Even mentioning to some that Channel 4's widely hyped Humans (Sundays 9pm) is in fact a remake of the Swedish Äkta människor seems to drastically upset some so Mods please can we retain this thread as a place where we can discuss the original and the merits or not of the remake.
Anyone watching Humans please be aware that as Real Humans is now two series old there is more possibility of spoilers than not .

I think its a good idea xynaria, think I will seek out Akta Manniskor after watching humans. It is good the Humans rework or however its termed made me aware of the original, so I will see both in time

Who wants to watch it from the start and talk about every episode?

I suggest 1 episode every 2 days starting Friday at 10pm.

One of the best sci fi shows from any country in the last 10 years.

I would love to watch this, but can't find it with English subtitles anywhere.

If you have the episodes saved, get the English subtitles files from opensubtitles or subscene and watch them with a video player that let's you open subtitle (srt) files after you open the video.

Good tip, but Swedish is also easy to learn, however I am wating for dvd with subbies

I don't really think it's that viable to discuss it in the same way as something that is currently being shown episodically.

The main reason for the thread was it upset many that the original was referred to in the Humans thread and I wondered if I was alone in after just watching the first episode of Humans thinking that the changes made were all for the worse.
For instance not showing the banded hubots wandering in the beginning as in the original weakened the narrative IMHO and certainly confused my other half.

Likewise Leo's 'character change' into some kind of semi monster jarred as did having Hans having become a div as well as Lennard now being much more 'astute'

I suppose i felt let down by C4 as I found the original to be one of the better TV series I'd seen

So your not in the episode discussions then? Episode 1 discussion starts 10pm Friday, then each episode 48 hours later.

Like I say..I'm not sure that's viable but if any others want to do that fine but this thread wasn't started to preclude others wanting to discuss it per se.

I don't know what you are saying here.

The thread was created for anyone to discuss Äkta människor as a programme and also as to how it related to C4's Humans if so desired. If any contributors wish to go along with your suggestion to discuss it episodically at set times then so be it though it might be better in another thread if it is to be so rigid. This thread was created for a more generalised discussion.

The changes are interesting but not sure they are for the better because at this stage I can only see the doors that have been shut, hopefully the writers know what they are doing and will be opening some great different doors.

The only major change I see is the old man character with his new nursemaid - she was a battleaxe in the original and its good she seems to be in this as well. The difference is in the original it was his children that she belonged to and not the NHS. It's an interesting choice of the soulless state forcing the situation as opposed to the children wanting whats best for their dad, even though he doesn't want it. Seems to me it suffers for that lack of dramatic conflict of the well meaning or selfish (not wanting thier dad to die) intentions of others, as the NHS are faceless in this, it obviously speeds up the drama as you don't get to see the conflict of adults paying for live in helpers of their elderly parents. So what do you think about this change?

The other major one so far is one of the supporting characters, Roger, is yet to appear - but that thread may start up later or be held back for the second season.

Blimey after tonights episode I see masses of changes. Changing Lennart into having been partly responsible for developing the Hubots / Synths is pretty major and I do miss the original Vera .........she was practically an archetype
One thing I always felt with the original was that I was being told a coherent story and I really don't find that at all with the C4 version. There's no real explanation say behind the family..who does what and why...so far there's no Hubot showroom. As you say no Roger and why the hubots / synths were where they were isn't explained afaics. Likewise there's no real story to Silas etc. I'm trying to keep an open mind but so far the original is seeming IMHO far far better thought out and performed.

I totally agree, I'm up to Episode 7 of the original and the story is much better put together and a lot more coherent. This version seems a bit rushed and all over the place.

My favourite character in Äkta människor was the gullable buffoon Roger. No sign of him yet in humans, I really do hope he is in it!

He added a bit of humour to the show and it was priceless when he got the job at the paintball place and his hubot nemesis Rick was there! Remember Rogers wife left him for the hubot !

The channel 4 show is quite good, no sign of Anita getting her kit off yet though, that's a shame.

Wow just seen the first series of this version and it is so much better than the UK version.

It is also a good drama about AI and what it is to be human, in its own right.

Just like the film 'Ex Machina' it is difficult to know whether to trust that the hubots are sentient or not, or whether they have their own agenda no matter if they are just automata or even if they are sentient.

I think this film should be recommended viewing for anyone studying philosophy or AI.

I'm not keen on the fact they use Procedural Programming in the show as 'The Chinese Room' argument proves (IMO) that Procedural Programming will never be able to create sentient beings.

They should have used Neural Networks at least, although that might have meant they could not do the hacks they wrote into the story.

Yea, Roger is brilliantly done, no matter what's happening around him he always has that look of total bewilderment.

Yes he had some great scenes the big daft lump. The time he kicked the shit out of the hubot in his work and his constant battles with Rick and then falling for the hubot he was a human!


So do you think the channel 4 show will work without a Roger?

Why was this show - sold to 50 countries - never picked up by the BBC?

The BBC bought in other Scandinavian dramas such as The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge and showed them on BBC4. But then sci-fi has always been considered 'yoof' TV and no one under the age of 60 would dream of watching BBC4, apparently.

Don't know why, but they should have bought it, I bet they would have got a good deal on it. Its not even on Netflix in any country either. I don't watch the dark Scandinavian murder shows and movies that are so popular.

The Beeb certainly lost out not buying this in. Although perhaps now C4 are showing Humans they would get more viewers interested in it.

I'm worried the whole 'Human Liberation Front' thing is going to be missed out of the show.

At the moment they seem to only be concentrating on the family and Leo.

Don't see why not, I'm nearly 60 and watched loads of sci-fi growing up, Dr. Who, original Star Trek, Lost in Space off the top of my head.

Well it could work, the Human Liberation Front is something that would happen in that scenario, bungling amateurs doing their thing with poor saps like Roger getting caught up in it. As for the family, well the Swedish family seem far more rounded and believable.

No sign of Bea yet in Humans, one of the best characters in my opinion, also Humans seems to have made Flash/Florentine the Niska character.

I've got the last two of Series 2 to watch which I think may well be tonight.