chrispowers1976 Reviews

His Dark Materials (2019–2022)

A Wasted Opportunity

[2/10 · 16 January 2023]

After New Line's false start in 2007, this had the potential to be an amazing piece of television: Philip Pullman's trilogy of novels is so alive with rich characters, imaginative scenery and a plot so watertight that you'd think that adapting it for the screen would be a mere formality script wise. Yet the BBC produced this instead; a mediocre, lazy three part series that had begun to look dated before it had finished airing. The set design was lazy, sometimes I forgot that what I was watching was supposed to be set in another universe where people's souls were in the form of an animal because the 'daemons' were non existent and the universe resembled twenty first century Britain so much that I I couldn't tell the difference between realities. Some of the casting choices were appalling; Amir Wilson, Ariyon Bakare and Lin-Manuel Miranda were all mis-cast to name but a few: Miranda was annoying, Wilson looked weak and confused and delivered his lines as if he were reading out loud and Bakare's attempts to hide his London accent were laughable. The script was patchy at best; characters that were strong and wise in the novels were turned into cowering simpletons at times, some of the lines were so cliched they sounded like they had been written for Eastenders and towards the end of the third series characters suddenly started telling each other off for no apparent reason, in the typically cliched BBC way that played a large part in ruining the last five years of Doctor Who. Quite why any fans of the books thought that this was good is beyond me, in fact I intend to re-read them soon in an attempt to dim my memories of this farcical series.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

More Disney Tripe

[1/10 · 5 June 2022]

This is yet another Disney Star Wars series with absolutely no artistic professionalism involved at all. The title character is portrayed as a blithering imbecile, despite the series being set a decade before Star Wars/A New Hope where he is wise, peaceful and cunning; in order to promote Disney's latest new 'Mary Sue' characters. Most of the support cast turn in wooden performances and the direction is awful. Best avoided by Star Wars fans.

Cucumber (2015)

R.T.D. at his best

[9/10 · 14 April 2022]

I 'box-set-blitzed' this drama when it first came out and absolutely loved it, then did the same with it's companion piece, Banana. This time around, seven years later, I watched it as intended: one episode of Cucumber, one episode of Banana and found that I enjoyed it even more. Apart from the odd old IPhone model it hasn't dated and still hits hard even if you know what's coming. Davies at this point understood humans completely, (a gift that seems to have faded into 'woke cliché' territory in more recent dramas like Years and Years and It's a Sin). The acting is superb, especially Cyril Nri who gives an outstanding performance. (The one exception is Julie Hesomndhalgh who basically plays her own self righteous, patronising self with her own accent; which is completely different from her on-screen brother's). Vincent Franklin is also excellent, swapping emotional drama for comedy and back again at exactly the right moment. If you haven't seen Cucumber then I'd definitely recommend it.

Have I Got News for You: Victoria Coren Mitchell, Ria Lina, Tim Shipman (2022) Season 63, Episode 2

Terrible Episode

[2/10 · 9 April 2022]

Worst episode ever: Paul Merton was the only member of this week's quintet to manage to be actually funny. Guest host Victoria Coren Mitchell seemed to be attempting to channel David Mitchell but this came across as Guardian Journalist Who Sneers When Things Don't Go Her Way. What a turkey: hopefully Jack Dee can use his remarkable skills to pick things up next week.

Foundation (2021– )

So bad it could almost qualify as a sitcom.

[1/10 · 31 January 2022]

What were Apple thinking? This adaptation has no redeeming features: the script is dull and virtually incomprehensible; every leading player is miscast, particularly Leah Harvey who shows no sign of any acting capability whatsoever, the special effects are clichéd, the pacing is so beyond slow it's non-existent and the direction is a grammatical contradiction. This bears no real resemblance to Issac Asimov's foundation trilogy and is really just a Disney+/BBC style box ticking exercise. Avoid like the bubonic plague during a common housefly infestation in a heatwave.

Dracula (2020)

Original and courageous writing.

[9/10 · 25 January 2021]

Yes, this deviates massively from the novel but Bram Stokers original is no page turner and is certainly not a script in waiting. Moffat and Gatiss have transformed the story into a rollercoaster of a series that spans genres and time and, unusually for the BBC, is fairly historically accurate instead of trying to impress Twitter users. (There is a scene in part two where Sachs Dhawan's character seems overly offended by a comment that would have been incredibly tame at the time it was set; I'm not against dramas tackling issues like racism but it feels a little out of place in this). I love the ending, it gives the story a good sense of closure which is rare these days, and the whole series radiates high quality drama; (I'm clearly not alone in thinking this, Netflix bought up the overseas rights). We need more like this please BBC.

