Recent Viewing Part IV

Really? REALLY?
Where to even begin...
Jonathan Strange
Broadchurch
Ripper Street
Foyle's War
Line Of Duty
Wolf Hall
Banished
Peaky Blinders
The Fall
Luther
Shameless
Misfits
The Thick Of It
Law & Order UK

...and that's just off the top of my head and just the last THREE FUCKING YEARS or so.
I haven't even SCRATCHED the CLASSICS yet!!! Wait 'till you get me started on House Of Cards, Life On Mars, fucking I Claudius, man! The bleedin' PHYSICAL RELIEF I feel when I switch over from ferschlugginer Dutch TV (where acting has never left the late 19th century stage: to indicate any kind of emotion speak rapidly and really, really LOUDLY) to a UK show...man, I swear it's palpable!


But yeah. Downton Abbey is shit.

Yeah, no. None of those, from what I've seen at least (and I doubt those I haven't would change my mind since it's the style of British drama that leaves me cold), come close to the enjoyment I get out of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, Six Feet Under, Game of Thrones, Community, Silicon Valley, Daredevil, Bloodline, House of Cards, Louie, Fargo, Mr. Robot, Mad Men, Homeland... to name a few. For starters, all these look so much more handsome than almost all British filmed dramas. The BBC seem to save their best equipment for nature docs.

I forgot Wolf Hall. Wonderful.

And when it comes to comedy, I think my patriotic feelings are justified.

I think you may be exactly right. I realise my hate/dislike for most things British seems a little... disproportionate. If it's set in Britain, filmed in Britain, it tends not to interest me. Comedy, on the other hand, seems to by pass this cultural selfloathing mechanism.

...and Ashes To Ashes.

Going further back and off the top of my head....

Boys From The Blackstuff
Edge of Darkness
The Singing Detective
The Naked Civil Servant
Prime Suspect
Our Friends Up North

And more recently Happy Valley ( superior IMO to the overhyped Broadchurch )


And yeah, Downton Abbey can fucking do one.

Let's just agree that British shows are immensely different from US shows and therefore certainly not for everyone (like the other way around). There is certainly a concensus about which shows from both sides of the pond are simply brilliant, but style is still an issue. As a fan of US television shows in general, it took me a long time to actually get into British drama, but once I did, I embraced it like fresh air, and nowadays I enjoy both because of their differences.

It gets problematic, though, when US studios think they need to adapt British shows for American audiences. It almost never works, Broadchurch <--> Gracepoint being one of the most recent failed attempts. Only if a remake embraces what makes US television different from British television, you get such jewels like both versions of Being Human. If I may... they both drink blood for sustenance, but they feed on very different people.

Oh, there were some British shows I loved to watch back then:

- Upstairs, Downstairs (yes, really). Maybe that's why I like "Downton Abbey" these days.
- Catweazle
- Robin of Sherwood (of course)
- Monty Python's Flying Circus (of course)
- The Persuaders
- Remington Steele
- Space: 1999 (!!!)
- Thunderbirds and Stingray
- The Tripods

And probably some others that don't come to mind now.

What Steven is saying, and apparently Martijn too to some extent (although I can agree with him too ), is similar to what I think happens here too. In Belgium most people "look down" on Flemish tv series. They're boring and not inventive. But I think we have made some impressive series over the past few years. Ancienne Belgique, In Flanders Fields, ... Perhaps one cannot be proud of it enough. I'm like that toot though.

I haven't seen as many British series like some of you, but the latest, Broadchurch, was very good.

Ah, well. I thought it was 80s. Still, even 1999 TV looks very aged, more so than movies. I think we're in a Golden Age of TV at the moment.

Having finished Humans recently, I must say I loved it.

It got better with every episode, tensions rising everywhere, with lots of great drama moments between human and synth protagonists in the later episodes. Sadly, the last one left a lot to be desired. With its focus on the events and the developing story, it strangely missed the opportunity for even better dialogue and great moments. But I'll certainly return for Series 2.

I never saw the original. I was aware of its existence, but never came around to watch it. It's sad for its fans when it got chopped before its time...

They got the sound designer to write the score? I hate that stuff; it's become somewhat of a sorry trend in Norway too. People seem to assume that the sound designers -- brilliant as they may be in that department -- somehow also know how to write music.

I know you're joking, but Reznor is a great musician. I doubt he would know anything about sound design (at most the basics, like all film composers).

Sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you were talking about the actual sound designer. That's the trend I don't like. I don't mind composers who nurture a more sound design-like score, as long as it has musical values (musique concrete-style, for example).

Never underestimate what Thor does and doesn't like.

And yeah, if the big ol' fireworks didn't give it away, I was joking - a common insult people like to toss at scores they don't like is that it's "just sound design", and while I certainly don't like Reznor's music, it's still music.