[goonernatalie]

I liked it

[GeorgeS]

There isn't enough nudity, swearing, backstabbing, sex and violence in the episodes. Otherwise it is good.

[myss]

Originally Posted by Fudd

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

Yes. Even though I've seen The Paradise, I'm watching the programme to see how this story folds and the other bits like the acting, costume, music, etc.

That said it was an OK episode, there wasn't much to excite me though but I'm still interested to keep watching. Katherine Kelly looked lovely in the blue/navy dress and the brunette hair. Mrs Selfridge reminds me of a younger Mariah Carey in her earlier days, and Henri's a dead ringer for Modern Family's Ty Burrell.

[AndreaJx]

Originally Posted by 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!

This.
I also find Roddy ( Oliver-Jackson Cohen) very gorgeous...

This series so far hasn't been great...maybe I'm just comparing it to The Paradise which was much more entertaining and kept my attention span because of the more likeable main characters whereas in this drama the secondary characters seem to be more entertaining (apart from Lady Mae).

[Stansfield]

Originally Posted by teresagreen

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

Zoë Tapper is the main reason I'm still watching.

And that Artist with the Wife, he's a Knight on the Channel 4 Drama on Saturday.

[kat180]

I'm growing bored. It really isn't very good.

I don't care about any of the characters, and its just jumping around. In the first few minutes the girl (whose name cant be bothered to look up) is hit, and then... barely anyone mentions it for the whole episode. Not even her brother? Surely there should have been some confrontation with the father - considering last episode both children said if he ever raised his hand to them again he'd be out. Her brother didn't even seem to notice she had a black eye! And now there's clearly some contrived romantic misunderstanding thats going to happen between the window guy, the waiter and whats-her-face.

Rose is... possibly having an affair? But we spent all of two minutes with her and the artist yet in next weeks promo he accuses her of 'knowing he was falling in love with her'.

Every time that girl opened her mouth to 'sing' I had to fast forward. She sounds awful.

No one else in the house is bothering to watch it anymore, and we usually all sit down to watch period dramas together.

[squadge]

i actually like it better than paradise. Agree, the minute the chorus girls sings I shudder but I think the point is that she isn't all that talented and (just like today), you don't need to have talent to be a celebrity. There were even implied comments this week about her singing ability (Henri). Think the guy playing selfridge has the most engaging smile. And yeh - what's happening down in the shipping department with the fat guy and trowler's brother.. And what about the fact, violent dad has moved back in... not a mention...All will be resolved i'm sure, but things should never go without even a one sentence mention for a whole week

[Walter Neff]

Originally Posted by jamtamara

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

Exactly, and what a beautifully spoken, cultured lady Jean Alexander is in real life.

[kat180]

Oh I get they were highlighting that she doesn't actually have any singing talent (or any talent) whatsoever but they didn't need to devote an hour to telling us that! How many references were made? How many times did we have to hear her screeching?!

[kate36]

we really enjoyed sunday's episode clever henri showing ellen in her worst sluttish light and bravo harry for going with the springtime theme, hopefully he's dumped ellen, i cant wait for him to meet the dolly sisters!!
meanwhile poor dreary drippy mrs selfridge needs to grow a spine and do something with herself, i have no sympathy for her character, whatever did harry see in hexr??
im waitng for something nasty and deadly to affect agnes' drunken bully father and surely it will..perhaps a tussle in the lodgings that leads to a not so accidental death and heavens above, perhaps vic will help her dispose of the body!! just a few ideas...
cant stand lady mae. ...what is the point of her exactly??

[Tissy]

Originally Posted by Ice dragon1

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

Originally Posted by 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.

Totally agree

I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Paradise - it had it all although I don`t usually like Sarah Lancashire I loved the role she played in it

Tried watching Mr S but the lead actor puts me off

[gurney-slade]

You have to wonder if Andrew Davies actually bothered to read the biography on which this is based. Mrs Selfridge was a successful woman in her own right when she married. She came from a wealthy family and had a career as a property developer. She certainly wasn't the timid ingénue portrayed in the programme. She probably knew her husband was a womaniser and made the best of a bad job. And she was pushing fifty at the time of the story, so let's hope the artist doesn't manage to get her out of her kit next week!

[Servalan]

Originally Posted by gurney-slade

You have to wonder if Andrew Davies actually bothered to read the biography on which this is based. Mrs Selfridge was a successful woman in her own right when she married. She came from a wealthy family and had a career as a property developer. She certainly wasn't the timid ingénue portrayed in the programme. She probably knew her husband was a womaniser and made the best of a bad job. And she was pushing fifty at the time of the story, so let's hope the artist doesn't manage to get her out of her kit next week!

V interesting - so, assuming that Mrs S didn't marry a younger man, ITV must have aged down both of them for their fictional reworking of this story. More concerned with audience demographics than the facts, maybe ...?

The version of Mrs S you describe sounds significantly more interesting than the insecure creature who goes up to see strange men's etchings. Andrew Davies has said he 'cherry picked' elements from the book - and I'm sure ITV had a hand in what they were. But not many cherries, by the sound of things ...

[gurney-slade]

Originally Posted by Servalan

V interesting - so, assuming that Mrs S didn't marry a younger man, ITV must have aged down both of them for their fictional reworking of this story. More concerned with audience demographics than the facts, maybe ...?