It's a Sin (2021)

Basically Hollyoaks in the '80s.

[3/10 · 25 January 2021]

This would have been considered excellent drama ten years ago but things have changed: streaming services have raised the bar on what I and many others consider good television to be. The many continuity errors and anachronisms in this production just don't seem acceptable any more and I kept having to remind myself that it was set in the 80's. Russell T Davies' plan to only cast gay actors in gay roles backfired in this as many of the lead characters were completely forgettable until they were on their deathbeds: this was down to miscast actors giving unconfident performances. As with many dramas on UK terrestrial television at the moment I feel this could have been so much better in the hands of Amazon, Netflix, Apple or Disney and the likes of Channel 4 need to radically change the way they approach drama to stop themselves growing increasingly irrelevant. It's a Sin will probably get rave reviews because, like many soap operas, it drives the audience into a state of outrage but this should not be confused with good writing. If this and Years and Years are anything to go by, RTD's best work is long behind him.

A Christmas Carol (2019)

BBC self indulgent twaddle

[1/10 · 17 December 2020]

Quite why the BBC decided to take such a well known, well written story and have it almost completely rewritten by a 90's sitcom writer is beyond me. I can only think that, as usual they are trying to be the wokest of the woke on social media: they reported at the time stories of one of the production's actors receiving racial abuse on Twitter, something I could find no trace of. This is a lot of vicious violence trying to disguise itself as good television which in my opinion should be avoided in favour of one of the good adaptations of the novel.

Black Earth Rising (2018)

Hugo Blick should be head of BBC drama.

[9/10 · 9 December 2020]

Everything about this screams originality, not least the subject matter; a war that was played down by the mainstream press at the time as a minor skirmish in Africa is revisited here in a semi educational but non patronising way, (unusual for the modern BBC). As usual for a Hugo Blick drama the scale is epic and the plot completely unpredictable; the casting manages to be broad and inclusive without patronising anyone, again unlike most dramas on BBC1. If all BBC drama was like this the world would be a better place.

Roadkill (2020)

Gave up after twenty minutes

[1/10 · 6 December 2020]

I gave this a try because I really want to support the BBC: it has a proud history and being British I want to be proud of it. Unfortunately while it continues to turn out multi-cliched box ticking drivel like this I find it increasingly difficult to do so; when I watch the thought provoking dramas that are available from the likes of Disney, Netflix and Apple I despair when I gear myself up for what's being sold as a tense political thriller only to find something as staggeringly bad as this.

Watchmen (2009)

Boring

[2/10 · 11 November 2020]

I don't like superhero films but this one was recommended to me as something more interesting for adults, and I've always loved the idea of alternative realities. Don't be fooled; this is the same as all Zack Snyder films: about 30 minutes of material stretched into two and a half hours that feels more like a week. There was the usual cliched shot of zeppelins to demonstrate the alternative reality and all in all I want the time I spent trying to stay awake though this Hollywood sewage back. Seriously don't bother!

Get Carter (1971)

Cinematically Perfect

[10/10 · 23 September 2020]

This is without a doubt my favourite movie. I first saw it in when I was a teenager in the early 90s and have seen it so many times since I have lost count how many. No matter how many times I watch it though I always find something new that I haven't noticed before; a piece of dialogue, a character that cameos before their part in the story, another amazing shot of early 70s North East England. The latter of these is of course helped by ever advancing technology; (analogue VHS, digital DVD and HD Blu Ray). I have yet to see the movie in 4K.

Apart from Michael Caine's Jack Carter this is a character piece with nearly every actor giving a good performance and not a line of dialogue wasted. The only performance that could be considered weak is Britt Ekland's: it basically consists of her taking her clothes off and having phone sex and with the benefit of nearly half a century's worth of hindsight she is much nearer the top of the cast list than she deserves to be.

1971 was a good year for movies and this particular one would probably have received an Oscar nomination had it not been for the likes of Dirty Harry, Klute, The French Connection and Spielberg's debut Duel: all excelled but Hollywood based movies.

Would highly recommend, to adults only of course.

Trust Me (2017–2019)

Well acted, questionably written

[3/10 · 18 September 2020]

I actually gave up on this the first time around but after watching the 1990 movie Paper Mask, which also centres around a character who assumes the identity of a doctor, I thought I'd give it a fresh eye.

