Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Current TV Programmes

edited May 2016 in Writing
Anyone else watching Marcella? I think I know who it is.

Also, anyone watching Paul Merton's Secret Stations? Is it as good as Michael Portillo's series do you think?
«1345678

Comments

  • Haven't seen either. Am watching Undercover - that's been good.
  • Not seen either.
  • Have watched Marcella.
    Like it, but there seem to be a lot of people who pop up out of nowhere and I don't know who they are or why they are there.
    Maybe not one to watch while ironing!
  • Yes I agree, Heather.

    I've no idea what relevance that foreign man living with that guy who killed Andrew Barnes is to the story.

    Don't think they needed to show a complete body where that little girl was concerned. Bound hands and feet was enough.

    Otherwise it's compelling viewing.

    Nowhere as good as Happy Valley though.
  • Not a lot is!
  • What about the Paul Merton's rail programme?

    I've walked over that line in Wales, to get to the beach.
  • Marcella is not quite hitting the mark for me. The directing seems a bit heavy-handed, although this could be a scripting thing. There is a confusion of characters and her husband seems particularly stupid. Sinead Cussack does play a good frosty-bitch baddie though.

    Undercover is good.

    If you've got access to it, Penny Dreadful is wonderful. Season 3 has just started.
  • I am really enjoying Undercover. Shame they postponed last episode.
    I started watching Marcella but am same as Mike, it was just not hitting the mark for me.
    The Secret on ITV with James Nesbit is gripping.
  • Yes, who ARE all those people in Marcella, and why do so many of them look similar? I am very, VERY confused.
  • Forgot to mention, if anyone missed BBC2's 'Line of Duty', do see it. Gripping stuff and a real nasty baddy (Craig Parkinson) in it too.
  • They do look similar!
    When they reveal whodunit I'll be none the wiser.
  • Me neither!
  • edited May 2016
    I just like Anna Friel although I still see her as that character on Brookie with a body buried under t'patio.

    What is wrong with me!
  • I'm the same. She will always be Beth. Beth's sister was on TV last week, in an advert. Can't remember what for.
  • Watched The Secret last night, episodes 1 and 2. Oooooh...
  • Can someone explain the ending of Undercover please, I am confused. Thanks
  • Michael killed the mayor. Drugs were involved. According to reviews, no-one can fathom out the connection between Rudy and Michael. However, Maya was clearly connected to them both. Is there more to her than we know? Who was Nick - is there more to him? How could someone 'pretend' to be a writer for twenty years without their family expecting to see at the very least a frustrated writer, let alone a byline or two.

    The plot had many holes. It's unfair to plug them with the promise of a second series.

    I didn't feel the ending met my expectations. A series should be a series - complete.
  • "Baggy Books" said: A series should be a series - complete.
    I agree. Too many plot holes. Shoddy work. If a series ends with a question it should be at least be a different question: one that takes the story elsewhere, or else a twist on the original question that elevates the story to a different level.

    Robert McKee's fourth commandment of scriptwriting:
    Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise.

    This is happening a lot in TV dramas.
  • Agreed - and it's one reason I don't watch many. This was the first series I've watched in years.
  • I watched the Michael Portillo one. Enjoyed that. And recently all but the first episode of the Billy Connolly railway programme.

    I'm also enjoying Penny Dreadful. I'm surprised it's taken this long for Dracula to show up. Frankenstein's monster is one of my favourite characters.
  • Well!

    Marcella is finished.

    AND the most scariest part IMO was when she turned over in bed in the last episode, lol. Almost wet mesen then.

    What'll I do now with me Munday evenings at 9pm.
  • Yes, I jumped at that bit, dora!

    I'm glad it's over. There were too many people in it for my liking, too many threads, too many beards, too much dark hair... I get easily confused.
  • Who was Nick - is there more to him? How could someone 'pretend' to be a writer for twenty years without their family expecting to see at the very least a frustrated writer, let alone a byline or two.

    The plot had many holes. It's unfair to plug them with the promise of a second series.

    I didn't feel the ending met my expectations. A series should be a series - complete.
    I get it about the plot holes leaving you in the dark about the ending. But there is a point that could me made that sometimes you are not supposed to know directly what direction the story leads. The writers of the series wanted to depict how the undercover officers behaved in the way they made connections with the people they were following who were connected to or members of campaign groups to gather intelligence on them. Those kind of people had a huge network in order to build their intelligence and carefully worked out the particular sources they believed were important to get the intelligence from. That means that they had to create a fictitious identity for themselves and construct a false history that regards their background and they had to be absolutely sure that there wasn't any loose ends to find about there pretence because they didn't want anyone to know who they actually were. All Nick Johnson had to do was mention to his partner that he is a writer and devise a past for himself but to keep his identity hidden to make this most effective if he was to consider giving any suggestions such as visible materials that would illustrate the fact he is a writer it could expose what he is really doing. He didn't know that Maya would come to any realisation that he is an undercover police officer and he was delivering intelligence on Michael Antwi. He also could not have predicted that Kathleen Sanderson, the other undercover officer was going to be eliminated just at the moment she was going to meet up with Maya to divulge the details regarding the circumstances of the guy's death in police custody.
  • Both of these series left too much unsaid for me (Undercover and Marcella). I accept that not every book/story/series will have an ending that ties everything up, but those that are essentially mystery thriller type things should! Most of the books I've read recently have also had cop-out endings and they leave you feeling cheated.
  • Am I missing owt at the moment?

