User Reviews

David Hartley returns to his home town after several years away, guided by visions of Stag Men, he presents his community with an unusual, but lucrative business opportunity.

I do get a little worried now when The BBC does a historical, they were always so reliable, recent clunkers like Great Expectations hardly fill you with confidence. The Gallows Pole however is something very different.

It's definitely contemporary, visually and in terms of dialogue, I'm sure there was a degree of improvisation, at times it feels quite free flowing.

It isn't going to be for everyone, and I can understand why people may quit at Episode one, it was slow moving, and a bit heavy, but it definitely improves as it develops, pacing also improves somewhat.

I was very excited when this was announced a few years back, checking the original announcement, it was planned as a six part series, it gives me hope that this show will be back for a second run.

I'd be staggered if this didn't win awards for its production, it's a decadent looking series, the camera work, costumes and settings are wonderful. The accompanying music alters the mood significantly, at times it's haunting and atmospheric, it works so well.

The acting impressed me, Michael Socha and Sophie McShera both really stood out.

Nice little touches, I loved the quirky titles for the production team during those lengthy opening credits.

It took me some time to get into, I wasn't crazy early on, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

7/10.

Shane Meadows brings us the tale of the Cragg Vale coiners in a strange tonal mash of modern improv and psychedelic folk horror. It's an intoxicating brew but the three-part first series is bizarrely paced and seems to shudder and stall like it thinks it has Vince Gilligan levels of set up time to waste. The cast are mostly great and I adore Thomas Turgoose. The 18th C mixed with retro garage psych music is also exactly my jam but the use of artificially generated artwork in the title sequence sticks deeply in my craw (and seems rather against the themes of the show) so it very much is a project of two halves for me.

I've seen all of Shane Meadow's work, apart from his doc on The Stone Roses. I've loved all of it. This, not so much.

Not sure what to think of this adaptation of a novel by Benjamin Myers.

The beginning of episode one had hints of Ben Wheatley's A Field in England. Once past the slightly surreal section, we get to what Meadows does best: cast improvisation. What we get is history in Meadows style. This Is England 1765. It's initially jarring, but I got used to it. However some scenes needed a better editor. Dialogue exchanges tended to go on longer than needed with no plot development whatsoever.

On the positive, Meadows provides a non traditional, raw look at Yorkshire in the mid 18th century. It's grim up North.

The music choices are superb, mixing folk with psych rock, and traditional songs sung by the cast. I particularly liked the tracks by Goat. Easily found on bandcamp by the way.

This three part series was clearly meant to be continued. Anyone familiar with the book and/or the history, will know the grisly details of where this story ends up at. The series seemed like an introduction.

Whilst not the best of Shane Meadows work, in my view, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't watch a second series. I feel there's more to offer.

Really enjoyed this, the modern dialogue makes you feel for the characters and build relationships more than stuffy period language, you feel like you really get a sense of this tiny community they live in and the spectre of industrialisation looming is realistic and sets a different angle which I haven't seen represented much on TV before. I especially loved the title sequence and credits which set the tone of gritty realism but also period drama. I thought it looks visually stunning with some interesting camera angles, really good lighting and story telling through the cinematography which I enjoyed. Can't wait to watch the rest!

I'm local to Cragg Vale so really wanted to enjoy this. Yes it's watchable but ending poor and nothing about what happened after for viewers who don't know. Sadly there's much better historical dramas out there, love to see this remade in the future but done right. The characters came across quite wooden I wanted to like it more but fell short.

Also going all Peaky Blinders and playing modern music didn't do it for me! The stag scenes were just ludicrous almost comical just doesn't sit well for an historical drama.

There so much more that could have been made of this, let's hope someone picks up the reigns maybe make a film of it.

I've rarely seen an opening episode with so little action and so much rambling pointless dialogue. I'm a huge fan of Shane Meadows and have been since the 90's but the Gallows Pole is I'm afraid a big old-fashioned fail.

Tonally there were some very odd choices, the dialogue was completely modern and it was the sweariest script I've seen on the BBC in many a year with constant effing and blinding that added nothing and will turn lots of people off.

The cast was very hit and miss with no stand outs for me, protagonist David was a shouty, sweary enigma. The weakest element was definitely the script, in this case adapted by the writer of the original novel himself. The dialogue was really verbose with tons of over-written exposition.

Bizarre credits sequence and strangely shot in widescreen which added nothing. At times it resembled a weak 1760's version of Brassic. I gave it to the end of the episode, but I'm out now.

I love Shane Meadows and mostly everything that he has done. If there is one tip i can give you, it'll be give it time. It gets better as the episodes go on.

There are rumours that Shane loves ad libbing and improvisation and you can see it in parts, but it's typical Meadows dialogue and always has that feeling of it could kick off at any second but if you give it time, it'll grow on you.

All we need is Woody, milky and Lol to turn up and it'll be the icing on the cake.

Gritty, grubby and sometimes a bit too sweary, it's definitely one that you have to give time. Maybe one day we will see the return of This is England, but until we do, this'll do.

Benjamin Myers must be absolutely fuming after seeing the Final Cut of an adaptation of his historical fiction about King David Hartley... First of all, he would be extremely excited to hear that someone has decided to take this project on, and even more delighted to hear that it's someone as talented as Shane. But seriously, what is this?

If you're going to do a period drama in Yorkshire then why lead the viewer into 1980s Derbyshire and into a world that appears to be improvised and frankly dull because we don't have a script yet and have no idea why what we're trying to achieve. It may improve but it has an awful feeling of being made up as they go along. That might be the way Shane operates but.. All I could think was that at any minute they were going to all sack it off and go and watch the 1986 World Cup... Very poor. 💩

Prior to this everything Shane Meadows has touched has been gold. Unfortunately bringing his oft-repeated style of improvisational dialogue into a period drama is a misfire.

I do have an issue with a period drama that doesn't quite stick to the period it's supposedly portraying. The trouble with actors improvising as a character from another time is that they won't always be able to stay 100% in that character without occasionally slipping and using modern parlance, which happens quite often here.

I managed two out of the three episodes and really could not continue to the last one. The pacing is at a snail's pace which is borne out of unnecessarily-long scenes of constant 'natural' talking which if given a proper script would've tightened it up and made for sharper dialogue thus giving it an energy instead of the sleep-inducing borefest it quickly became.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first episode of The Gallows Pole.

We are lead to expect a certain production style in period dramas so I was interested to see how the brooding, claustrophobic atmosphere of the book was translated. (This is a prequel to Ben Myers book) This opening episode set the tone beautifully right from the opening credits, giving us a taste of the hallucinatory, dark and desperate landscape of that time. This was a period of such shocking and fast paced change that it must have felt like a bad dream to small communities like this, so some poetic licence must be granted in conveying this.

The first episode set up the tight knit but struggling community, the wayward hero of David sent back from the brink of death to save his village. The scenes, mostly shot inside the village pub were bawdy (not sure why people are moaning about swearing because I know I've been swearing more lately about the state of this effing country) but this small space filled with family and community united in grief but thrilled by the return of David set the tone brilliantly for the coming episodes.

Great ensemble cast, incredible score, a proper treat.

I can't wait to see what's inside that bag!

The 1st episode left me totally disappointed. I normally love this type of period drama but unfortunately not this time. I patiently sat waiting for the story line to pick up or at least start to give me an idea of what was to follow but was left sadly empty. The dialogue left me wondering what it was I was actually listening to. Was it actually scripted or were they given brief story line and given the opportunity to AdLib as they went along. I can't say I know the language of the 18th century but was so much swearing really necessary ? All in all, I was left empty and wondering if I should waste time watching anymore. I look forward to someone suggesting the second episode and onwards actually picked it up from the first.

It might seem strange to some that in the rancid poverty and disease of the 18th Century, people didn't act, talk or swear in the same manner as Laurence Oliver in the Hays Code of the 1940's, but it seems logical that the mostly uneducated, underprivileged classes, now even worse off thanks to The Industrial Revolution might conceivably be quite annoyed, most of the time.

Downton already exists as a TV show, which is fine, but is written from exactly the other end of the same principle. Also best not to dignify the argument that there were " people who wouldn't have been there" as we cannot all hear dog whistles. Best to just check the facts there.

Having said that, it's a little bit too Steven Knight for me, it's certainly a placeholder episode and naturally slower for it. It's good to see the old TIE crew finally back, and the pace will definitely pick up come episode two.

The cinematography, especially at the beginning, should win awards.

We have a prodigal son returning to his village after seven years to find his father's funeral is imminent. He arrives with a stab wound from which he recovers in time to carry his father's coffin and dig the grave. Even today that might take a couple of weeks - the poor dead man would have been rotting by then.

Dialogue is painful at times (improvised) and the story so slow very little had emerged by end of episode one.

Any quality lies in the filming and the music - not enough to make up for the direction choices.

Clogs may be authentic but the noise from them detracted from what might have enhanced the story.

I read the book by Benjamin Myers and it's way darker. Hopefully there's a second series which is closer to the book. As a prequel series, this was great. The humour and improvisation is bang on. Love it. The Yorkshire settings are stunning and add real depth to the reality of the drama. It's typical Shane Meadows. Good use of music to slowly up the anticipation. Great dialogue between the characters and nuanced banter. I hope the BBC will consider a second series or even a third, it could run and run. My favourite character is Mand. Appears she's a local Halifax lass brought in specifically for this drama and she absolutely steals the show for me. Superb.

This had so much potential but I couldn't take any more after 15 minutes of appalling acting, wooden doesn't begin to describe it! I'm all for giving new talent a break, but there's a clue in the word "talent". The opening scene was good with nice cinematography, editing and sound but from there it went downhill rapidly. The acting is so poor I was starting to wonder if it was a parody or if I had mistakenly watched the wrong program. There's some beautiful scenery and locations which could well feature later on, but I'm afraid for me the acting made it painful watching. If the BBC paid more than £10 for this, they were robbed.

Well - this seems to have split people! Lots of 1/10's, lots of 10/10's!

1/10 or 10/10? I'd suggest neither mark-giver is really worthy of any attention?

