New Masterpiece Theatre Series!

I saw The Paradise. It was horrible. Zola wouldn't be too thrilled.

The current crop of UK shows bored me. I stopped watching them.

Also, as UKers have fallen ever more deeply in love with their turgid regional accents and thickened them to the point of unintelligibility, I've lost interest. I've got Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus. I don't need to watch some 20-something thicken an accent to the point of sounding like a Scotsman from the 1930s or a half retarded Geordie.

I watched the first episode of The Paradise and have NO desire to see another one. The only interesting part is figuring out why it is so bad.

Based on that one ep, the actor who is playing the store owner is a terrible actor who lacks charisma. When he was with his fiancee and her two friends and he was describing the transformative experience of shopping in his store, he was entirely unconvincing and the scene was laughable.

Also I'm bored with Blondie's trope, instantly perfect in all things. And put your hair up for crissakes, you're supposed to be an adult.

I'll watch Last Tango later. I just finished Scott and Bailey. Now there's a show that goes for the jugular.

Darlene, since you're funding it, you should know that it hasn't been called "Masterpiece Theater" for several years now.

I really wanted to like Last Tango. I adore Anne Reid. But, it is such a soap opera. I like the two elderly characters, but the rest of the family can just go away.

I am sorry about the bad news regarding Paradise. The local reviews were quite good. I will take your word on it and give it a miss.

My current favorite is The Cafe.

Well, I did read that the 2nd episode was better, but I haven't heard any more than that.

The Paradise felt rushed storyline-wise, even though it was two hours long. The main character, Denise, just moved up so quickly. If you felt that months had passed before she had the ear of the store owner (who sports the hottest porn-stache!) I would have enjoyed it much more.

Plus, isn't there any fallout or story to be told about how difficult life is for her uncle across the street who once made a living as a "bespoke" tailor?

Halifax is getting very soapy - the elderly couple are delightful their children and families are such a mess. Gillian sleeping with the husband of the other daughter at the end of last night's episode was ridiculous.

I'll give Paradise another shot.

So sorry I missed the last two episodes of Foyle's War! Can anyone give me a wrap-up of that series? Did Milner ever make an appearance? Was Foyle's son ever referenced? Was Valentine ever outed? Did Foyle (with Sam's help) win the cold war?

r7: No Milner sighting. Maybe a slight reference to the son? I can't remember what happened to him (but I believe the actor is going to come on to Downton Abbey as a suitor for Lady Mary). Valentine was not outed.

It was left a bit open-ended as to whether there would be more episodes next year. The double-crossing by MI 5 and MI 6 was quite cynical and I got the impression that Foyle was fed up with their game playing. If there is another series, I would not be surprised if he was retired to a small town and stumbling across mysteries like Miss Marple. Not sure how they'd fit Sam in.

While I first groaned over Halifax moving on to stories about the elder couple's grown kids, I've actually become quite fond of them all. Love the brunette actress who plays Derek Jacobi's widowed daughter. And I hope the hot Paki boy stays in the mix though I don't see how.

I just find the acting and writing so much more satisfying than a comparable American series. Of course, what would really be comparable here? Everything here is sex and violence.

Should I know Anne Reid from anything other than the recent reworking of Upstairs, Downstairs? he was quite a bossy bitch in that one. Very different here.

I really missed Milner and the former small town atmosphere on the new Foyle's Wars.

And I didn't like the casting of Sam's husband at all.....such a nerdy type. She should have married Milner!

The "hot Paki boy" is Sacha Dhawan, who was in The History Boys in London, on Broadway and then the film. And he was adorable in an underated sitcom here in the US called Outsourced.

At this point, we watch anything from across the pond with Closed Captioning. It really helps!

What is The Café r5? It hasn't been shown on PBS, has it?

Oh I knew Sacha looked familiar r11! And I saw History Boys on Broadway and on film.

