Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 29, 2024, 07:34:47 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Years and Years (Russell T Davies)

Started by VelourSpirit, April 21, 2019, 11:46:14 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Bad Ambassador

Quote from: bobloblaw on May 22, 2019, 03:02:50 PM
and the nation's flagship TV channel viewers have spoken: 1.6m last night, beaten by 24 Hours in A&E.

telly drama that is about something, that throws ideas around and asks big questions while having a bit of fun: we don't deserve the like.

or maybe it's all a bit too much for an after-work wind-down. probably should have put it out on Sundays.

Ah well. People, eh?

The incredibly bland standard of most TV drama, spoonfeeding baby food to a half-watching audience, is at least partially to blame.

mothman

I'm sure the answer is probably no (with lots of supporting evidence) but I do occasionally wonder if the BBC institutionally has a problem with "name" creators/showrunners. Neil Cross, Toby Whitehouse, and now RTD have had shows they've made there be poorly treated (in terms of scheduling especially). But then, others (Jed Mercurio for one; Moffat, Gatiss...) gave thrived. So, as I say, probably not.

BritishHobo

Fuck 'em. They're missing out. This is just stunning. I felt fucking sick throughout that bank sequence.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Yeah, it's their loss.

I'm guessing - some might say 'smugly presuming' - that a lot of people just don't want to engage with an apocalyptic drama that blatantly  attacks right-wing greed, selfishness and prejudice. Years and Years is an assault on them. So they'll doubtless dismiss it as a load of politically correct piffle, because that's easier than actually thinking about some of the issues it raises.

A kinder view is that a lot of people just don't like science-fiction, which is basically what this is. That's fair enough.

Uncle TechTip

Let's hope they stick with it, is it six parts?

These days they might say "give up, catch the rest on iPlayer". Which I suppose doesn't matter, also these days.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Uncle TechTip on May 22, 2019, 09:41:59 PM
Let's hope they stick with it, is it six parts?

These days they might say "give up, catch the rest on iPlayer". Which I suppose doesn't matter, also these days.

Yes, six parts. I think the 'failure' of this series matters in that it might dissuade execs from commissioning similarly ambitious and provocative dramas - certainly on BBC One. Which is no great loss, admittedly, as they'll always have a home on BBC Two, but it would've been nice and weirdly reassuring if Years and Years had been a big mainstream hit.

Anyway, I suppose it's quite funny that RTD got away with exploring similarly dark themes in Doctor Who - including an almost Threads-like episode in which Britain becomes a fascist state - because that's a massively popular family show beloved by children and is therefore considered essentially harmless. It can be dismissed as mere sci-fi fantasy, whereas this is shoving our fucked-up world into the faces of an exclusively adult audience.

ian01604

Quote from: Blue Jam on May 22, 2019, 10:25:59 AM
Transhuman Daughter is going to save the world isn't she? She's like Lois Habiba with the Torchwood contact lenses.I suspect she'll end up having a Blink implanted in her left hand and causing a bit of mischief, perhaps using it to deplatform Vivienne Rook and a few others.

I thought that. Or maybe Jessica Hynes's consciousness being uploaded on to the cloud and bringing down Rook.

Interesting they are having the public falling for Rook's populist nonsense AFTER Trump has killed 45,000 with a nuke.

Was also suprised at the mentions of The NHS and BBC in episode 2. I expected them to quietly mention both had gone. Maybe that'll be Rook's doing.



sevendaughters

just watched episode one. fuck me that was good.

if i had any complaint it would be the visual style. Simon Cellan Jones has done some quality stuff before with top TV writers - Our Friends, and probably one of the most miserable episodes of Cracker - but it just had that slightly flat BBC1 prestige look to it.

however i thought that was one of *the* great opening episodes. it had it all from sex robots to some brutal critique. possibility of a slight romanticising of a great past where we were all a bit smarter and actively tolerant? think that might be inevitable in a story that travels forward speculatively.

sevendaughters


kidsick5000

Quote from: bobloblaw on May 22, 2019, 03:02:50 PM
and the nation's flagship TV channel viewers have spoken: 1.6m last night, beaten by 24 Hours in A&E.

telly drama that is about something, that throws ideas around and asks big questions while having a bit of fun: we don't deserve the like.

or maybe it's all a bit too much for an after-work wind-down. probably should have put it out on Sundays.

