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Did anyone else watch the first episode last night?

I've been waiting a while for it, having tried to attack the monster of a book (1000+ pages of small print!) on several occasions before getting distracted or running out of spare time, and I have to say, the TV adaptation does not disappoint. The production values are on par with the best period stuff the BBC do (basically Musketeers), the special effects are also rather excellent, but more importantly, it seems to have captured the feel of the book perfectly; a facade of Georgian gentry behind which you find the occult, the weird and the downright unsettling. The magic, such as it is, is portrayed perfectly, very subtle and just a little unnerving, with plenty of scope to become more overt as the series progresses and escalates. Throw in an excellent cast, and you've got something really quite brilliant here!

To those that watched it, what did you think? To those that didn't, go forth and iPlayer it now!

I enjoyed it. Really liking the tone and atmosphere of the episode and hope it continues.

I haven't read the book but plan on attempting to, but may wait until the series ends its run.

I thought it was a good start, I think Eddie Marsan (Mr Norell) was excellent, and I'm looking forward to the next episode!

Missed it! I'll be hitting iplayer tonight if I can find time before Gotham.

Huh, read the book a while back, didn't know they were working on this. I'll have to see if I can get it over here.

Was the book any good? I was thinking about picking it up sometime over the summer, I'd heard it was a pretty hefty volume, which I tend to like in a book.
Worth reading, would you say?

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
Was the book any good? I was thinking about picking it up sometime over the summer, I'd heard it was a pretty hefty volume, which I tend to like in a book.
Worth reading, would you say?

What I've read of it is excellent. The writing style is very authentically Dickensian, which fits perfectly with the tone of it, and while it's rather wordy/occasionally goes off on multi-page tangents, it is very good. Worth picking up, with the caveat that it will take quite some time to read.

I'd definitely recommend it.

Excellent - I tend to read through a normal-sized paperback very quickly, so a long read is much better for my bank balance

If you've read the Bartimaeus young adult books (which you should) this is the pedantic older brother. Dense, intricate and in absolutely no hurry to get where it is going. It is a lovely and challenging read.

The book is excellent but be warned it isn't a modern feel good adventure style novel, it is much more literary, and darker

I liked the first episode. The period atmosphere is done really well. Mr Norrell comes over as a more sympathetic character than in the novel, and Jonathan Strange as less sympathetic. It is years since I read the novel so this may be my memory at fault. However it is only the first episode.

My wife and daughter didn't like it. They couldn't really understand what was going on, and thought the actors were mumbling. I think there could be something in that, I think I would have had difficulty without already being familiar with the story.

BTW not to create a spoiler but it is set during the Napoleonic Wars so the period is Georgian not Victorian.

 Kilkrazy wrote:

BTW not to create a spoiler but it is set during the Napoleonic Wars so the period is Georgian not Victorian.

Blast, rookie error!

And I call myself a historian!

The second episode is a lot lot better than the first, not that the first is bad but it has a lot of work to do creating up the characters, background and setting.

Big showpiece in the second too

(Went the NFT screening of advance episodes)

Well, you weren't wrong! Certainly picked up the pace and tone a bit this week, and each of the set piece scenes were fantastic.


Bring on the next one!

Marc Warren in particular is fantastic in this. It looks like they've taken a lot of visual cues for the Faerie stuff from Sandman, which isn't a bad thing.

I'm enjoying this muchly thus far.

I generally take a pass on British TV until after its cancelled. Fortunately that usually means I don't wait long.

I don't want to get invested in a show only to have it end with no warning. If there's an unexpected termination I prefer to go into it with my eyes open and just watch the complete series.

Luckily, as a filthy American my viewership doesn't affect the ratings/cancellation of the show. Still, it sounds interesting enough that I would give it a shot at some point.

 Jimsolo wrote:
I generally take a pass on British TV until after its cancelled. Fortunately that usually means I don't wait long.

I don't want to get invested in a show only to have it end with no warning. If there's an unexpected termination I prefer to go into it with my eyes open and just watch the complete series.

Luckily, as a filthy American my viewership doesn't affect the ratings/cancellation of the show. Still, it sounds interesting enough that I would give it a shot at some point.

As far as I know, this series is a one-and-done deal. There is only the one novel, and no intent to write a sequel of any kind, so this one series will cover that start to finish and that will be it. Think of it less a TV series, more an extended serialised movie. It certainly has the production values to be considered as such.

As Paradigm said, there is only one novel though it is a very long one and has been produced as a seven part series. The story is complete and needs no sequels.