Anne Reid was in the Victoria Wood program "Diner Ladies" She was in the mini-series of Bleak House. And, she was in a wonderful overlooked movie called The Mother with Daniel Craig.

The Cafe is on NY/NJ PBS on Friday and Thursday afternoons. It takes place in a seaside town during the off season. Almost nothing happens. It is all about character and relationships. It is not for everyone. My partner hates it.

Sorry Friday evenings and Thursday afternoon.

Don't remember her name but the actress who so brilliantly plays Anne Reid's lesbian-inclined daughter on HALIFAX also horribly overplays the imperious Miss Audrey, the ladies dept. manager, on THE PARADISE.

I thought Last Tango In Halifax would get its own thread, considering the lesbian subplot.

[quote]I really wanted to like Last Tango. I adore Anne Reid. But, it is such a soap opera. I like the two elderly characters, but the rest of the family can just go away.

Is anyone watching this? I admit I watched the rest of the season on line. The lesbian subplot is nice, but, like everything else, a bit soap operaish.

Anne Reid and Derek Jacobi are lovely. All acting is pretty great. I wonder what's in store for Jacobi's daughter in the show - her big admission can't lead to anything good, can it?

R16 - Sarah Lancashire. She came to prominence playing a ditzy blonde on Coronation Street years ago. The writer of Last Tango in Halifax has just paired up again with her in Happy Valley, a tremendous police-thriller-come-drama. Not sure how well it would translate across the pond, however.

R19, my English husband has been raving about Happy Valley. He has some kind of app that enables him to watch BBC shows. I haven't seen it yet.

I enjoy Last Tango. It's soapy, but it's fun. The characters are all flawed but mostly likable.

I like seeing actors that look like regular people. Imagine Last Tango being remade for American TV? Brooke Shields would be playing Caroline and Eva Longoria would be playing Gillian. And Candice Bergen, who is immensely likeable, would be playing the Anne Reid role, Celia, who you can hardly call likeable.

Weird that Last Tango and Vicious both have Derek Jacobi. He's as nelly as the day is long in Vicious.

There was a recent new series on BBC called the Crimson Field dealing with nurses in WWI. It had two gay subplots. The series was not a success in Britain and the BBC did not commission a second season. I liked it. I am sorry it won't be back. The Paradise love story became so tedious, I am not sorry it came to an end. The blond lead was a disappointment for me, I never liked her and could not believe in her character.

R23 - I thought it was a shame there was no second season for The Crimson Field. We got one for the so-worthy-you-might-fall-asleep The Mill, however. Oona Chaplin was great in it. Also cancelled to audience disgust this year have been Ripper Street and Silk.

Don't overlook the original British version of House of Cards . . . . 12 total episodes all on Netflix Streaming . . . wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

OMG, The Cafe is so boring. The characters that are being "developed" have no character.

"The Cafe" -- Astoundingly bad!

I only watch it because "Vicious" comes on after it.

Liking "Moone Boy" too.

[quote] I just find the acting and writing so much more satisfying than a comparable American series. Of course, what would really be comparable here?

For some reason I like the British shows like these, but if an American network actually did the same thing with dowdy looking actors and simplistic plots, I probably wouldn't like it. It works when Brits do it, but it probably wouldn't work if Americans did it - even if they did it the same exact way (which they hardly ever do)

I'm wondering what the Broadchurch remake will be like. Will it be full of glossy people and surroundings? I think they said they are changing the ending in the U.S version

[quote] Also cancelled to audience disgust this year have been Ripper Street and Silk

Silk ended after 3 seasons on tv. It's supposedly going to have a fourth season on radio

Do you get Whitechapel across the pond? It's a light crime thing with my personal favourite, Rupert Penry Jones. Not earthshattering, but I really like it.

[quote] I'm wondering what the Broadchurch remake will be like.

I'm wondering why Broadchurch was never made available on BBC America On Demand. It's not on Netflix or Hulu Plus, either. Of course, I could watch it for $2 per episode on Amazon video, but I already pay $99 for Prime, so I refuse to spend money on anything Amazon video offers.