The cast are all believable in their respective roles and the direction is good overall: my problem with this series is the writer's moral compass. In Paper Mask the lead character is written as a dangerous psychopath who is willing to murder and blackmail his friends to protect his secret, whereas here it is clearly suggested that because our heroine is a single mother who is made the victim of an NHS cover up she is completely justified in stealing the identity of her best friend and putting peoples lives at risk. The best example of this, and the BBC's obsession with promoting women, comes near the end when the ex husband of our heroine and father of her daughter finds his way to Edinburgh. On finding out about his ex wife's exploits he naturally wants to take his daughter away and call the police, but is quickly killed off: the fact that he was a 'useless' father and had no money is supposed to conveniently justify this but just comes across as extremely sinister.

Overall this will probably please the media but to most it will be standard BBC fare and a good example of why more and more people are turning to subscription streaming services for their drama.

Lambs of God (2019)

Something different....... and new!

[8/10 · 15 September 2020]

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this drama: I haven't read the novel it was based on and I've never seen anything quite like it before: well written and acted in most cases; one or two of the English accents were slightly suspect which brings me on to my one criticism of this series. This drama was made in Australia by an Australian production company: so why set it in Britain? As a British person I did not recognise the mainland scenes as 90s Britain until I saw a car registration. Modern Australia's 232 year history could easily accommodate a lost convent in some remote area a lot more believably than Britain where the Catholic Church does not own very much land and the population figures do not allow for forgotten islands. Presumably the cast and crew would have reacted well to a familiar setting too. One of the biggest casting pluses, as I'm sure most people will agree, is veteran actor Ann Dowd who is as unforgettable here as she is in The Handmail's Tale.

A very good piece of television.

Rillington Place (2016)

Predictably Flawed

[4/10 · 3 September 2020]

This had the opportunity to become the definitive telling of the story of the Christie murders; an opportunity that was squandered by historical errors, ("So help me god" was included in the oath at two British murder trials - even Coronation Street manages to get this right), and a predictable insistence on heading into 'Guardian cliche' territory: the story frequently draws attention to Christie and his wife making xenophobic comments about their Afro Caribbean neighbours but only hints at the fact that Christie strangled a baby and had sex with the bodies of most of his victims. My advice to anyone who wants to know more about the Christie murders is to either read Ludovic Kennedy's novel 10 Rillington Place, watch it's film adaptation starring Richard Attenborough or research online.

Deadwater Fell (2020)

Predictably Predictable.

[3/10 · 11 April 2020]

This four part drama had a strong first episode: an apparently happy family struck down by tragedy, (in the form of a very realistic house fire), with a sinister, suspense building twist at the end. From episode two onwards however the plot descends into 'Guardian cliché territory;' the strongest example of this being 'women are good, men are evil.' I won't give away any more of the plot because I believe that people should form their own opinions but I suggest that anyone with an open mind and a taste for originality seek out one of the many excellent dramas on the BBC or the various streaming services currently available as Channel 4 seems to have quietly grown middle aged and become the very thing it was set up to be alternative to.

A Christmas Carol (1984 TV Movie)

A Respectful Adaptation

[8/10 · 22 December 2018]

Despite a few pieces of dodgy dialogue, ("stopped in full force" and "some place else" to name two), this is a great version of ACC. TV in 1984 was rarely made to Hollywood or RSC standards which makes this movie remarkable in a way: George C Scott playes an excellent Scrooge, his American accent undetectable, clearly taking the role seriously. By the end of the story it's actually hard to imagine anyone else in the role and the supporting cast; all recognisable, respected character actors, give excellent performances. This, along with the 1999 version starring Patrick Stewart, is to me the definitive 'modern' version of the original novel.

King Charles III (2017 TV Movie)

Predictable

[2/10 · 27 May 2017]

Although this play had an excellent cast I found it predictable; mainly because it draws extensively, if not totally, on two British dramas from the 1990s.

To Play The King was the second part of the original House of Cards trilogy, broadcast in 1993 and featured a future king, played by Michael Kitchen doing an impeccable Prince Charles impersonation, at odds with the Prime Minister and lead character of the series.

The Student Prince was broadcast around 1997/8 and told the story of the bodyguard assigned to protect the prince/ future king who had gone to study at university, (clearly based on William). In the end the prince ends the succession and becomes a 'commoner' in the new republic, (similar to Harry's story line in this play).

The BBC's decision to film this play, which in my opinion is better suited to the stage, suggests to me a desire to attract an American audience and boost viewing figures on their BBC America channel.