Ah well. People, eh?

If only he'd set it in a police station or veterinary practice in the dales

Blue Jam

Quote from: ian01604 on May 23, 2019, 06:57:18 AM
I thought that. Or maybe Jessica Hynes's consciousness being uploaded on to the cloud and bringing down Rook.

How about an AI becoming Prime Minister? Could be a Waldo situation...

Bad Ambassador

Gave up 10 minutes into Part Two. They should have called it Worst Case Scenario. None of the chracters are that interesting, and it feels a bit too much like an old man bemoaning the state of the world. I know he's not that old, but there's a touch of the 1979 Quatermass which was Nigel Kneale having a go at hippies.

sevendaughters

Thought there was way more to it than someone moaning.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

He's not having a go at the millennials they have now, though, is he? The teenage girl who wants to become trans-human is portrayed sympathetically, her worst crime being that she's become swept up in - I'm assuming - a fantasy created by unscrupulous tech barons. Yes, you could argue that this particular aspect of the story is RTD going, "Cuh! These kids today and their obsession with technology, where will it all end?!" but I think it's a bit more nuanced than that.

His main targets are far-right politicians and liberal hypocrites, which seems fair enough to me?

By the way, I recently read a hot take - on Twitter, where else? - regarding the trans-human storyline, criticising it for being a negative comment on transgender issues. Well, it's clearly bloody not supposed to be read that way, is it?  In episode one the parents were shown to be fully supportive of their daughter's desire to transition, before expressing horror when she explained that she actually wanted to become a piece of living data. I very much doubt that RTD is equating that horrific sci-fi scenario with gender transitioning.

BritishHobo

And to be honest I've been taking the transhuman plot as a positive thing - as I said on the previous page, RTD presenting a hypothetical 'next' movement for people who accept the current one to be horrified by, in the same way that Top Feminist Glinner and the like are currently doing.

Also I really really loved the furious scorn in the writing in the bit where Emma Thompson says her Pointless prize money is going to build 'a statue for horses who died in the First World War'. What a fucking sharp, brilliant little jab. Really incisively nailing so many things with such a short, simple line.

Alberon

To be honest I'd go transhuman if it was real. Of course downloading my mind to the cloud or whatever would only be a copy of me, but it's better than nothing.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: BritishHobo on May 23, 2019, 09:08:00 PM
And to be honest I've been taking the transhuman plot as a positive thing - as I said on the previous page, RTD presenting a hypothetical 'next' movement for people who accept the current one to be horrified by, in the same way that Top Feminist Glinner and the like are currently doing.

Also I really really loved the furious scorn in the writing in the bit where Emma Thompson says her Pointless prize money is going to build 'a statue for horses who died in the First World War'. What a fucking sharp, brilliant little jab. Really incisively nailing so many things with such a short, simple line.

Yes, absolutely, it's a critique of bigots such as Linehan and his ilk.

That 'horses' line is indeed brilliant. A miasma of mendacious, sanctimonious, button-pushing sentiment summed up and slain in a succinctly scabrous gag.

Apologies for the alliteration, I appear to have turned into Alan Whicker.

Blue Jam

Quote from: BritishHobo on May 23, 2019, 09:08:00 PMAlso I really really loved the furious scorn in the writing in the bit where Emma Thompson says her Pointless prize money is going to build 'a statue for horses who died in the First World War'. What a fucking sharp, brilliant little jab. Really incisively nailing so many things with such a short, simple line.

Wasn't that a reference to a real live celebrity who won a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link (I think) and who genuinely did donate the prize money to a war memorial for horses? Jilly Cooper or Carla Lane or someone? I can't find any reference to it now but I remember watching whatever it was as it was broadcast and thinking "what the fuck?"

As for the transhumanism stuff, I loved the way that developed- one day Celeste was berating Bethany for her stupid fanciful notions, then just a few years later sensible Celeste is out of a job because accountants are obsolete, while Bethany's interests in transhumanism and AI make her the employable one with a real future. "Bethany wants to be a robot, hahaha!" Just you wait, she'll show them...

RicoMNKN

To Be a Machine by Mark O'Connell is a fun Jon Ronson-esque book on the subject of transhumanism. It's actually an alarmingly popular philosophy with high-up Silicon Valley types.  The phone thing isn't actually *that* far fetched - people are happily operating on themselves now.

