Topic: War of the Worlds.. BBC TV Series

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Well the first "rip" on encountering the above, involved me saying to the missus:

"There she is, the feminine implant who's been shoe-horned into the narrative entirely for YOUR sake, because you wouldn't watch it if they hadn't "fixed" it to reflect YOUR modern sensibilities...I hope you're happy that HG Wells has been given the affirmative action treatment...? "

The missus is a "proper" strong woman you see, always has been, and hates [and can spot] tokenism within modern culture, especially when it arrives from the woke pen-strokes of people with an agenda.

We then went on to muse about what would happen if something like "Pride & Prejudice" was deliberately masculine-ised in order to draw in [and validate] a male audience. Perhaps Elizabeth Bennett could become young "Eddie Bennett" who had a penchant for steam engines and industrial innovation? The point being, why on earth would men derive anything of value from a period drama which had so obviously been fucked with..... supposedly for their sake?

I think the missus mounts a strong argument, and is well within her rights to spurn and take the piss out of the BBC's 'woke' tokenism as it pertains to her own gender. So rather than feeling empowered by the adaptation fuckery which abounds within the BBC, she simply looks at them with mocking contempt and disdain.

 So yes...an entertaining adaptation, but for reasons the BBC are likely oblivious to within a certain section of their audience. I'm sure they didn't do this adaptation to invoke piss-taking and ridicule, and I'm sure in their own minds, they feel quite progressive and expect viewers to just overlook their alterations and get with the plot....lol

Bless them!!

 

If you'd read the novel, it was narrated by an unnamed narrator. There was no 'hero' or star of the show in the novel as far as I can recall.

The only hero in it was the micro-organisms that defeated the alien menance. HG Wells wrote it to show that mankind was up it's own hoop and entirely unprepared to handle any kind of real threat to their supposed superiority.

I also think that Wells would have been delighted by the addition of the strong woman cast in the role as he was a noted feminist of his time.

He also had a female lead in 'The Days of the Comet'

[RAWK Meltdown #1]

If you'd read the novel, it was narrated by an unnamed narrator. There was no 'hero' or star of the show in the novel as far as I can recall.

The only hero in it was the micro-organisms that defeated the alien menance. HG Wells wrote it to show that mankind was up it's own hoop and entirely unprepared to handle any kind of real threat to their supposed superiority.

I also think that Wells would have been delighted by the addition of the strong woman cast in the role as he was a noted feminist of his time.

He also had a female lead in 'The Days of the Comet'

Well you take your impressions of Herbert George juxtaposed with contemporary BBC mandates and thoroughly "enjoy" then....!!

Me and the missus are totally fine with our own measured evaluations....cheers!!

 

[So… Howard Philips]

There are definitely certain male roles within cultural fiction which have become extremely ripe... "low hanging fruit" for the progressive agenda. Dr Who and James Bond being two very obvious ones, but Marvel comics and Star Wars have also been getting the "treatment" too, as many will be well aware.

It seems to be an agenda which is very uptight in nature and won't be argued with so it's probably just best to let them "have at it" in their attempts to reconstruct the fictional world in a way which makes them feel they've got the "win" they're seeking. There's only so many well established masculine 'icons' or franchises they can appropriate and eventually they'll be forced to construct original material which will either stand or fall entirely on it's own merit, without any of the props in place which [currently] guarantees them that vital bit of market share, because they're borrowing from established branding which has already developed an audience. This approach is just not sustainable and once it's been saturated and "done to death" to the extent that everything which CAN be given the woke treatment HAS been given it....well then we might just see some originality and credibility creeping back in to fiction writing and characterization in a way that truly serves the female audience rather than subjecting it to "lazy" regurgitations and over-writes of established masculine tropes.

Until this time however...it's probably best to just hunker down and expect much more of the same until the "woke" bandwagon eventually runs out of road.....

Which it WILL....

And don't get me started on women's football.

[Alan_X]

Well you take your impressions of Herbert George juxtaposed with contemporary BBC mandates and thoroughly "enjoy" then....!!

Me and the missus are totally fine with our own measured evaluations....cheers!!

 

You'd have hated 'Ann Veronica' then:

"Ann Veronica is a New Woman novel by H. G. Wells published in 1909.

Ann Veronica describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, "a young lady of nearly two-and-twenty",[1] against her middle-class father's stern patriarchal rule. The novel dramatizes the contemporary problem of the New Woman. It is set in Victorian era London and environs, except for an Alpine excursion. Ann Veronica offers vignettes of the Women's suffrage movement in Great Britain and features a chapter inspired by the 1908 attempt of suffragettes to storm Parliament."

Seems that old HG was pretty 'woke' for his time. Would your missus have had the same opinion about Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes? Bloody 'woke' feminists eh? Why couldn't they be more like Gemma Teller - a 'tough lady' but one who ultimately knows her place in a man's world.

[RAWK Meltdown #1]

And don't get me started on women's football.

Women's footy is BOSS!!..Lol

You'd have hated 'Ann Veronica' then:

"Ann Veronica is a New Woman novel by H. G. Wells published in 1909.

