Lately been looking to see what UK serials I’ve missed in recent years but I don’t really have any way, at least that I’m aware of, of tracking such things down.
People here occasionally will mention something such as Top of the Lake (was that you BrokenBriton?) and I’m always grateful for such suggestions since it seems I’m almost never disappointed with UK drama.
So I thought I’d once again avail myself of the kindness of strangers with this thread. I’d also be interested in any web sites that catalog UK shows and might help me get a handle on what is available.
For anime, there are several sites like anime planet where you can sort by genre, date, tags, etc and I find those really helpful when I’m looking for anime, but I’ve never found anything like that tv let alone specific tv genres.
Luther will be on BBC America next week and I’ll be recording that - had already dl’ed to watch but prefer watching with closed captioning. And yes, the first 2 seasons of Luther were just mindblowing.
I looked at wikipedia for Survivors and it looks interesting. Not sure it’s exactly my speed but it says it’s scifi, and that’s one of my favorite genre’s so that’s very promising - thank you.
None of thea bove work for me though I know Luther is popular.
In terms of genuine quality and intelligence; recently and obviously, Broadchurch, Top of the Lake (yes, it was probably me) and In The Flesh.
If you want a proper and on going resource for UK quality drama then the best is the BAFTA website - be careful to look at the TV BAFTA nominations and not the film BAFTAs. Pretty much anything on the nominations list for the past decade is guaranteed to be very good > excellent. This is 2013 - obv. look in the drama category:
Thanks. I just recently watched all 3 seasons of Scott and Bailey. Well, seasons 2 and 3. I couldn’t get most of season 1. It was pretty good but the younger cop was really pissing me off by the end. I just wanted to smack her upside the head.
I think I watched Ripper years ago if it’s the show I’m thinking of, but I might watch it again since I’m not sure I caught every episode. Broadchurch I also watched a few months ago which I enjoyed but I do get a headache trying to parse the accents. I really wish I could find more stuff with closed captioning. Speech needs to be very clear and well enunciated for me and the audio has to be very clean otherwise it tends to be a bit of a struggle and I have to take frequent breaks.
I don’t think the Last Tango is going to be up my alley so to say, but I might give it a try. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by such things before. The Fall looks interesting.
Thanks for the BAFTA suggestion. That’s a wonderful idea.
I watched the first three (maybe four) episodes. It started strong but I stopped watching when the mom went off on her own to search for her son. The stuff with the dome didn’t make a lot of sense – they wanted people to come to the dome but they set up a perimeter and shot people who wanted in? It’s been awhile since I watched so I may be remembering wrong.
At IMDB (I know, not the best place for critical thinking), people compared it unfavorably to an earlier version from the 70’s.
Not that recent but “State of play” with Neil Morrissey, John Simm and a tick list of fine UK acting names is well worth seeing.
Also, try some “Black Mirror” episodes. Dystopian nightmares and musings on the nature of modern and near-future culture and technology by Charlie Brooker. A mixed bag to be sure but worth it for the strength of the ideas alone.
I’d hazard a guess that some of these will be developed into Hollywood movies soon enough so you get the chance to say “I was there first”.
Note - just checked my wiki link before posting and it turns out to be the case. yay me!
Cool. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen State of Play - but I’ll double check that - and as I recall, yes, it was indeed quite good .
Black Mirror sounds intriguing, but one of things I like about serials is the continuity and this seems to go in the opposite direction since it seems to follow, as the wikipedia entry puts it, more of a Twilight Zone type format. I’ll still check it out though. I just need to be in the right mood for it. Cheers.
Damn. That looks good too. I wonder if I should wait for it to come to BBC America so I can get the closed captioning. I miss so much of the dialog otherwise. I know I keep complaining about this, but even when I tune my ear to the accents and pick up some of the dialect, it’s still a struggle. I guess I set a google alert for that show on the BBCA site. That should work. Thanks.
I’ve been watching Broadchurch on BBC America and I have a question for non-Scottish UK Dopers: Can you understand David Tennant without closed captioning? I grew up with a Scottish grandfather so the accent isn’t usually impenetrable but holy cow, two-thirds of his dialogue sounds like gibberish to me!
I don’t find him too bad unless he starts to talk really fast. In fact for all the flak the Scots get about their accents, the couple of Scottish TV serials I’ve seen are among those I’ve tended to have less trouble with. Hamish Macbeth is a good example - for which I know I’ll get shit, but there it is.
BBCamerica showed The Hour. It ran for 2 series of 6 episodes each & I liked it well enough to buy the BluRays. Alas, it was canceled before the planned 3rd series. Most stories of that series wrapped up but there was one dreadful cliffhanger. Still, it was excellent. The writer is up for an Emmy…
Two good ones ran on PBS: Call the Midwife & The Bletchley Circle.
Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End was a BBC/HBO miniseries. Set before & during The Great War with a sterling cast & a script by Tom Stoppard. It’s a gorgeous production & is also up for some Emmys. The DVD’s finally come out in US format this month…