The version of Mrs S you describe sounds significantly more interesting than the insecure creature who goes up to see strange men's etchings. Andrew Davies has said he 'cherry picked' elements from the book - and I'm sure ITV had a hand in what they were. But not many cherries, by the sound of things ...

Mr Selfridge was born in 1856, which puts him in his fifties. Contemporary photos show him with a waxed, Kaiser Bill moustache, rather than the trendy beard adopted by the actor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gordon_Selfridge

[tracystapes]

Are the Dolly sisters in this series!?

[Grumpy_Alan]

Originally Posted by Servalan

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 ...

I fear that Andrew Davies is losing his touch.

[SULLA]

Originally Posted by tracystapes

Simon Cowell tweeted that he loves it

I can't wait to shop at 'Cowells'

Originally Posted by Fudd

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

I have to credit Lady May for that

Originally Posted by 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.

I love her little cameos

[Mrs Mackintosh]

Originally Posted by kat180

I'm growing bored. It really isn't very good.

I don't care about any of the characters, and its just jumping around. In the first few minutes the girl (whose name cant be bothered to look up) is hit, and then... barely anyone mentions it for the whole episode. Not even her brother? Surely there should have been some confrontation with the father - considering last episode both children said if he ever raised his hand to them again he'd be out. Her brother didn't even seem to notice she had a black eye! And now there's clearly some contrived romantic misunderstanding thats going to happen between the window guy, the waiter and whats-her-face.

Rose is... possibly having an affair? But we spent all of two minutes with her and the artist yet in next weeks promo he accuses her of 'knowing he was falling in love with her'.

Every time that girl opened her mouth to 'sing' I had to fast forward. She sounds awful.

No one else in the house is bothering to watch it anymore, and we usually all sit down to watch period dramas together.

I agree with everything you've said but can't seem to stop watching it.

Jeremy Piven looks like a trainee Bee Gee, all beard and teeth (I mean, who would have nashers like THAT back in those days?)

And the Ellen Love character is punchable. They need to cease and desist with the music hall interludes.

[Dawn Sun]

Originally Posted by Mrs Mackintosh

I agree with everything you've said but can't seem to stop watching it.

Jeremy Piven looks like a trainee Bee Gee, all beard and teeth (I mean, who would have nashers like THAT back in those days?)

And the Ellen Love character is punchable. They need to cease and desist with the music hall interludes.

He reminds me of Dave Grohl when he's hamming it up in the music vids.

[SULLA]

Originally Posted by Mrs Mackintosh

Jeremy Piven looks like a trainee Bee Gee, all beard and teeth (I mean, who would have nashers like THAT back in those days?)

And the Ellen Love character is punchable. They need to cease and desist with the music hall interludes.

Spoiler

According to IMDB she is only in the first 3 episodes. However it also has Mrs Selfridge in just 2 and she's already been in 3

[Servalan]

Originally Posted by gurney-slade

Mr Selfridge was born in 1856, which puts him in his fifties. Contemporary photos show him with a waxed, Kaiser Bill moustache, rather than the trendy beard adopted by the actor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gordon_Selfridge

Thank you for clarifying that.

Perhaps someone can do some kind of 'ageism at ITV' expose where they justify why they changed the characters' ages?

[ilovewallander]

Originally Posted by squadge

i actually like it better than paradise. Agree, the minute the chorus girls sings I shudder but I think the point is that she isn't all that talented and (just like today), you don't need to have talent to be a celebrity. There were even implied comments this week about her singing ability (Henri). Think the guy playing selfridge has the most engaging smile. And yeh - what's happening down in the shipping department with the fat guy and trowler's brother.. And what about the fact, violent dad has moved back in... not a mention...All will be resolved i'm sure, but things should never go without even a one sentence mention for a whole week

Yes, the Ellen Love character isn't that talented, she's just sleeping and pouting her way to the top, using the fact that Chipmunk is panting over her to her advantage. She certainly loves herself. I want to slap her!!

[myss]

Originally Posted by kat180

Surely there should have been some confrontation with the father - considering last episode both children said if he ever raised his hand to them again he'd be out.

Oh yeah, very true.

Originally Posted by kate36

clever henri showing ellen in her worst sluttish light

Oh yeah, I like that part too! I thought that part in the casino/betting room place was just done to keep her sweet, clever man indeed!

Originally Posted by gurney-slade

Mr Selfridge was born in 1856, which puts him in his fifties. Contemporary photos show him with a waxed, Kaiser Bill moustache, rather than the trendy beard adopted by the actor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gordon_Selfridge

I mentioned this a few posts back, I'm puzzled at the lack of likeness when more could have been done to the actor to make him look more like the man.

[Alexis07]

Originally Posted by myss

Yes. Even though I've seen The Paradise, I'm watching the programme to see how this story folds and the other bits like the acting, costume, music, etc.

That said it was an OK episode, there wasn't much to excite me though but I'm still interested to keep watching. Katherine Kelly looked lovely in the blue/navy dress and the brunette hair. Mrs Selfridge reminds me of a younger Mariah Carey in her earlier days, and Henri's a dead ringer for Modern Family's Ty Burrell.

Don't you see a similarity between the showgirl ( Miss Love ?) and Kiera Knightly ??

[Servalan]

Originally Posted by myss

I mentioned this a few posts back, I'm puzzled at the lack of likeness when more could have been done to the actor to make him look more like the man.

Sorry - I missed your post!

What they should actually have done was cast someone of the correct age ... which might have helped in the looks department, too!