Ann Veronica describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, "a young lady of nearly two-and-twenty",[1] against her middle-class father's stern patriarchal rule. The novel dramatizes the contemporary problem of the New Woman. It is set in Victorian era London and environs, except for an Alpine excursion. Ann Veronica offers vignettes of the Women's suffrage movement in Great Britain and features a chapter inspired by the 1908 attempt of suffragettes to storm Parliament."

Seems that old HG was pretty 'woke' for his time. Would your missus have had the same opinion about Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes? Bloody 'woke' feminists eh? Why couldn't they be more like Gemma Teller - a 'tough lady' but one who ultimately knows her place in a man's world.

HG Well's "wokeness" wasn't really the subject of our fun poking....and the BBC usually care little for an author's pre-existing dispositions when they undertake their re-writes or adaptations. So in the case of HG Wells, I would put it to the jury that the BBC would declare:

"Well fancy that, we're doing an adaptation where we could actually argue the case of there actually being some woke pedigree within the author. Not that it matters either way TO US off course, because we'll change what we like when it comes to woke output, but all the same...it's nice to have these references by way of serendipity.."

Now you're a smart cookie Alan and I'd wager you know what we're driving at here.

Namely, that the BBC will willingly and knowingly woke-ify [made up word] ANY work or narrative which comes their way, be they long established works of antiquity or modern, zeitgeist fueled dramas.

And their doing so...is a subject of great amusement [not anger] to both the missus and myself.

As for the Gemma Teller/Emily Pankhurst comparison, the missus informs me that women are still the ones who make all the 'people.' All men provide is administration and unscrewing the difficult lids on things like pickles.

Did you ever read "The Open Conspiracy" by HG Wells by the way?

I'd love to see the BBC tackle a fictional outworking of that utopian vision, but maybe these are ideas whose time hasn't quite yet arrived?

In the meantime...Downton Abbey [with martians] will have to suffice.

 




 

[Son of Spion]

''Downton Abbey with Martians.''   

[Alan_X]

Women's footy is BOSS!!..Lol

HG Well's "wokeness" wasn't really the subject of our fun poking....and the BBC usually care little for an author's pre-existing dispositions when they undertake their re-writes or adaptations. So in the case of HG Wells, I would put it to the jury that the BBC would declare:

"Well fancy that, we're doing an adaptation where we could actually argue the case of there actually being some woke pedigree within the author. Not that it matters either way TO US off course, because we'll change what we like when it comes to woke output, but all the same...it's nice to have these references by way of serendipity.."

Now you're a smart cookie Alan and I'd wager you know what we're driving at here.

Namely, that the BBC will willingly and knowingly woke-ify [made up word] ANY work or narrative which comes their way, be they long established works of antiquity or modern, zeitgeist fueled dramas.

And their doing so...is a subject of great amusement [not anger] to both the missus and myself.

As for the Gemma Teller/Emily Pankhurst comparison, the missus informs me that women are still the ones who make all the 'people.' All men provide is administration and unscrewing the difficult lids on things like pickles.

Did you ever read "The Open Conspiracy" by HG Wells by the way?

I'd love to see the BBC tackle a fictional outworking of that utopian vision, but maybe these are ideas whose time hasn't quite yet arrived?

In the meantime...Downton Abbey [with martians] will have to suffice.

 

 

Downton Abbey with Martians.

Very good. See that’s really fucked it for me now.

Edit - no I haven’t. I’ll give it a read.

[The Gulleysucker]

Just finished watching the final episode.

It was somewhat lacking really, perhaps an opportunity missed.

Although I thought it had a really good vibe about the previous two episodes, that final one seemed far too downbeat and very chopped up, moving back and forth in time just a bit too much to retain any interest in the storyline or the fate of the characters.

I'm regrettably left feeling a bit disappointed as given the cast and budget, I'm sure it could have been so much better.

[So… Howard Philips]

Just finished watching the final episode.

It was somewhat lacking really, perhaps an opportunity missed.

Although I thought it had a really good vibe about the previous two episodes, that final one seemed far too downbeat and very chopped up, moving back and forth in time just a bit too much to retain any interest in the storyline or the fate of the characters.

I'm regrettably left feeling a bit disappointed as given the cast and budget, I'm sure it could have been so much better.

I've enjoyed the previous two but this was did jointed and slow. Agree it was an opportunity missed.

[Mutton Geoff]

it takes a special talent to take a brilliant storyline by a great writer and adapt it into such a painfully boring effort as this was, what a missed opportunity and all we end up with is a boring crock of shit.

[Dr. Beaker]

I haven't seen the last episode yet but reading this thread and then reading between the lines a bit, I'm expecting that the aliens become fully integrated and productive members of society, possibly with one of them working on the BBCNews24 Travel Show.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Was the biggest (tv) letdown of the year for me.

[Riquende]

I have no idea how they managed to foul that up so badly. First two were okay, seemed to be setting stuff up that the third one then just washed its hands of.

Crap like that is why I barely watch TV now.

Thank god for 'Baby Yoda'.

