Telly stuff
Jul. 15th, 2011 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightMy posts do rather seem to have narrowed down lately to What I Watched On Telly, haven't they? Oh well.
Anyway, this week, I watched a BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters' wonderful novel, The Night Watch, and the first episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day. More about those behind cut.
Spoilers, obviously.
I'm a bit confused about TW; Miracle Day. Apparently, the US version gets more sex and violence and the UK one gets more conversation. Will the same hold true for the eventual DVD releases, does anyone know? If so, it'll be really annoying. I hate to think I might have missed anything at all, but I couldn't find a d/l I could play so I've no way to compare.
Not that I'll definitely be buying the DVD set, because after this first episode the jury is still way, way out. It was an odd confection all right. The glossy, American stuff sat decidedly oddly next to the rather un-glossy Brit stuff. I couldn't help noticing the extreme contrast between the two hospitals, for instance, and I bet American viewers noticed it too, and some of them are probably now thinking all that nonsense Sarah Palin spouted about the NHS is true.
Maybe that's a universal American perception of our health service, unfair as it is, just as the bizarre release of Bill Pullman's character from prison was an equally unfair Brit perception of American justice. RTD must subscribe to the view that Americans are more scared of being sued than they are of anything else (and he wouldn't be the only Brit who thought it), to the extent that they would rather let dangerous paedophiles loose on the streets than take the risk.
To me, that whole thing was very silly. Firstly, if the governor (it was the governor, wasn't it?) was so worried about being sued by Oswald Danes, why wasn't he worried about being countersued by Danes's victim's parents? Silly, silly, silly. I don't believe any American states governor would ever dare release a prisoner like Danes, no matter what the threat. Also, I really resent that Danes was being supported by some sort of anti-death penalty lobby group, since it implies that people who are against the death penalty are all "Paedophiles! Yay!" which is arrant nonsense and quite insulting.
:Steps off soap box:
On a less indignant note, I can't say I'm convinced by the Danes character. Yes, Bill Pullman is doing a good job of making him utterly repulsive (he might as well go around wearing a t-shirt saying, 'I'm a paedo, ask me how'), but that's partly the problem. He's too repulsive. He's supposed to be charismatic. Instead, he's just creepy.
I also thought most of the action sequences were old-style Torchwood silly. The Welsh-set ones were fun, though, and I did enjoy Gwen and Rhys's domestic bliss with guns. I also envy them their beautiful country hideaway. However, none of the American characters gel for me yet. Everything is too Hollywood and glossy. 'Course Barrowman has a lot of Hollywood showbiz gloss, but over here he's most often seen on telly introducing early Saturday evening family game shows (in fact he's just been on, wearing a jacket with blue-sequinned lapels), so it's always a bit jarring when he's being Captain Jack (oh, and I still miss Captain John, so there!).
So, not a whole hearted endorsement, but I will keep watching, if only to (hopefully) catch another glimpse of Robin Sachs as 'British Professor', which had me in stitches when the credits rolled.
As for The Night Watch, I did for the most part enjoy the adaptation. I thought it was a little rushed and can't really understand why the BBC changed certain plot points either, unless it was because they thought the only heterosexual characters in the story deserved a happy ending more (not really, but unfortunately that's one way you could interpret it). I also didn't find the actress playing Helen very convincing. She was certainly nothing like how I imagined her. But Anna Maxwell Martin as Kay and Anne Wilson-Jones as Julia were both excellent (and there was real sexual chemistry between them). Well worth staying up for anyway.
Anyway, this week, I watched a BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters' wonderful novel, The Night Watch, and the first episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day. More about those behind cut.
Spoilers, obviously.
I'm a bit confused about TW; Miracle Day. Apparently, the US version gets more sex and violence and the UK one gets more conversation. Will the same hold true for the eventual DVD releases, does anyone know? If so, it'll be really annoying. I hate to think I might have missed anything at all, but I couldn't find a d/l I could play so I've no way to compare.
Not that I'll definitely be buying the DVD set, because after this first episode the jury is still way, way out. It was an odd confection all right. The glossy, American stuff sat decidedly oddly next to the rather un-glossy Brit stuff. I couldn't help noticing the extreme contrast between the two hospitals, for instance, and I bet American viewers noticed it too, and some of them are probably now thinking all that nonsense Sarah Palin spouted about the NHS is true.
Maybe that's a universal American perception of our health service, unfair as it is, just as the bizarre release of Bill Pullman's character from prison was an equally unfair Brit perception of American justice. RTD must subscribe to the view that Americans are more scared of being sued than they are of anything else (and he wouldn't be the only Brit who thought it), to the extent that they would rather let dangerous paedophiles loose on the streets than take the risk.
To me, that whole thing was very silly. Firstly, if the governor (it was the governor, wasn't it?) was so worried about being sued by Oswald Danes, why wasn't he worried about being countersued by Danes's victim's parents? Silly, silly, silly. I don't believe any American states governor would ever dare release a prisoner like Danes, no matter what the threat. Also, I really resent that Danes was being supported by some sort of anti-death penalty lobby group, since it implies that people who are against the death penalty are all "Paedophiles! Yay!" which is arrant nonsense and quite insulting.
:Steps off soap box:
On a less indignant note, I can't say I'm convinced by the Danes character. Yes, Bill Pullman is doing a good job of making him utterly repulsive (he might as well go around wearing a t-shirt saying, 'I'm a paedo, ask me how'), but that's partly the problem. He's too repulsive. He's supposed to be charismatic. Instead, he's just creepy.
I also thought most of the action sequences were old-style Torchwood silly. The Welsh-set ones were fun, though, and I did enjoy Gwen and Rhys's domestic bliss with guns. I also envy them their beautiful country hideaway. However, none of the American characters gel for me yet. Everything is too Hollywood and glossy. 'Course Barrowman has a lot of Hollywood showbiz gloss, but over here he's most often seen on telly introducing early Saturday evening family game shows (in fact he's just been on, wearing a jacket with blue-sequinned lapels), so it's always a bit jarring when he's being Captain Jack (oh, and I still miss Captain John, so there!).
So, not a whole hearted endorsement, but I will keep watching, if only to (hopefully) catch another glimpse of Robin Sachs as 'British Professor', which had me in stitches when the credits rolled.
As for The Night Watch, I did for the most part enjoy the adaptation. I thought it was a little rushed and can't really understand why the BBC changed certain plot points either, unless it was because they thought the only heterosexual characters in the story deserved a happy ending more (not really, but unfortunately that's one way you could interpret it). I also didn't find the actress playing Helen very convincing. She was certainly nothing like how I imagined her. But Anna Maxwell Martin as Kay and Anne Wilson-Jones as Julia were both excellent (and there was real sexual chemistry between them). Well worth staying up for anyway.