User Reviews

I'll start off with the bad. The main "love" story between Frederick Threnchard and Clara Dunn is a problem. He has the personality of a block of wood, and Clara's instant love for him is a puzzlement. To her credit, away from him, the actress comes alive, so I'm assuming he's sucking the charisma out of her.

To be fair, the actor is saddled with a ludicrous storyline where his personality and demeanor is explained by his father being cruel to him and loving his brother more. So, he has to spend copious amounts of time, staring off into space, wallowing in his man pain. He's tedious and boring, and his hatred for his brother is so irrational and off-putting.

BUT, there is stuff to recommend here. Toby Regbo as Frederick's kindly brother, who is devoted to his work as a Reverand, and hides a painful secret from the world, is a revelation, and easily the most interesting character in the show. Sophie Thompson as Clara's dottering mother is charming and sweet. Hannah Onslow, playing Clara's less effervescent sister nails her characters barely disguised bitterness. Liam Garrigan and Elaine Cassiday also shine as members of the household staff with their own stories to tell. And Sophie Windkleman and Miles Jupp as the Duke and Duchess of Rochester have a side story that is surprisingly effective.

Jury is out for me on Edward Bluemel's doctor character, but perhaps he'll become more fully fleshed out as the show goes on. The actor is solid, so that helps. But he feels threadbare as a character.

I do think the show suffers from pacing issues, and whatever big bad thing that happened between Frederick and James really should've been revealed already. The longer its drawn out, the more likely it is to disappoint when its revealed.

I'm a (very) latecomer to period dramas. "Downton" had long since finished before I began to tackle the 50+ episodes and what a treat that turned out to be. It would be asking a lot for any series to be its equal or even come close but one that really impressed was "The Gilded Age".

I have not seen the original "Belgravia" for the simple reason that I had never heard of it but will find it to watch.

This latest "Next Chapter" seems to be taking a lot of flak from what appear to be seasoned period drama viewers so who am I to argue?........but I will. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the final two episodes were extremely moving.

I found all of the characters to be interesting in their own way and, of course, anything with a music score by John Lunn is always worth watching.

After thoroughly enjoying the original series of 'Belgravia' (a solid 8/10 miniseries, arguably 9/10), I was hopeful that most of the negative reviews of "Belgravia: The Next Chapter" would be wrong, or at least a bit exaggerated. Alas, the negative reviews are more right than wrong, and this second season is yet another example of a great show taking a massive step down from a successful first season.

It was always going to be a tough task to match the clever, rewarding, and intelligent writing of the first season, but "The Next Chapter" falls short of even the above average level of writing of well-produced shows of the modern era of entertainment. The main plot line and the character arcs of the two leads is just not very interesting, especially from about the 3rd or 4th episode on. While season one seemed too short and had you begging for more at six episodes, this second season tests your patience at eight episodes in which little seems to happen half the time. You know a writer is completely clueless when they start portraying the 1871 Paris Commune in a positive light (the best era in Paris's history, the Belle Epoque, only happened thanks to the failing of said evil Commune, not to mention that the same ideology that the Commune spouted would go on to kill 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 more people than fascism in the 20th century). The side plots are eye-rollingly predictable at best. So how does it even earn a review this high? Mainly because of the great production, excellent cinematography, and wonderful acting, especially by Harriet Slater. While other positive reviews here credit the 'victim' plot line, the reality is that the focus on victims has created a culture in which every struggling person pretends to be a victim in every way possible, causing their mental state to deteriorate. Similarly, our main male lead sulks, acts petulant, and behaves like a prick and uses his so-called 'victim' status as an excuse. Overall, this is a very skippable season of television, although not a total disaster.

... of all the written-viewer-reviews to date... two are highly complimentary, all remaining run from so-so to exceptionally-poor... actually Belgravia: Next Chapter falling somewhere in-upper-between... a decent watch, yet not so good as past Julian Fellowes creations

... Belgravia had several memorable characters, in the Next Chapter it requires straining to come up with more than the show's lead... with only a couple more episodes remaining there's little time for recovery-saving of this season... being very well made, and overall acting not as terrible as some would suggest... it's just not what was expected after the original series... all those familiar, well-known-individuals setting a high benchmark for this latest cast to match-compete... they coulda-shoulda carried a couple-three of 'em into this current series, at least for a time

... will there be another 'season' in-of Belgravia ... would like to say hope-so, having reservations-doubts ... but would still try watching it once again, as many others enamored of entertaining-period-drama... and Belgravia still remaining better than host of others in this category

03.11.24 ... next to last episode far best of this season's-series.. ending episode gave more the feeling of your typical Hallmark romantic-drama ... with every storyline thread neatly being tidied-up (even her sister centering on a new prospect).. it feels as if we just might have seen the last of the Belgravia-saga.

