I'm enjoying Parade's End as well. I once got the book from the library and found it unreadable .. whoever did the screenplay must be a master of innovation
Tom Stoppard if I remember correctly
That explains it .. it bears little resemblance to the 'original' .. good name though .. very WW1 .. keep the aspidistra flying .. or was that Orwell?
I'm with David Mitchell on this one. I enjoyed the first series - fresh characters, interesting scenarios (the inheritence question, the mysterious Bates etc) - but the second series unfortunately became pure soap opera. The third series (based on just one episode so probably unfair to judge) does not fill me with any confidence that it will also be anything other than soap opera. What I mean by that is that to a large extent the storylines have come to revolve around romantic and family relationships, using simplistic stock characters who have become stuck in a groove (soppy Lord, avuncular butler, evil lady's maid, scheming footman/valet, feisty daughter, modern thinking daughter, desperate daughter, irascible Irishman etc); there are goodies and baddies and of course a pantomime villain; pretty much all the action takes place within a very limited area so that all aspects of life can be represented in a few sets; no marriage or birth (admittedly there hasn't been a birth yet but there nearly was in series one) can take place without some ridiculous obstacle being put in the way to jeopardise the event; people come and go just for the sake of a story line; characters choose not to communicate with each other just to produce misunderstandings, heightened emotions, absolute highs and lows...you know how it goes.
My vote for best ITV drama must go to Jewel in the Crown but I think they have also done some surprisingly good classic adaptations over the years, such as Far From The Madding Crowd and the more recent Wuthering Heights with Tom Hardy.
Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies.
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That explains it .. it bears little resemblance to the 'original' .. good name though .. very WW1 .. keep the aspidistra flying .. or was that Orwell?
My vote for best ITV drama must go to Jewel in the Crown but I think they have also done some surprisingly good classic adaptations over the years, such as Far From The Madding Crowd and the more recent Wuthering Heights with Tom Hardy.
9.4 out of 10 on IMDB.
Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies.