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paulob160
Reviews
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015)
Personally, somewhat disappointed
The BBC made a big thing of trailing this show, so I thought it was reasonable to expect something a bit special. The book is one of my favourites, must have read it 10+ times, once or twice back-to-back. I suppose knowing the story so well I expected most or all of the detail and complexity to show up on screen. But it didn't. Some of the BBC's contractions were just crass and diminished the impact and importance of the event in the storyline. Still, the cast was pretty good...potentially. But not even a fine actor like Eddie Marsan could make a fist of Gilbert Norrell with the limitations of the role imposed. The Gentleman, Stephen Black, John Uskglass, Vinculus, Lascelles, Drawlight...all missed opportunities. Well, Bertie Carvel was a reasonably good Jonathan Strange and Arabella (Charlotte Riley) was very watchable for any number of reasons. So I will still stick to the book for my doses of English Magic, at least until somebody has a go at making it properly on-screen.
Citizen Khan (2012)
I gave it two points as a kindness...
In my humble opinion "Citizen Khan" is to "My Family" as a Mini Metro is to an Aston Martin. Beige, unoriginal and mostly pointless. "Goodness gracious me" and "The Kumars" set a high mark for British-Asian comedy, downright hilarious performances by a group of greatly talented actors. . Apologies to the team that created "Khan" but IMHO it is downright avoidable, more like "The Dross of Khan" than "Citizen Kane". Are the writers and/or actors talented ? I think they are but it is hard to tell on this outing. The central theme of the caricature of a Pakistani family making their way in a foreign land is sadly unfunny, unoriginal and quite embarrassing to watch. It feels like the programme creators want us to laugh at the "silly foreign Johnnies" as they parade through the "crazy" (not) antics that must be the signature of hilarity expected by a British audience viewing a culture they do not understand. For myself, I can do without a remake of "On The Buses" with an Asian-Briton flavour instead of an African-Briton clash. Gentle self-deprecation is a quality found in much successful British comedies, but harsh, jarring self-parody delivered without finesse should never be.