[Ice dragon1]

Originally Posted by kate36

im going to have to have a look at 'the paradise' ...see what the fuss is all about..

Dude if am honest the paradise is a lot better in my opinion. The story flows a lot better and the main shop owner is a lot more likeable then mr self

[lovelylissa]

Mmmmm Moray

Sorry got distracted there!

[Ice dragon1]

Originally Posted by lovelylissa

Mmmmm Moray

Sorry got distracted there!

Lol that's his name forgot for a second

[KornerKabin]

I kind of enjoy this but I've realised that I just leave it on in the background while I get my bits and bobs ready for work in the morning.

[Hit Em Up Style]

I have to agree with everyone when they say this isn't a patch on The Paradise. TP just seems to have more likeable characters.

[Agent F]

Never watched The Paradise but my interest is waning with Selfridge I have to admit. Unfortunately the lead character is the least interesting thing about the whole show which isn't great. I much prefer the other characters. Will give it another few weeks but didn't think it was particularly good tonight.

[Midnight Moggy]

Did they really think using make-up was disreputable or scandulous at that time?

[Sallyforth]

Originally Posted by Grumpy_Alan

Which is why she is an actress.

Too often in the soaps, we see performers who, basically, 'play themselves', often giving the impression that they think they are in an end-of-term school play.

Not having seen her in anything else, including Coronation St which I don't watch, I think she's great in this, although she's probably got the best role in it too, certainly the best female role, IMO.

[Sallyforth]

Originally Posted by Midnight Moggy

Did they really think using make-up was disreputable or scandulous at that time?

Think the store opened just around the time attitudes were slightly starting to change.

[Fudd]

Originally Posted by Servalan

I am similarly intrigued after having just caught up with Episode 2. Good grief ...

Piven just gets worse and worse. He's like some OTT ringmaster on acid, raising his hands in every scene. Terrifyingly, he's also credited as being a producer - a typical sop to American egos that's quite common on US shows.

I'm astonished the scripts are so flimsy - although maybe I shouldn't be surprised, given that Andrew Davies is creating entirely new characters, rather than adapting works of fiction, as he's better known for doing. Agnes and her family are like some awful EastEnders story in period gear. Everything is signposted and there are no surprises.

My main concern is with the premise of the whole thing: it's clearly intended as a returning series, yet there is no tension or jeopardy beyond who is bonking who (and I don't much care about that), and the bigger question of whether or not Selfridges will be a success has no currency, because everyone knows it is.

Good comedy viewing if there's nothing else on - but I have to wonder if people will stick with it.

It's adapted from a book based on the development of Selfridge's so I don't think he's making the characters up from thin air.

I'm watching on +1 so am just about to watch the final part but I thought tonight was the strongest episode by far. I have to admit last week was a bit dull but the characters were more fleshed out and I was intrigued that Selfridges was the first UK store to push the idea of perfume counters being at the front of the store. I think the show will do better if it shows how modern shopping practices came into being rather than one off events such as the plane over the channel.

How Selfridges helped the Suffrage movement is also interesting; I never knew that took place either.

That said, I am basing all this on the original book and the drama being correct and not a work of fiction.

[k9fan]

Originally Posted by smude

Katherine Kelly is RADA trained and been a member of the RSC. I think she is quite unlike her Corrie character where as most of the young cast members play themselves.

Originally Posted by Grumpy_Alan

Which is why she is an actress.

Too often in the soaps, we see performers who, basically, 'play themselves', often giving the impression that they think they are in an end-of-term school play.

She was very good when she portrayed the wife of Kenny Everett last year.

[Servalan]

Originally Posted by Fudd

It's adapted from a book based on the development of Selfridge's so I don't think he's making the characters up from thin air.

I'm watching on +1 so am just about to watch the final part but I thought tonight was the strongest episode by far. I have to admit last week was a bit dull but the characters were more fleshed out and I was intrigued that Selfridges was the first UK store to push the idea of perfume counters being at the front of the store. I think the show will do better if it shows how modern shopping practices came into being rather than one off events such as the plane over the channel.

How Selfridges helped the Suffrage movement is also interesting; I never knew that took place either.

That said, I am basing all this on the original book and the drama being correct and not a work of fiction.

BIB - the series is indeed based in part on a book about the development of Selfridges - but Andrew Daviescherry-picked the elements he was interested in, and there are fictional characters in there, too - I think I'm correct in saying Agnes and Ellen are two of them ... hence my comments.

[Fudd]

Originally Posted by Servalan

BIB - the series is indeed based in part on a book about the development of Selfridges - but Andrew Daviescherry-picked the elements he was interested in, and there are fictional characters in there, too - I think I'm correct in saying Agnes and Ellen are two of them ... hence my comments.