I am a fan of period dramas, and have set "Downton Abbey" as the golden standard. Naturally, that means I am very interested in titles by Julian Fellows, and have seen at least a few of them. When I watched "Belgravia", I thought it was a lightweight compared to "Downton Abbey". Whereas the characters in "Downton" are complex and well developed, the characters of "Belgravia" seemed a bit charicatured and simplified. There were the good guys on one side, and the bad ones on the other. The whole plot seemed a bit like an ordinary fairytale, and it was easy to guess where everything would end up.

Now, I started watching the spin-off show straight after finishing the original show, and was very pleasantly surprised. The characters all seem more complex than in the previous show, and there are more side plots, just like we saw in "Downton Abbey". The "downstairs" party are much more complete characters than the ones in the first part of "Belgravia", and I find myself interested in their backstories. Much more to work with for the writers, and I can easily see a continuance for this show.

I am seriously puzzled that so many hate this season compared to the original. Do most people prefer the lightweight, straight forward story with few surprises in store? I find that hard to believe. Yes, this season is much more subtle, and keep its mysteries for a longer time, but I completely disagree about the notion that the main character has the personality of a "block of wood". He is contained, troubled and melancholy. He tries to open up now and again, but struggles with himself. I think the actor is doing a clever job of a character that is hard to portray.

Not entirely sure why everyone seems to hate it so much. It's different from the first season - yes - but it's its own storyline with very different characters. The main couple are just two very mismatched people (not actors, actual show characters) who happened to fall for each other. She - a very lively, happy young woman, brought in a household full of mutual love, respect and joy; he - a product of an affair who upon the birth of a true heir, his younger brother, became a burden to his now very emotionally abusive father. Very much a "victim" - so very 2023-24. Without therapy or close people they could really confide in, they struggle to maintain that relationship - and the whole show revolves around that. There are some other well-written supporting characters; romantic distractions and villains (the marquise who I'm certain is a very clever con woman who will eventually run off with the Trenchard money, mark my word). The actors are doing a great job being their characters, there's a good amount of subtlety in their performance that some lifetime and hallmark fans might not be able to pick up. Overall, yes, it's slow paced but it only makes me look forward to seeing how it all unfolds. Took a star off not to be accused of being biased.

A well-made series, having gorgeous everything, sets, design, era costumes and "bibelots" with good convincing acting overall, but ultimately uninteresting and a little bland.

It more or less lacks real drama, romantic thrill and shocks to sensations. One of the reasons is the linear, insipid acting by most protagonists as well as limited scenes, locations and bubblegum-filler situations.

If you want to compare two ~alike productions and have a feel of what is flowing wrong in this one, you can watch 'Bridgerton' and see for yourself what a strong period drama feels like.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7
• Production value/impact: 8.5
• Development: 8
• Realism: 8
• Entertainment: 6.5
• Acting: 7.5
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 9
• VFX: 9
• Music/score/sound: 8.5
• Depth: 7
• Logic: 5
• Flow: 6.5
• Drama/romance: 6.5
• Ending: 6.5.

Belgravia Was awesome. But this part 2, the next Chapter is a poor follow up.

Sadly, I find the next chapter, extremely depressing, extremely slow, not as polished, overall extremely considered this failure.

With the next chapter being so poor, I cannot see this being renewed for a third season, which is so disappointing after the first season was so great.

It's not often that you completely destroy a series like they have here with the sequel to the original. So disappointed the lead character is either a really bad actor or his character. He's completely flawed.

After watching four episodes now, I don't even see the point of this season with him being just miserable, and we all know that he isn't the legitimate child and air. It is actually his brother if you've watched the first season

disappointing. Overall, I suggest you avoid.

