Tag: TV review

TV Review: The OA Part II

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

mv5bmty5otkwndkzof5bml5banbnxkftztgwmdeynzi1nzm40._v1_Aired: Netflix

Created by: Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij

Starring: Brit Marling, Emory Cohen, Jason Isaacs, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Patrick Gibson

Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Supernatural, Mystery

Rating: 4/5

When I watched the first series of The OA, I remember thinking it seemed rather bizarre, but somehow it still pulled me in. By the end of Part I I was invested, and eagerly awaited its return for Part II. I will be avoiding spoilers in this review where possible (to be honest, there are some pretty big and crazy concepts involved that I’m not sure I could explain properly anyway) as it’s best to go into this show without knowing anything.

The first episode left me feeling rather perplexed. The first series was complex and I struggled to remember what had happened. I’d recommend taking a look at a recap of Part I! Episode 1 starts off with new detective character called Karim searching for a missing girl. How this connected to the rest I had no idea. However the ending of the episode suggested things would be coming together. And they did in the second episode. While I wasn’t exactly sure how things were going to connect, I could see the beginnings of hints and foreshadowing that everything was going to come together.

Read More »

TV Review: Bodyguard

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

Aired: 26 August – 23 September 2018 on BBC

Created by: Jed Mercurio

Written by: Jed Mercurio

Starring: Richard Madden, Keeley Hawes, Sophie Rundle

Genre: Drama, thriller

Rating: 4.5/5

p06j4zb7
Image: BBC

It’s the show everyone seems to be talking about, and the most-watched, as it had the biggest BBC drama overnight viewing figures since the Doctor Who Christmas episode of 2008. The big question is – is it worth the hype? The answer to that question is simply yes. This review will be relatively spoiler free, so don’t worry about seeing any in this post. If, however, you decide not to read on for fear of spoilers, take one thing away: go and watch this show.

Bodyguard follows the story of David Budd, who is assigned to protect the Home Secretary, played by Keeley Hawes. The story is set in London in a time when the terrorist threat to the UK is very high. The plot unfurls across six episodes, and maintains high tension and mystery throughout. Tension and suspense drives the thrill of this series, and boy does it have bucketfuls of suspense. There are lots of twists and turns with conspiracies, and I found it totally unpredictable in the most exciting way.

I liked that it wasn’t too violent. So many TV shows these days have unnecessary violence. There was one scene where rather a lot of blood got splattered about, and David Budd does seem to regularly walk about with injuries and blood on his face. But the suspense is built from tense scenes, rather than violence, which I really liked. Nothing felt rushed. The slow build of scenes meant that suspense took the forefront in this series.

Read More »

TV Review: Victoria (mid-series)

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left1 Comment

TV Review: Victoria (mid-series)

Aired: 28th August 2016 – Present

Written by: Daisy Goodwin

Starring: Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell, Catherine Flemming, Daniela Holtz

Executive Producers: Daisy Goodwin, Dan McCulloch, Damien Timmer

Producers: Rebecca Eaton, Paul Frift

Directors: Tom Vaughan, Sandra Goldbacher

Network: ITV

Genre: Period Drama

Episodes aired: 4/8

Victoria is ITV’s latest foray into period drama. I had been looking forward to it since hearing about the prospective series earlier this year. It follows Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne and courtship of Prince Albert. I knew a bit about the monarch from seeing the film The Young Victoria and was interested to see how the story would translate to television. As there is considerably more time available in a television series, more happens in Victoria, although it seems to follow a similar pattern to The Young Victoria.

Jenna Coleman, having left her role in Doctor Who to play Queen Victoria, has improved as the series has gone on. At times I found her portrayal of Victoria too whiny, but at other times her acting was much better. The accompanying cast do well to balance out her occasional whininess and Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne brings some maturity and interesting characterisation to the table, creating a complex character in Melbourne. Finally in Episode 4 came the introduction of Tom Hughes as Prince Albert (his entrance at the end of Episode 3 hardly counts). So far, he’s done a good job of playing the awkward prince. I liked that it wasn’t love at first sight between Victoria and Albert (these programmes have a habit of over-romanticising) and their courtship was a slow progression.

Similarly to ITV’s vastly popular Downton Abbey, the show also features some of the servants and kitchen staff at the palace. I found their scenes a nice break from all the well-to-do-ness going on upstairs. The character of Miss Skerrett is intriguing as there is obviously something going on with her past that she wants to hide.

As it is based on the real life of Queen Victoria many of the events are predictable (not much of a spoiler that Victoria and Albert get together is it?), although it’s hard to know how much is fact and how much is embellished.

So far I have liked the series; although it does have some flaws it has been entirely enjoyable with great sets and costumes.

Full review to come once the series has finished.