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TV shows currently watching
- Thread starter Mr.Azim
- Start date
You'll be disappointed. Either way. I went from books to TV and the whole tone of the show is different. They changed quite a bit - and I'm not talking about the gender switching - that part is fine.
If you view the TV series as a separate thing, it's quite good. But not if you are expecting an adaptation of the series of novels.
Do read the books, though. It was one of my favorite series growing up. When I heard they were doing a TV show based on the books, I was very excited. Now I'm just interested to see where they go with it, but not that excited about it anymore.
I keep my expectations low for shows when I read the books first. I find that if you luck out and watch the show first it’s an even more enjoyable read. As you alluded, the books are usually better.
sburns
Well-known member
What We do in The Shadows S3 - didn't disappoint, S4 looks like some interesting changes coming
Arcane - beautiful looking, well shot/setup, very surprising show, held my interest all the way. Some part of the plot got muddied around 2/3rds way in but nothing serious.
Hanna S3 is out.
Arcane - beautiful looking, well shot/setup, very surprising show, held my interest all the way. Some part of the plot got muddied around 2/3rds way in but nothing serious.
Hanna S3 is out.
Where can I find Arcane? (which by the way shares its name with one of my favourite prog metal bands)
sburns
Well-known member
Netflix
Watch Arcane | Netflix Official Site
Amid the stark discord of twin cities Piltover and Zaun, two sisters fight on rival sides of a war between magic technologies and clashing convictions.
www.netflix.com
Amazon Prime Video has a Black Friday deal to add some channels for 0.99c a month for 2 months so I just added Acorn and Britbox for some more variety over Xmas . Started watching DCI Banks on Britbox and it’s really good. Gritty with some good actors. Good storyline in the pilot I’m watching. Looks like it was popular too as there are 5 seasons to watch!
On Britbox, Death in Paradise was a goofy easy to watch series. Unforgotten, Line of Duty & MI5 all kept my attention.
Priller
Well-known member
We've been doing something similar. We signed up for Acorn to watch the classic I, Claudius, which I haven't seen before, but have also been rummaging through the list. We'll add DCI Banks to the others lined up (Dalgliesh, Jack Taylor, Quirke, The Secret Agent, Kavanagh QC, Murder on the Blackpool Express among others)...
Other highlights we've found from Acorn and BritBox besides the usual classics include:
- Rebus, likely old hat to most, but our first go with the show. There's absolutely nothing original about it, but the mysteries are well done and aren't as dependent on magic third act revelations to maintain suspense as many similar shows.
(It covers all the Brit-murder bingo squares: detective with a boozing problem, should have been promoted but wouldn't play by the rules, struggles with relationships because the job is all-consuming, has a patient and loyal partner who reluctantly helps out because of how brilliant they are, has an obsession with finding out the truth - no matter the cost, has some past trauma that they try to forget, hold some inexplicable but irresistible attraction for the opposite sex despite being average looking, is crusty and rude but covers up a heart of gold, is consumed by old cases that remain unsolved or in doubt, is not above breaking the law to further their ends, has a quirky hobby or pastime, has a boss who gets angry when they break the rules but knows they get results so doesn't get *too* angry, etc. See also Prime Suspect, George Gently, Hinterland, Broadchurch, Morse, and innumerable others for variations on the theme.)
- River covers some of the above, but is brilliantly done. Stellan Skarsgard and Nicola Walker are both incredible, and its single series of six episodes is both perfect in its economy and leaves you wishing for more.
- Ice Cold Murders (also known as Rocco Schiavone) is an Italian spin on the above, and is one of our favourites despite ticking a lot of the trope boxes above. The balance between encapsulated cases and ongoing stories is well navigated, and there's lots of great sense of place as it switches between alpine Italy and Rome.
- The Cleaner is the latest from Greg Davies, and is less sitcom than inky black comedy about a crime scene cleaner. Not perfect, but has some great moments and guest stars like Helena Bonham Carter and David Mitchell.
- Detectorists - I can't remember if I talked about this one earlier here, but it's worth a double mention. A beautiful study of a particular version of passive British maleness, rooted in how a shared passion for a hobby can connect otherwise emotionally distant people. Manages to be both hilarious and extremely poignant. Also, Simon and Garfunkel.
