (the wife) vs. the love triangle that actually is (the husband)

The (slow-paced) exterior calm vs. the (fast-paced) inward passion

His emotional vulnerability vs. his professional and worldly experise

Really enjoyed the mad breakfast party


It's looking like each character is representative - a symbol of something in that period, perhaps the old order, perhaps the new, or the coming, or the social order, change itself ...who knows, early days!

[Gellymiss]

Originally Posted by Andy-B

Downton is just a daft, camp, period soap opera - Julian Fellowes having a whale of a time, is all.

I was gutted with Downton. The soap/miscarriage scene was when it went into soap opera territory for me and it never recovered... I want so much to love it like everyone else does but not with how it's been slapdashed together...I do wonder if Maggie Smith is jumping ship due to the second series.

I am reading the Parade's End books and I was curious to see how Stoppard would piece them together as they are tricky reading. I think he's done a superb job and all the performances are very strong.Something completely different for Stephen Graham but he's been fab. And Rufus Sewell made the absolute most of his handful of lines

[Andy-B]

Originally Posted by Gellymiss

I was gutted with Downton. The soap/miscarriage scene was when it went into soap opera territory for me and it never recovered...

And Fellowes is smart enough to have done the soap/soap thing intentionally ... not that I think he did. Probably

Reading elsewhere, some people are saying Stoppard did just enough in the first hour to frighten off the Downton crowd and send them back to ITV. Seems a little harsh ...

[RoyalP]

Dissapointed. We were both looking forward to this but looked at each other after 20 minutes and decided to delete it. Didn't find the characters or the storyline interesting or appealing.

Being a typically shallow male I may have given it a tad longer had the main female actress been remotely attractive

[seejay63]

Originally Posted by Andy-B

And Fellowes is smart enough to have done the soap/soap thing intentionally ... not that I think he did. Probably

Reading elsewhere, some people are saying Stoppard did just enough in the first hour to frighten off the Downton crowd and send them back to ITV. Seems a little harsh ...

BIB - and that's not snobby or condescending at all is it?

The difference is that Julian Fellowes has written something deliberately for tv so that immediately makes it easy to follow.

If, as someone has stated, the Parade's End books are difficult to read, then it follows that they will be equally difficult to transfer to tv. I haven't read the books, but I will be doing now, as I found last night's episode too erratic to follow.

[Straker]

Originally Posted by Gellymiss

I was gutted with Downton. The soap/miscarriage scene was when it went into soap opera territory for me and it never recovered... I want so much to love it like everyone else does but not with how it's been slapdashed together...

^ This. First series of Downtown was pretty good but the second was a complete mess. I’m surprised DA is still a byword for quality in anyone’s eyes. S2 was trash and badly written trash which is unforgivable from someone like Fellowes.

I had to force myself to watch Parade’s End as I just wasn’t in the mood. But I’m glad I did as it repaid the effort and next week’s looks even better.

[derek500]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley

BBC1 usually gets a bigger audience than BBC2 as it's the "home" channel for most people.

Better to be a 2m hit on BBC Two than a 3m flop on BBC One, as the Silent Witness and New Tricks brigade rush for their remotes.

[mossy2103]

Originally Posted by derek500

Better to be a 2m hit on BBC Two than a 3m flop on BBC One, as the Silent Witness and New Tricks brigade rush for their remotes.

Quite - the two channels cater for different audiences, as well as having a different feel.

I could not see something like The Shadow Line ever working on BBC one, but it was perfect for BBC Two

[Creamtea]

I enjoyed it. Didn't know what to expect and just decided to watch it as there seemed to be nothing else worth watching. Glad I did watch. I thought the wife was a great character. And the mad vicar was hilarious! Never have watched DA, but really enjoyed the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs and was annoyed it got axed.

[Tangledweb7]

I take it is really good can't wait to watch it when i have all the entire series recorded. Reading this thread i find alot of comparisons to Downton how come?. These are two completely separate shows the only similarity is the fact they are set around the same period. I am a massive Downton fan and appreciate any other period costumes dramas regardless of popularity or not.Really looking forward to watching this in its entirety and judging by the reaction here i can't wait.