Ignore the low scores. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The story had many elements to it and kept my attention and me entertained throughout. If there was one negative it would be the character Frederick Trenchard. I felt the actor playing him had only one expression on his face. I feel I need to see him in something else to see if he acts any different. A comedy role perhaps because to watch him on screen in this was pretty depressing. Apart from that all of the other characters were good but one really stood out for me. The actress Hannah Onslow. Her facial expressions in every scene were captivating. She doesn't have to deliver a line of script, she just expresses herself so well with her facial expressions and body movements and often had me giggling. Well worth a watch and even a binge.

I am writing this review after watching just the first episode, so maybe, and hopefully, it gets better later on, but the opening episode was quite honestly terrible. I remember that the original series also lacked in quality and good acting and was thus cancelled originally, but this one is ever worse. It looks like some cheap Canadian weekend love movie with poor sets and rather dull costumes. Speaking of dull, just like in the second season of Fellowes' Gilded Age which was ruined by dark lighting this one also has natural lights which makes most of the scenes dull and lacking in any glitz and glamour. It makes the visuals very lifeless and I really hope they would stop using just natural lights in shows.

Acting is mostly subpar, Hallmark TV level, I am not sure why the two leads were cast, they have no chemistry together. They are both lost in every scene, have lack of acting talent and also screen presence and charisma. The only good and interesting actors are Liam Garrigan, Toby Regbo and Elaine Cassidy, and their characters fill up otherwise very boring series.

Hope it gets better as the episodes progress, but the first episode should be the one that draws you in and I am deliberating whether to even continue watching or not. After the atrocious Winter King this is the second major flop for MGM Plus this year, they should stick to good series like Domina not these cheap looking dramas with terrible casting choices and awful production degisn.

I absolutely loved Belgravia season one. It was so good loved the characters and how it all came together. Therefore, I was really looking forward to this continuation of the story, but it's nothing like it and quite awful. I don't care for the lead actors, and the storyline is dark and there's nothing uplifting in the story that motivates you to keep watching. It's not only extremely slow, but very boring not to mention really depressing, and none of it makes sense. It doesn't come together well. The first season had great acting and came together in a cohesive way with enough intrigue to really keep you watching until it's conclusion. This doesn't have any of those elements. I can't even finish episode one so bad. Definitely would not recommend.

The backstory of Lord Frederick Trenchard seems to be very similar to Alexander Colbourne's in Sanditon S2 & 3. Abusive father, estranged brother saved from his personal demons by the love of a good woman. The indifference that the Duke (Miles Jupp) treats his epileptic son Peter isn't that dissimilar from how Colbourne interacted with his illegitimate daughter, Leonora following the death of his unfaithful wife... Wouldn't be the first time a JF script seemed very familiar... That said, I'll keep watching "Belgravia: The Next Chapter" to see what happens with Fletcher (Liam Garrison) and Davison (Elaine Cassidy), Emily (Hannah Onslow) and the Reverend James (Toby Regbow). Curious to learn if Dr. Ellerby (Edward Bluemel) is a good guy or a baddie and how Nell's (Lauren McQueen) backstory story is integral to the plot. Personally, I find the supporting characters and their story lines are more compelling than the leads. PS: What's up with Ensign and Mawdie?

I'm up to Episode 6 and can't wait for Episode 7 to put this mess out of it's misery... NEVER got any better. Story is weak and pointless. No sympathy for the lead characters... Terrible production!

I was surprised that there was a second season ofBelgravia. The first season had an engrossing storyline and a fine cast-Dame Harriet Walter Tamain Grieg to name two.

That the writers chose to focus on the character of Frederick Trenchard is puzzling. The characterization seem to be 21st century attitudes imposed on late 19th persons. The character of Clara, for instance, is an attractive young woman from a family with no money. She marries a wealthy man and then behaves in a manner that makes no sense. Spare the viewer the cliché of her being a free spirit and that she's somehow bold and forward thinking.

Belgravia was ok with some really good actors holding it up.

This on the other hand is a mess with the worst actors caste especially Clara who is annoying in every scene and can't act. I assume she's related to someone because she certainly didn't get the role for her acting talents.

This focus's on the son of characters in the original series who were not popular or the main focus of Belgravia so to create a sequel on an obscure characters son is beyond reason and makes no sense.