    I don't have a telly.
  • Nowt. I can't remember the last time I watched anything on TV. Even BBC4's not as it was.
  • I didn't know Marcela had already been on, when was that? It is now on Encore and I cannot get that
  • Anyone watching The Catch or Bitten on Sky?
  • Currently watching NCIS: season 12 on Channel5.
  • Currently watching NCIS: season 12 on Channel5.
    Is that series without DiNozzo?
  • No Doglover, Tony leaves at the end of series 13.
  • I'm watching The Catch but via a streaming service. It's a very classy show (UK's The Hustle US upgrade) and I like the way the story is developing, layers unfolding. Also it's great to see John Simm stealing the show with his portrayal of an excellent psycho.
  • I really like it as well. What episode are you up to mike? I wonder whether Sky are going to buy the rights to season 2 and whether they will even make it. The premise is excellent and it is quite slick in the way it is filmed with the split screens.
  • edited July 2016
    A programme Secrets of the Asylum last night was fascinating and moving.
    People known to many TV viewers follow the stories of their ancestors who were locked away as lunatics.
    I didn't know the people last night, but next week we've got Christopher Biggins and that actress who is next door neighbour on the Liver Birds.
  • I'm almost three-quarters through the complete set of ER (it ran for 15 years). I re-watch it every few years.

    I just need to get my hands on a rib spreader and one of those electric shock things. Clear!
  • Baggy, is ER available as one big boxset or are you watching from 15 different boxsets? I loved ER.
  • Just signed up for Amazon Prime. Watched a few good films recently.
  • I bought them over a long period. I waited until they were really cheap. It was worth it. Because there were 15 series, it was never going to be cheap. But I did it gradually and didn't buy the next one until I was ready to watch it.

    You can buy a boxset.

    Carter's just left... :(
  • I'm one episode behind whatever the current broadcast one is Doglover.

    Season Two has been commissioned. I don't see why Sky Living would drop the programme from its schedules.

    The other thing I'm watching is The Monkees TV series.
  • I'm currently working out which boxset to watch next. I've watched a few episodes of A Town Called Eureka and one episode of Being Human (the UK show), but I don't know which one to continue with. Both programmes seem really interesting. Has anyone else watched them? I did try watching the adaptation of Jamaica Inn that was on TV last year I think. However, I gave up on it. I couldn't seem to get into it at all.

    Yay to Season 2 of The Catch being commissioned. I wouldn't be so quick to think Sky Living would drop it. I was really into a programme called Drop Dead Diva that they had on Living when it was purely Living. They didn't continue with it for season 4-6. It was only made available on Netflix, which I didn't have at the time.
  • edited July 2016
    Aged seven years I was told to sit and watch telly for an hour whilst Mama finished work. Perhaps she didn't know. The only afternoon transmission was the black and white test card.
  • Watched Being Human for a while but lost interest.

    Jamaica Inn was fabulous but you need to have the subtitles up as it was mumbled.
  • Looking forward to the new Broadchurch series,
    saw them filming it on the beach at West Bay when on holiday there a week ago. Great excitement when seeing David Tennant! Couldn't get that close though so much security.
  • Ooooh!
    David Tennant!
    Yum!
  • A friend was there a couple of weeks ago and she saw him too – and Olivia Coleman and the mother of the boy who was killed in the first series.
  • I really hope Broadchurch 3 is less of a dog's breakfast than Broadchurch 2. I stuck with it because Tennant and Coleman are great to watch together, but the whole thing was pretty ropey compared to the first series.

    I enjoyed the BBC's adaptation of The Secret Agent; I thought it was brilliantly done. Definitely not a feel-good story, though!
  • I never watched Broadchurch. I think the name put me off plus the fact everyone was so hyper about it.
  • I am missing Michael Portillo though, not having a tellybox like.
  • Watched 10 Cloverfield Lane (film) last night.
    What a load of tripe.
    If you haven't seen it, don't bother.
    (though of course alternative opinions are available - just not from me!)
  • I liked it! Damn good tie in, although it could have lost ten mins at the end.
Sign In or Register to comment.