Thanks.

I never saw The Paradise; maybe I'm enjoying it more because I'm not comparing it to anything?

[Supratad]

Everything in this is sort of "ersatz." The whole programme is like Boardwalk Empire but without the sex or violence, i,e, the good bits. Obviously Barbara Hershey turned down the role of Mrs Selfridge, Michelle Ryan or Martine McCurtcheon never returned calls for the part of the little cockney sparrow shop girl, and now Jake Gyllenhal has refused to be the artist fellow.

[Rowan Hedge]

Piven is awful, booming guttural voice needs toned down.

I noticed that the store is Selfridge & Co yet the store is Selfridges & Co, did the current owners deny/refuse permission for the trademark name to be associated with this nonsense production.

[roddydogs]

Ees got nice pecs thou

[Walter Neff]

Originally Posted by Rowan Hedge

Piven is awful, booming guttural voice needs toned down.

You are confusing the actor with the character he is playing.
I am sure that Selfridge was a loud bombastic man, that was probably how he managed to convince everyone with his revolutionary ideas, for that time.

I remember many years ago when I commented on how much I loved Doris Speed as Annie Walker. Someone actually said to me, "I can't stand her, she is such a snob."
Forgetting that it was just a marvellous actress playing the role extremely well.

[jamtamara]

Originally Posted by Walter Neff

You are confusing the actor with the character he is playing.
I am sure that Selfridge was a loud bombastic man, that was probably how he managed to convince everyone with his revolutionary ideas, for that time.

I remember many years ago when I commented on how much I loved Doris Speed as Annie Walker. Someone actually said to me, "I can't stand her, she is such a snob."
Forgetting that it was just a marvellous actress playing the role extremely well.

A bit like saying "I wish the charlady woman would take those curlers out and put her lipstick on right".

[Agent F]

Katherine Kelly's character seemed to really come into her own last night I must say, definitely the best thing about last night's episode for me. Lady Mae looks like one not to be messed with.

[Yorkie47]

I think I'd stop watching if I wasn't hooked on gazing adoringly at the screen every time Henri (Grégory Fitoussi) appears. That man is just gorgeous!

[oldhag]

I'm really enjoying every minute of this prog and it's very rare for me to tolerate ITV dramas.

I agree Mr Selfridge isn't likable, but how can he he be - he's a yank! He is very well acted - that's all that matters to me.

I don't like Death in Paradise despite the main character being very likable.

Selfridge's is much better IMO.

[Doghouse Riley]

Sadly, after a reasonable start, I find this has got a bit boring.

[teresagreen]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley

Sadly, after a reasonable start, I find this has got a bit boring.

Same here, and the Ellen character really grates on me.

[solare]

I watched this for the first time last night and although the storyline didn't interest me, I do love the period dresses.
(Oh - I sound like a character in Harry Enfield's - "Women...Know your Place" )

The pavement/kerb outside the Selfridges building did look rather modern for the time. I almost expected to see some double-yellow lines.

[Servalan]

Originally Posted by Walter Neff

You are confusing the actor with the character he is playing.
I am sure that Selfridge was a loud bombastic man, that was probably how he managed to convince everyone with his revolutionary ideas, for that time.

I remember many years ago when I commented on how much I loved Doris Speed as Annie Walker. Someone actually said to me, "I can't stand her, she is such a snob."
Forgetting that it was just a marvellous actress playing the role extremely well.

Doris Speed played Annie Walker superbly - but the same can't be said for Piven's portrayal of Selfridge. Pretty much every scene features him doing the same thing - waving his arms around while he talks in a booming voice and shows off his teeth. There are the odd moments where he tries to look 'guilty' or 'concerned' - but then you can see the joins. Although they are struggling with below par material, the rest of the cast outshine him. People wanted to see Annie Walker because her character had real heart and warmth. There's nothing remotely comparable in Piven's performance - and he, unlike Speed, plays the character on which the entire show hinges.

This week's episode was superbly directed - John Strickland is excellent - but what the hell was going on with the stories? Agnes gets hit by her father in the first five minutes ... then she disappears for half an hour and he is never seen again. Her attempts to disguise her black eye fail as soon as she gets into work - then, for the rest of the episode, she goes into an entirely different story about perfume and a possible romance with Henri. Bizarre story-telling: surely it should have been Henri who spots the black eye, shows kindness to Agnes and that fuels their story together; meanwhile, there should have been a pay-off for the father.

Instead, however, the show is sinking into what I suspected it would become: a period soap with nothing at stake, because we all know Selfridges is a success story, and there are nowhere near enough characters for us to care about. It would seem I'm not the only dissatisfied customer - the viewing figures are dropping ...