- Any ancient historical documentary by Mary Beard (Caligula, Rome: Empire without Limit, etc.), who is an incredible teacher and storyteller and revels in all the the things we don't actually know, despite thinking we do.
Where did you watch Ice Cold Murders? I watched it on the Amazon Prime PBS channel and I’m waiting for season 4 to be translated. Maybe the other channel got to it first? It’s been one of our favourite series in recent times.
Nicola Walker in anything is awesome.
She's in Unforgotten.
Priller
Well-known member
Same place as you, unfortunately. The only other place I've seen with English subtitles is Channel 4, but they only have the first series on Walter Presents. Series 4 is up on Amazon Prime Italy (only two episodes, I think?), but no English subs and my Italian isn't that good...
I'm glad to hear we aren't the only ones who enjoyed it! It has so many of the cliches I listed above (and one I missed: the big city cop reassigned to a backwater as punishment or career rehab after screwing up somehow), but somehow transcends all that with some great storytelling and interesting ancillary characters.
I found the Italian one. The episodes are longer than normal I think which is good. Looks like filming got interrupted by COVID. My Italian is non existent so I’ll have to wait. He’s a pretty unique character and a very likeable rogue. The wife and I both enjoyed the first three seasons a lot.
Watched another Banks on Britbox last night. It’s still very good, I was worried the pilot would be an outlier. Stephen Tompkinson is a great actor. If you like Brit films he was the “tragic clown” in Brassed Off.
"The Shining" is a perfect example.
Rebus was one of the original Brit murder mysteries if you go by the series of books written by Ian Rankin. I attribute many of the protagonist characteristics that you see in many of the series since those books were written to him. So if you’re new to Rebus, yes the character would appear to be a carbon copy of the genre - but he was around before most of the others - ok, so maybe not Inspector Morse.
Great write ups, btw. Appreciate your insights!
Rob
Priller
Well-known member
Makes me think of Blade Runner, something so copied that it gets easy to miss what made it great in the first place. We've actually really enjoyed the Rebus episodes we've watched so far, to be fair.Rebus was one of the original Brit murder mysteries if you go by the series of books written by Ian Rankin. I attribute many of the protagonist characteristics that you see in many of the series since those books were written to him. So if you’re new to Rebus, yes the character would appear to be a carbon copy of the genre - but he was around before most of the others - ok, so maybe not Inspector Morse.
Great write ups, btw. Appreciate your insights!
Rob
Turns out I'm just as guilty of copying someone else's better idea: Just found A Touch of Cloth on Prime, which is a satire of all of the above. It even stars John Hannah (who played Rebus in the first series), and Suranne Jones (who has been on a bunch of Brit-cop shows including the recent Vigil, another cliche-fest despite the setting). I suspect the premise would've worked better as a recurring bit on a sketch show, but nobody seems to do sketch shows anymore...
Priller
Well-known member
Getting away from the Brit TV chat, just discovered that the first three series of Gomorra is finally available again in Canada via the Hollywood Suite channel package. I missed it the first time (I think it was on Crave?), and have been waiting ages for someone to get the rights here.
For anyone who doesn't know, it's about a Neapolitan camorra crime family, based on a book written covering true events. It gets compared a lot to the Sopranos, though my sense is it's less of a single person's vision than that show was, which had pros and cons.
We're only a few episodes in, but so far it lives up to the glowing reviews I've read. It's definitely violent and brutal, though it doesn't feel gratuitous.
It's subtitled, in case that's an issue for anyone, though the dialogue is in the Neapolitan dialect so even Northern Italians need them, apparently...
For anyone who doesn't know, it's about a Neapolitan camorra crime family, based on a book written covering true events. It gets compared a lot to the Sopranos, though my sense is it's less of a single person's vision than that show was, which had pros and cons.
We're only a few episodes in, but so far it lives up to the glowing reviews I've read. It's definitely violent and brutal, though it doesn't feel gratuitous.
It's subtitled, in case that's an issue for anyone, though the dialogue is in the Neapolitan dialect so even Northern Italians need them, apparently...
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