[quote]Silk ended after 3 seasons on tv. It's supposedly going to have a fourth season on radio.

It's a shame they cancelled Silk, but they did come to some sort of conclusion at the end. This was the first time I saw Maxine Peake in anything. She was great.

They only aired the first season of Silk over here. I was hoping it would return.

R31, I can't remember whether I watched Broadchurch via Netflix or BBC America, but it was definitely one of those two places.

R32 She was also great in The Village, a rather dour BBC WWI drama. We won't be seeing much of her on TV in the next couple of years - she's gone off to the Manchester Royal Exchange to do regional theatre things.

I think they had to hurriedly tie things off for Silk halfway through filming that last series, once they realised it wasn't coming back. Or at least, that's what I gathered from what the guy who played the clerk, when I saw him on a chat show.

I'm currently enjoying Utopia (second season), which I think is being remade by David Fincher for American audiences. And The Honourable Woman, a spy thriller about a British peer withh Israeli roots and various intelligence services. Mad timing for broadcast, given what's going on so there's a deal of conversation over it. Maggie Gyllenhall, of all people, is the lead, and her English accent is the most languid thing I've ever heard.

[quote] Also cancelled to audience disgust this year have been Ripper Street and Silk

Ripper Street has been picked up by Amazon and is being filmed as we type this, but I'm sure it will be pay-as-you-go and not included in the yearly Prime package.

I enjoyed Paradise, not great stuff, but worth watching.

I like most any of the Brit shows, most of 'em far better than US counterparts.

bumping for my bf who loves those British series.

Love Anne Reid, but Celia is such an obnoxious cunt that it drives me nuts.

Wow. Anne Reid shows a softer side in Halifax than she's ever shown before.

Anyone following season 3. So far, it's been interesting. I mean, the conflicts are rather repetitive, but the actors are so good they make it work.

Lesbians are up in arms over a lesbian character being killed off.

It's just TV, ladies.

There's a new show on PBS starting this evening, small British hamlet, sexy vicar who solves crimes with the local cop.

It's Grantcatcher - I read a nice review in the NY Times. Starring James Norton and Robson Green.

R44

Grantchester.

It's wallpaper TV really, but nicely done. Norton is pretty good in it. And there's a gay character - a curate.

Ok, season 4 Last Tango in Halifax airing now in US (it was called Series 5 in U.K. We don’t count two part Christmas specials as a season in the Us)

Is Sarah Lancashire pregnant?

She’s massive.

Sarah Lancashire is well past childbearing years. She has gained a lot of weight. She’s playing Julia Child in an upcoming new series.

They had to mostly shoot her from the neck up wearing a coat & scarf to cover her weight. There was one scene where she was home & had invited a dikey coworker for dinner, thinking she was gay. The shirt she wore had to have been specially for her because it was huge. And it was a pintuck of some type. Not a good look.

Derek Jacoby is looking frail. The feral kid is a stealth cousin Oliver - the introduction of a younger character to add some drama & callow youth to the show. In fact they’ve introduced quite a few new characters to shoot some lifeblood into it. The dikey woman who is going to turn out to be denying her true sexuality (and may file a sexual harassment complaint against Sarah). The brother from NZ is now a regular on the series & two nurses from NZ. Wondering if one will become pregnant by Sarah’s son, since young women seem to be incapable of birth control on tv these days. Judith is getting a larger role (when did she get a nice house?) I missed most of the first ep - I see Calamity’s mother is pregnant again. Great idea when you’re living in your skint mother in law’s house. What happened to the comic strip writer? (“Graphic novel” my ass).

Oh--so have I missed the first episode then? I love this show. I watched it all on Netflix. Didn't realize the new season had begun.

R48 This is an old thread originally from 2013

Yes, but a new season aired this year.

A new season is airing now on PBS in the US