I think the show has been good thus far, but it leaves me feeling pretty drained with a similar fug to if I spend too long on Twitter. Also, I can't help wondering how much the adverts are to blame for the ratings - I'd never have given it a go if I wasn't a RTD fan.  It looked like a lightweight Black Mirror.

(A very minor niggle, but the bank's website should not have been showing a 404. Wrong error message.)

phantom_power

Is Rook's campaign buddy Julie Peasgood playing herself? That is some mad shit right there

My only real complaint so far is how quickly the two women have become supporters of Rook. I know it showed that Rosie was a bit conflicted about her all along but it was still a bit quick. Also, when the crowd went from booing to cheering her just because she mentioned that the internet had porn on it didn't strike me as realistic.

Apart from that though it is great stuff.

olliebean

Quote from: RicoMNKN on May 24, 2019, 12:00:27 AM(A very minor niggle, but the bank's website should not have been showing a 404. Wrong error message.)

I'm not sure RTD has done his tech research quite as thoroughly as he should have for this. It was bothering me in episode 1 when they kept talking about "downloading" rather than uploading minds to the cloud.

BritishHobo

Quote from: phantom_power on May 24, 2019, 07:52:27 AM
Is Rook's campaign buddy Julie Peasgood playing herself? That is some mad shit right there

My only real complaint so far is how quickly the two women have become supporters of Rook. I know it showed that Rosie was a bit conflicted about her all along but it was still a bit quick. Also, when the crowd went from booing to cheering her just because she mentioned that the internet had porn on it didn't strike me as realistic.

Apart from that though it is great stuff.

I found it believable with the other sister, cos I thought it seemed quite a good take on people getting swept up by someone just because on a surface level they're brash and outspoken. Confused by Jessica Hynes though, because isn't she meant to be a really right-on, globalist, environmental type? Why would she be taken in by someone calling for the country to be insular?

phes

Quote from: bobloblaw on May 22, 2019, 03:02:50 PM
and the nation's flagship TV channel viewers have spoken: 1.6m last night, beaten by 24 Hours in A&E

I always look for the Quality Stamp of shit viewing figures. This show is great fun, so to speak. A few really? moments but outweighed by loads of great stuff

phantom_power

I think she has just thought "fuck it" after spending her life trying to save the planet, no-one listening and then getting radiation poisoning for her troubles. She just wants the world to burn down and start again. It was all just a bit quick though

phes

you couldn't knock the skin cancer off a rabbit's foreskin with 1 gray. She'll be reet, probably

Blue Jam

Viv Rook becomes PM and forces robot sex man to get a Blink implanted in his nob so every time he gets the horn it deactivates Keith

This is bloody good. It's doing the job that Black Mirror has never really done for me.

Has it had much publicity though? I only know about it because I drive past Anne Reid's character's house every day and googled what they were filming there. Maybe it'll become an iPlayer hit once it starts airing on HBO in a few weeks.

mothman

I'm wondering if we're being hoodwinked about Rook's intentions. For many of us the immediate assumption is that she's some combination of Katie Hopkins and Farage analogues. What if she is actually for real? The actual "sensible woman" many feminists over the years have suggested needs to come along and sort everything out. I was struck by how patronising her male opponent in the debate was about her (apparent?) stupidity, not knowing what export tariffs are. I'm a bloke and I thought I was getting whiffs of sexism coming through there.

Or maybe I'm wrong. But it's noticeable the two male siblings can't stand her while the two sisters have taken to her despite not being on the same page as her politically. And, if she is what we all seem to think she is, then it'll be an odd message for a quite progressive show to send, that women are easily led while men know what's what...

Quote from: Wayman C. McCreery on May 24, 2019, 08:15:00 PM
This is bloody good. It's doing the job that Black Mirror has never really done for me.

Has it had much publicity though? I only know about it because I drive past Anne Reid's character's house every day and googled what they were filming there. Maybe it'll become an iPlayer hit once it starts airing on HBO in a few weeks.

I keep seeing London buses with big adverts on, but maybe they're just the ones going past the front door of my office.

phantom_power

I think she was just using the accusations of sexism for her own ends ("a woman can only make one mistake before she is criticised").  I definitely think she is a populist chancer, even if she does believe some of what she says