It's an informative, well-delivered and infectious depiction of the real story of the Cragg Valley Coiners - a community of cottage weavers who, deprived of their trade during the early years of the industrial revolution, turned to a much simpler, though criminal, way of making money.

The nature of the crime is clearly played out as the local squire gets aboard - coin-cutting. Now, we may know similar modern parallels, but this was simply edging the gold from guineas to make more guineas. Incidentally, the Cragg Valley Coin Cutters cause a major problem to the British economy at the time.

Wooden acting? Give me a break. Shane Meadows is a master at allowing improvisation. I love it. It's intended, btw.

Tv is getting worse and worse. I was looking forward to this. A good period true story.whay do we get? Mumbled nonsense.improvised gibberish. Endless swearing. Modern speech and music shoe horned into a period drama. Characters who would never have been in that era.

I despair of the generation who has this twaddle for their inspiration .

I might buy the book to find out what actually happened .then I could enjoy it .maybe learn something. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody except maybe a punky art student. Maybe. Again there was nothing I liked about it.truly awful nonsense.no spoilers. Just a review.

I didn't read any of the reviews until afterwards, and I'm glad I didn't. I absolutely love this trauma. I had to keep looking up to see if the actors have been given a brief to improvise every single scene. The conversations between the actors, particularly between the two main characters. David Hartley and Grace were just fantastic. It was almost like you were standing on the street corner, listening to 2 people having an actual conversation of the time. It was natural and flowed. I understand that people don't think that the storyline was obvious from the beginning and that is true. I don't think people put their face in the filmmakers enough And give a not so obvious story line a chance. Everybody is too quickly. Want to know all the characters on the story in the first 10 minutes. Otherwise something is not worth watching. The modern music was also gritty and edgy.

I love the fact that the director looked for unknown actors to take on the roles . Everything about this is different to the usual glitzy, polyester, enriched, cereal period dramas that are churned out at an alarming rate. We should give us a chance. Certainly watch beyond the first episode and let the story unfold naturally. Then look it up in history and educate yourself.

It's a sign of how bad this is that after 20 minutes I was reading reviews to see if others shared the same opinion as me. And it turns out that they do. It seems that the director is in the habit of blooding new first time actors in his work. There's plenty on show here and the acting is as you would expect - pretty poor. Added to that there were too many 21st century stylings in the production to allow yourself to truly be transported to the 18th century. Not least the lead actor's eyebrows. Surely no one in 1760s Yorkshire had enough time on their hands to manicure their eyebrows. The dialogue is pretty poor too.

To people who think everyone in England spoke like shakespeare at this time, this series might be a bit of a dissapointment - but the reality is that most people sweared and used the common way of speaking English - just like they do today. Especially in a littlle village such as the one featured. It's gritty, realy, relatable and true! Apologies to the people expecting another Bridgerton - this isn't that - jog on if that's what you were expecting. This is deserving to be on BBC 1 and not 2 in my opinion. If you don't mind exploring a fresh take on a true period drama story told naturally - go and see this. I for one really enjoyed it.

I had high hopes. They were quickly dashed. This could have been great. The story has legs. This is try hard. Trying hard to piggy back off the style of Peaky Blinders but missing the mark by a country mile with it's AmDram acting. Socha does his best but the supporting cast and the 'natural' ad-lib exudes a palpable level of cringe that curls the toes and had me hoping that the next episode will improve and deliver what was promised. It doesn't. It really doesn't. This is some of the worst output the BBC has managed. Including Mrs Brown's Boys. Dross. Save yourself the disappointment and don't watch this dog egg of a series.

Shane Meadows is a particular blind spot in my cinematic life. I've not seen any of his films, even the ones regularly touted as modern British classics. It's not deliberate, its just never worked out for me yet, but when this three-part adaptation of the Benjamin Myers novel released on the BBC, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.

David Hartley (Michael Socha) staggers back to his family home in Yorkshire, bleeding heavily from a stab wound, having been working in Birmingham for the past few years. In his delirious state, a man with a stag's skull on his head tells him that he must repent his former selfish ways and use his criminal skill for the good of his village. The village is suffering as the industrial revolution has taken the weaving jobs towards big cities, but David proposes that they use his skills as a coin cutter to produce counterfeit currency.

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't sure what I was watching for the first half of the first episode. There nearest touchstone I had for the incongruous psychedelic music against the period visuals was Sky's "Britannia" series. But once Hartley starts to recover from his ordeal, and explain his plan then, by the end of that episode I was on board. There's a naturalistic semi-improvised nature to the dialogue which once you're dialled into really works - and allows for the cast to be funny. Particularly the central pairing of Socha and Sophie McShera, who plays David's girlfriend that he abandoned to head to Birmingham. The comedy MVP though is probably Adam Fogerty, who plays family friend Broadbent, who really comes into his own in the second and third episodes.

I understand that this effectively operates as a prequel for the actual novel, and if he decided to, Meadows could revisit this world to see the marked effect that Hartley's enterprise has on the UK economy, but for now it's a funny and surprisingly warm story that could just do with being a little more accessible in it's early scenes.