We have a spoilt entitled young woman who in reality marries for money because her family are struggling, who spends 5 minutes married before she gets bored and decides to behave abhorrently. Basically, Clara is really annoying. Ok, her husband Frederick has issues because his father resented him for not being his biological child. The flashbacks are absolutely ridiculous and over the top and I assume they saved production costs by replaying the flashbacks to death for this purpose.. but again, it's annoying. How anyone signed off on this show is beyond me. They clearly didn't get a period expert in to ensure the characters behaviour was authentic because nothing made sense and it's certainly not a Downton Abbey calibre show.

I have endured 7 episodes so far, fast forwarding past a lot of it because I can't stand watching whiney Clara more than I have to.. and Fredricks miserable demeanour.. even when there are no flashbacks which isn't often.

I doubt this show will have a second season because someone should step in and put it out of its misery and cancel it.

Hugely disappointing "next chapter". Nothing is remotely on par with the quality of the first season. Acting is sooooo stiff, but that is likely due to the horrible writing and directing. It is so obvious this is not done by Julian Fellows and oh boy, what a mess.

The first Belgravia I was drawn in with each episode. With "The next chapter", I can't even bear to finish the first episode. There is no cohesive dialogue or story development, and the pacing is all over the place.

I hope the writers and directors of this "chapter" never lands another show again so they won't ruin another production.

From the poor acting, to the repeated playing of the main characters childhood trauma; this was a terrible season and has ruined Belgravia. He stares off into the middle distance...next minute, yet another repeat of the trauma scene. The Lord wanders around all season with his face tripping him. The storyline is very weak and washes over topics that would have been interesting to deal with. Infernal background music plays continuously throughout the scenes making it more like a a soap opera. The only saving graces were the set, scenery (filmed in Edinburgh) and costumes. I take it this will not be continued for another season.

I enjoy season 1 - storyline and cast!

The second serving is dull, dreary and the actors were terribly miscast!

The storyline is weak and just feels like filler content. Most characters lack decorum which came across as crass for a period drama - considering it is about the aristocracy and 1%.

Edward Blumel as the doctor I could not take seriously! Smiling and swaying throughout his lines. Personally I think he would have been better suited in the role of the valet and vice versa! I don't dislike him as an actor, but this is one example of the shows miscasting imo.

Hannah Onslow as Emily Dunn stood out for me. I enjoyed her scenes and what she brought to her character!

Episode one is a mess, trying to figure out who's who! As for the Marquise? They tried too hard...overkill. Less screen time the better, again imo.

I watched up to episode 4 and threw the towel in. I wanted to enjoy it so much! But sadly it did not captivate me. Unfortunately Belgravia should have been/remained a standalone series.

I am a big fan of Julian Fellowes. Downton Abbey is Flawless!! He set the bar high.

Julian Fellowes who wrote the very successful first series, turned this one over to other writer who created a melodrama that bears little resemblance to the original "Belgravia". Yes the original did have much better actors/actresses and of course Julian Fellowes wrote it. I admit that I was eager for a season 2, but I was looking forward to a season 2 with Maria Grey and Charles Pope and not set 40 years later. The script is really bad. I assume that Julian Fellowes was occupied writing season 2 of "The Gilded Age", so he didn't have much involvement.

I agree that the supporting staff are very good with actors like Sophie Thompson, Gerard Horan, Elaine Cassidy and Liam Garrigan.

The actor who played the lead Fredrick was so wooden, so robotic...just terrible. There's a scene where he tries to cry and I laughed out loud. Other than that sad moment when I'm sure he tried picturing a puppy getting run over by a steamroller, he showed only one emotion the entire season. I get he was trying to play impenetrable and unassailable, but it came off as stiff fence post. Community college acting 101. So, so bad. My Alexa has more personality and allure than this guy.

And while the lead actress played with much more range there was zero chemistry between her and Fredrick. Zero.

Every other actor played with depth and charm and personality. It's too bad...would've been much more compelling with different leads. What a waste of their talent.

'' Belgravia : The Next Chapter '' is the sequel to the period drama '' Belgravia ''.

This time, it takes things twenty years after the events of the first season, but, as it has been some time since the first one was broadcasted, it was hard to even remember any of the characters and their stories, apart from the main ones.

So, as an individual story, it was nice enough, though, it was boring at times and tried to be dramatic, only to end up idiotic.

Also, in the end, there were some characters left out and their stories were never concluded, as the series focused on the main ones only and forgot all about them.