# Stephen Fry - "Kingdom" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332 "2013-05-25T19:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/1 "2013-05-25T19:04:41Z")
Any fans of Stephen Fry’s series “Kingdom”? I’ve always been aware of him (and liked him very much), but I truly fell in love with him after having a Netflix marathon of “Kingdom”. Bastards they were to up and cancel it and leave it hanging. Gah. UT~ ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/2 "2013-05-25T20:43:09Z")
Big Stephen Fry fan here. Just put it in my queue. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/3 "2013-05-25T20:48:03Z")
I love Stephen Fry, too. Loved the stint he did as Booth’s shrink on _Bones_. (Back when that show was good.) ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/4 "2013-05-25T21:21:23Z")
I hope you enjoy it, Brassy! UT~ ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/5 "2013-05-25T23:29:51Z")
Loved, loved, loved it. Really liked it. Watched every episode in a matter of about 2 weeks, once I’d discovered it. SO very sorry it was cancelled when more mysteries were about to be known! Great show. I loved seeing Sandi Toksvig in the UFO episode, having enjoyed her on QI, another “new” discovery for me. We are so lucky to live in a YouTube world, and I thank all those people who upload stuff, whether strictly kosher to do so or not, so there’s a chance to see programming I’d never otherwise be able to. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/6 "2013-05-25T23:58:58Z")
We’ve got only one more DVD to go on watching it. A really pleasant surprise. Next time we go to England, we are so going to Norfolk - I never realized any part of England looked like that. ---
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/7 "2013-05-26T00:27:45Z")
Not my cup of tea at all, judging by the description. And, watching the first episode, I could safely say that type of show is definitely not to my taste. But Stephen Fry is just such a lovely man that I watched and enjoyed every episode and was sad when it was over. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/8 "2013-05-26T01:21:24Z")
I really liked this show. Watched it straight through on Netflix. I wish they had done more episodes. Stephen Fry is one of my favorites and I do adore Celia Imrie. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/9 "2013-05-26T01:34:55Z")
I didn’t think this was a particularly good show, or particularly bad. It was a Stephen Fry show, though! ---
**Author:** ![Salamanda\_Palaganda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Salamanda\_Palaganda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salamanda_Palaganda)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/10 "2013-05-26T02:16:02Z")
I became a fan watching this on Hulu (its free !!! ). I`m disappointed they didn`t continue the series but I`m really glad I got to see it. Hell I may watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/11 "2013-05-26T03:40:39Z")
I binge-watched the crap out of it on Hulu a while back. I too was quite disappointed that it hadn’t been picked up for a new series. I think I read that one of the reasons it was set in Norfolk is that Stephen Fry is from there and wanted to show off his hometown. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/12 "2013-05-26T05:31:22Z")
I ran across it on YouTube and bought the DVDs long before it was on Netflix streaming. Just loved it and all the players. I almost didn’t recognize Tony Slattery though - he’s very changed from the Cambridge days while Stephen looks much the same. Really hated that the series ended so abruptly. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/13 "2013-05-26T07:47:53Z")
Watched it for Stephen Fry and wound up liking Lyle’s character best out of the whole lot. And yes, gorgeous setting. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/14 "2013-05-26T18:20:27Z")
> [@Anduinel](#): > > Watched it for Stephen Fry and wound up liking Lyle’s character best out of the whole lot. And yes, gorgeous setting. Me too. I think it speaks very well for the charm and talent of Karl Davies that in a series that was very much a vehicle for Stephen Fry (who’s pretty loaded with charm and talent himself), Davies’ performance was the one I ended up enjoying most. Celia Imrie (secretary Gloria) and Hermione Norris (sister Beatrice) were also excellent, as was the rest of the cast in general (esp. Gerard Horan as D. C. Yelland). In fact, another nice thing about most Stephen Fry vehicles, besides the Stephen Fry, is that they tend to have very good ensemble work. Fry seems pretty consistently able either to pick or to inspire projects where the participants all seem to enjoy working together and boost one another’s game. Shout-out for the score by Mark Russell, too; very enjoyable music. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/15 "2013-05-26T21:23:15Z")
I like Fry a lot. I didn’t think Kingdom was particularly well-written. He did a great job acting the material he was given, but he couldn’t make it better than it was. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/16 "2013-05-26T21:45:58Z")
From a brief description, do I gather inaccurately that it’s a little bit like Northern Exposure? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/17 "2013-05-26T23:48:16Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > From a brief description, do I gather inaccurately that it’s a little bit like Northern Exposure? Kinda little bit, except that the eponymous protagonist (;)) played by Fry is not a big-city transplant but a native of this backwater rural town. The clash-of-cultures comedy is handled by the aforementioned Karl Davies’ character Lyle Anderson, a recent law-school graduate from an urban area in the northwest of England. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/18 "2013-05-29T15:00:57Z")
I enjoyed the show too, particularly the first season etc. where Stephen Fry’s character is trying to work out what became of his brother and why. It seemed to lend a poignancy early on that had pretty much disappeared by the later seasons, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/19 "2013-05-29T19:15:38Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > I binge-watched the crap out of it on Hulu a while back. I too was quite disappointed that it hadn’t been picked up for a new series. I think I read that one of the reasons it was set in Norfolk is that Stephen Fry is from there and wanted to show off his hometown. One of the extra features said that the show creator is from there, not Fry. We watch lots of English series, and Kingdom is the only one where it isn’t raining half of the time - that is unless Lyle needs to get wet yet again.. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332/20 "2013-05-29T19:21:34Z")
I watched the first two seasons and I really enjoyed it. Fry, I’ve come to take or leave. His presence is agreeable but not a selling point as such, but the antics, as such, of Gloria, Beatrice and Lyle made for some very enjoyable subplots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-fry-kingdom/659332.md?page=2)