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Post by everso on Oct 9, 2009 0:06:50 GMT
It's been on every night this week at 9 on BBC1. Great stuff, although a shame that Matthew MacFadyen got killed off in the second episode! (I have a bit of a crush on him at the moment) However, thank god for the BBC iplayer. I just watched the last 10 minutes of tonight's episode because earlier on I'd dozed off on the sofa. One minute I was there, the next I was gone.  |
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 9, 2009 7:02:25 GMT
I'd thought about watching it, but then didn't. Is it really good?
I'm sure it will be on the On Demand service on my BT box thing maybe . . . worth watching the whole thing over the weekend?
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Post by trubble on Oct 9, 2009 13:36:42 GMT
I've loved it. I am sure it will win awards.
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Post by jean on Oct 9, 2009 18:49:44 GMT
I watched the first episode, and Maxine Peake is brilliant, but I thought ,I know the sort of thing that happens, do I really want to spend five hours seeing it spelled out?
(But it's all been recorded in case I change my mind.)
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Post by everso on Oct 9, 2009 22:30:05 GMT
I watched the last one this evening. Great stuff. I loved Sophie Okedokey (not sure how to spell her name). She's a brilliant actress. Wasn't she in Hotel Rwanda? I love her face.
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Post by trubble on Oct 10, 2009 10:07:03 GMT
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 10, 2009 10:16:36 GMT
No, you two go ahead.
I am half-thinking of sitting watching it as a oner over the weekend at some stage if there's nothing else happening, but it probably won't happen.
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Post by jean on Oct 10, 2009 10:17:13 GMT
Still haven't decided. But I won't read this thread until I do, so carry on.
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Post by Patrick on Oct 10, 2009 11:02:32 GMT
Why Oh Why Oh Why! Must everything be bloody cops or Jane bloody Austen dramatisations! It's so depressing when there are so many literary geniuses (geniii?) out there going unrewarded!
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 10, 2009 13:45:16 GMT
I've got the first episode on now, but it's not really gripping me. Maybe I need to stop message-boarding at the same time?
I don't like that blonde actress, and I hate that Scottish actor.
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 10, 2009 15:06:36 GMT
I'm ploughing through episode 2 now.
It's pretty slow-moving, isn't it?
And the sound is rubbish. All the actors and actresses are muttering away, and I've got the volume turned up high and can still hardly hear half of it.
Here's something I'm not liking about it: It's a picture of the criminal justice system as it affects a middle class family, a tense middle England drama. It's not a true picture.
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Post by chrislord on Oct 10, 2009 15:21:02 GMT
I don't watch much TV nowadays...apart from when I'm at mother's place. She watches all the crime shows...Wexford, George Gently, Poirot...the only one I do like is Taggart but only because of the top Glaswegian totty on it....   |
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Post by aubrey on Oct 10, 2009 16:19:36 GMT
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Post by everso on Oct 10, 2009 17:13:23 GMT
I'm ploughing through episode 2 now. It's pretty slow-moving, isn't it? And the sound is rubbish. All the actors and actresses are muttering away, and I've got the volume turned up high and can still hardly hear half of it. Here's something I'm not liking about it: It's a picture of the criminal justice system as it affects a middle class family, a tense middle England drama. It's not a true picture. Actually, I think it makes a change. |
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 10, 2009 19:23:04 GMT
OK, I'm halfway thru the 4th episode (obviously had to stop to go to pub and watch X Factor and so on.)
It really is SLOW. SLOW.
Too many shots of peoples faces looking troubled and complex.
The storyline could have been done in 2 episodes, not 5.
I'm Hemingwayesque in my approach to art - this is too obviously meant to be meaningful.
And still too hard to understand with all the muttering and exchangeable vowel sounds.
And too unrealistic.
I don't believe that any 'client' of the criminal justice system (by which I mean the accused in this case) EVER received so many hours of attention and care. In reality the criminal justice system is called a 'system' for a reason - it processes people and it processes 'truths'. This series has some woman being analysed to the nth degree by social workers and defence agents.
In reality they'd all read the papers 5 mins before they saw her, see her for 10, and then move on.
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Post by riotgrrl on Oct 10, 2009 19:24:09 GMT
It's good on the emphasis that things aren't right and wrong, good and bad, and that the CJ system forces us into these kind of value judgements.
I liked the bit where one of the lawyers said that if you wanted to go and seek out the truth you should go and work in France (where they have an inquisitorial rather than an adversarial cj system.)
I liked that.
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Post by everso on Oct 11, 2009 6:43:41 GMT
I agree that it probably could have been condensed a bit - there were some very drawn out scenes where I was thinking "get on with it".
Overall, though, I did enjoy it. Obviously, because I don't work within the CJ system, I wouldn't be aware of technical faults, but I do see what you mean regarding the social workers. The young girl's social worker seemed joined to her at the hip.
I must say that on balance last year's Criminal Justice (don't know if it's still available on line) was better. It won a Bafta.
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Post by trubble on Oct 11, 2009 10:54:08 GMT
I'm ploughing through episode 2 now. It's pretty slow-moving, isn't it? And the sound is rubbish. All the actors and actresses are muttering away, and I've got the volume turned up high and can still hardly hear half of it. Here's something I'm not liking about it: It's a picture of the criminal justice system as it affects a middle class family, a tense middle England drama. It's not a true picture. Actually, I think it makes a change. I liked the middle class aspect too. A happy lawyer and his nice family in a nice house with nice friends is the ideal we are all supposed to aspire to really -- it's a picture of perfection and that's a great starting point for any denouement. I liked the relationship between Peake's character and the girl in the cells with her. The wife was given no backstory so there was a certain amount of 'everywoman' about her, she was the one to relate to and through her we were shown what we might feel or think if we met the girl in the cells or were isolated or were on trial.. I think. I related to that personal lack of knowledge about the system and that world anyway. And that they were a 'respectable' family allowed the drama to be about the incident and not mitigating factors such as upbringing, peers, poverty etc. The playing field was like their decor - neutral. |
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Post by trubble on Oct 11, 2009 10:56:54 GMT
It's good on the emphasis that things aren't right and wrong, good and bad, and that the CJ system forces us into these kind of value judgements. I liked the bit where one of the lawyers said that if you wanted to go and seek out the truth you should go and work in France (where they have an inquisitorial rather than an adversarial cj system.) I liked that. I thought that aspect was one of the strongest points of the whole drama. From the system itself to the relationships between husbands and wives, there was a constant emphasis on the grey areas. |
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Post by trubble on Oct 11, 2009 11:10:18 GMT
OK, I'm halfway thru the 4th episode (obviously had to stop to go to pub and watch X Factor and so on.) It really is SLOW. SLOW. Too many shots of peoples faces looking troubled and complex. The storyline could have been done in 2 episodes, not 5. It was extremely slow but got away with that by being spread over 5 nights with 24 hours inbetween each fix. I expect I might be agreeing with you if I'd watched it in one lump. That struck me too. Especially with Jack (solicitor character) who arrived like a knight in shining armour and took the wife on as if there was no other case in the world. All that patience and belief was beyond credulity but I chose to go with it for the fun of it. The social work side of things seemed idealised too, as did the Denis Lawson character. I wondered if the playwright was trying to instruct rather than reflect. It would be nice to think that people in that situation would have such a dedicated team, not to mention the care given to keeping baby and mother together. The ending somewhat mitigated all that though. Do you think? |
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