Topic: UK TV Show Recommendations?

[samuelrichardscott]

Primeval

/thread

[W0m6at]

This reminds me..I've been considering getting a Dracula miniseris done by BBC...late 70s maybe.  I read that it was really good.

I keep hearing that too. It's on my Wish List, at least it used to be. It's supposedly very faithful to the book.

What a shame I read that too late! I just received notification that my Amazon UK order has shipped, and at just £4.49 I would have been sorely tempted to slip that one into the order.

[edit] Actually, it's pretty good timing. The local library has it, and according to their catalogue, it's on the shelf. Free miniseries (and a good price from Amazon if I decide I like it). [/edit]

[Najemikon]

This reminds me..I've been considering getting a Dracula miniseris done by BBC...late 70s maybe.  I read that it was really good.

Not sure what this would be, I'll look it up later.

I assumed she meant Count Dracula from 1977 (wasn't easy to locate on IMDb). Dracula is played by Louis Jordan in this one.

There was also this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/dracula/abouttheshow.shtml from 2006

[ninehours]

Nightingales IMDb i really loved this show

Hyperdrive IMDb Marmite show (You will either love it or hate it)

Chance in a Million IMDb

Mongrels IMDb 

[Achim]

This reminds me..I've been considering getting a Dracula miniseris done by BBC...late 70s maybe.  I read that it was really good.

Not sure what this would be, I'll look it up later.

I assumed she meant Count Dracula from 1977 (wasn't easy to locate on IMDb). Dracula is played by Louis Jordan in this one.

There was also this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/dracula/abouttheshow.shtml from 2006

Well, she did say late 70s...

[Dragonfire]

Is 2006 in the late 70s now?     Did time get rearranged on us?

Achim is right.
Here's the link at Amazon.

Count Dracula at Amazon.com

[kevin_1990]

I've been watching some UK TV shows lately and now I'm in the mood for more. Any recommendations based on the these?

Doctor Who (2005) - Loved S5, didn't care much for S1-4 aside from the Moffat episodes.
Sherlock - Liked the pilot, but didn't care much for the rest.
Spaced - Meh. Not my thing.
Skins - Loved S1+2, liked S3+4.
Misfits - Loved S1+2.

if you loved Skins you will Defo love Shameless it's on it's 8th season now so you have plenty to catch up on lol it's like 40 mins per episode.

[Dr. Hasslein]

Check out some old school UK TV like Hale and Pace, Keeping Up Appearances and Some Mother Do Av' Em.

[goodguy]

Well, so far I've ordered Jekyll and hope that Moffat doesn't disappoint with it.

if you loved Skins you will Defo love Shameless it's on it's 8th season now so you have plenty to catch up on lol it's like 40 mins per episode.

Jon recommended that too and I'm definitely curious, but I find such long running shows rather discouraging. Yeah, I know, I can stop watching any time and the early season sets are dirt-cheap, but still...

Check out some old school UK TV like Hale and Pace, Keeping Up Appearances and Some Mother Do Av' Em.

Thanks, but as I said, I don't like sitcoms (or half-hour comedies if you prefer that term).

I would also suggest Being Human, a sorry about a vampire, werewolf and a ghost sharing a house.

This I had already on my radar, but (and I could be entirely wrong) it seems a tad too conventional and soapy to me, without the little extra push that makes something like True Blood enjoyable.

Am I?

[Dragonfire]

I looked up Jekyll and have added it to my wish list.

[Najemikon]

I would also suggest Being Human, a sorry about a vampire, werewolf and a ghost sharing a house.

This I had already on my radar, but (and I could be entirely wrong) it seems a tad too conventional and soapy to me, without the little extra push that makes something like True Blood enjoyable.

Am I?

It's difficult for me to answer that. For one thing, I haven't watched Being Human properly, though I want to. On the other hand I have tried to watch True Blood several times, because hey, it's vampires, I should like it. But I really don't. Overblown nonsense!

Being Human from what I have seen is one of the BBC's better productions. They do drama better than anyone without relying on plodding soapish storylines, but often struggle to incorporate genres like fantasy and sci-fi (Doctor Who et al the rare exception). A good example is the new Outcasts about a colonised planet. It's not bad, but it also completely fails as anything remotely science-fiction. Being Human on the other hand feels very... human (sorry) while also having a healthy sense of fun filled gore. I caught the new series opener the other night and found the intrigue of secret societies, etc, would fit well into the Buffy-verse. Just distinctly British though.

[Dragonfire]

From the episodes of Being Human that I've seen so far..it is a little soapy, but not as much as True Blood I don't think.  I really liked the episodes I saw.

[Achim]

I would also suggest Being Human, a sorry about a vampire, werewolf and a ghost sharing a house.

This I had already on my radar, but (and I could be entirely wrong) it seems a tad too conventional and soapy to me, without the little extra push that makes something like True Blood enjoyable.

Am I?[/quote]
  Sorry about that. I didn't dare to answer, as you seemed to have made up your mind and I didn't want to sway it just to find later that your suspicion was actually correct.

So, in my opinion it is not all that soapy. It is more about the difficulties of trying to live a normal life when you are rather different (vampire/werewolf/ghost). In the first season they basically have one episode where they meet (vampire and werewolf move into the house where the ghost lives), then they have three episode exploring the back story of each character and the final two episodes get into the "external story", which is about a faction of vampires trying to take over.

There is a lot going on with people outside the house, yes, including love affairs (which may seem soapy), but there is many ideas and concepts in there that kept it interesting to me. And know, it's not a remake of "The Munsters"

[goodguy]

Maybe I should have done a search before asking questions about Being Human since we already have two threads for the show. 
http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5851.0.html
http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5232.0.html

Anyway, I got hold of the original pilot and the first episode via questionable means. I liked the pilot quite a bit, but the first episode not so much. I can see why the pilot isn't included on the DVDs, because the cast changes didn't work for me at all. Along with the prettier "actor" faces, the show got a slightly more slicker look and lost what little personality it had in the first place, both visually and story-wise. I think I will pass on this.

[Achim]

Anyway, I got hold of the original pilot and the first episode

That was probably the right thing to do. And apparently it worked out, since you found out that buying the DVD would have cuased a disapoinment...