[Darren G]

I have no idea how they managed to foul that up so badly. First two were okay, seemed to be setting stuff up that the third one then just washed its hands of.

Crap like that is why I barely watch TV now.

Thank god for 'Baby Yoda'.

 I agree and  think that I can state without hyperbole that baby Yoda - not the show itself mind, just baby Yoda - is the best thing in the history of television.

[jillcwhomever]

Women's footy is BOSS!!..Lol

HG Well's "wokeness" wasn't really the subject of our fun poking....and the BBC usually care little for an author's pre-existing dispositions when they undertake their re-writes or adaptations. So in the case of HG Wells, I would put it to the jury that the BBC would declare:

"Well fancy that, we're doing an adaptation where we could actually argue the case of there actually being some woke pedigree within the author. Not that it matters either way TO US off course, because we'll change what we like when it comes to woke output, but all the same...it's nice to have these references by way of serendipity.."

Now you're a smart cookie Alan and I'd wager you know what we're driving at here.

Namely, that the BBC will willingly and knowingly woke-ify [made up word] ANY work or narrative which comes their way, be they long established works of antiquity or modern, zeitgeist fueled dramas.

And their doing so...is a subject of great amusement [not anger] to both the missus and myself.

As for the Gemma Teller/Emily Pankhurst comparison, the missus informs me that women are still the ones who make all the 'people.' All men provide is administration and unscrewing the difficult lids on things like pickles.

Did you ever read "The Open Conspiracy" by HG Wells by the way?

I'd love to see the BBC tackle a fictional outworking of that utopian vision, but maybe these are ideas whose time hasn't quite yet arrived?

In the meantime...Downton Abbey [with martians] will have to suffice.

 

Have to disagree with your comments about the BBC and the way it does the classical adaptions generally, they have done some brilliant ones in the past. Especially the Dicken's stories which are usually very good and accurate to the books themselves. As for this it was a poor ending, but they are far from the only ones to fall at the final hurdle, eg GOT.

[Riquende]

As for this it was a poor ending, but they are far from the only ones to fall at the final hurdle, eg GOT.

Slight difference in that GoT was the culmination of 8 years of storytelling with however many dozens of characters and storylines to tie up, and this was just capping off 2 previous hours with about half a dozen named characters.

But I agree with the overall point that ending a story satisfactorily isn't easy.

[Fairytale of 2005]

I haven't seen the last episode yet but reading this thread and then reading between the lines a bit, I'm expecting that the aliens become fully integrated and productive members of society, possibly with one of them working on the BBCNews24 Travel Show.

[So… Howard Philips]

I haven't seen the last episode yet but reading this thread and then reading between the lines a bit, I'm expecting that the aliens become fully integrated and productive members of society, possibly with one of them working on the BBCNews24 Travel Show.

To be fair the aliens were nasty pieces of work, eating an old lady and a young girl.

However the Journalist did have a rant blaming the alien invasion on British colonialism so that was a woke box well and truly ticked.

[Craig S]

To be fair the aliens were nasty pieces of work, eating an old lady and a young girl.

However the Journalist did have a rant blaming the alien invasion on British colonialism so that was a woke box well and truly ticked.

Not sure he would have heard of the word Woke, when he wrote the following. The colonialism angle was in the book.

And before we judge them too harshly, we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished Bison and the Dodo, but upon its own inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?

[So… Howard Philips]

Not sure he would have heard of the word Woke, when he wrote the following. The colonialism angle was in the book.

That's an interesting quote.

[RAWK Meltdown #1]

Have to disagree with your comments about the BBC and the way it does the classical adaptions generally, they have done some brilliant ones in the past. Especially the Dicken's stories which are usually very good and accurate to the books themselves. As for this it was a poor ending, but they are far from the only ones to fall at the final hurdle, eg GOT.

You'll get no argument from me there, my media library is stuffed with some excellent BBC material inc radio plays/dramas/adaptations etc. I wouldn't posit the word "generally" on such a wide ranging body of output because that would be unfair, but I would say that in more recent times, the start of which is likely debatable, the BBC have noticeably and significantly become very "preachy" in the way they mount their output, and that their dramas and adaptations etc have simply been caught up in the general thrall of that enthusiasm.

[RAWK Meltdown #1]

To be fair the aliens were nasty pieces of work, eating an old lady and a young girl.

However the Journalist did have a rant blaming the alien invasion on British colonialism so that was a woke box well and truly ticked.

I think colonialism as it pertained to the developing world back then, was very much viewed as a "colinialise or BE colonialised by others" kind of affair, and Spain, Portugal, France and Germany were also hard at it when it came to expanding the material wealth and strategic outposts of their respecting sovereignties. Merchant "adventurers" would set sail and deliver reports of other lands with fertile soil, mineral wealth etc, and eventually governmental outposts would be replaced with militias and garrisons and eventually we'd just plant a flag in the region and declare it a sovereign extension of the realm.

This is precisely what HG Well's "martians" fictitiously did to the UK. They arrived to kill and basically take over it's holdings for their own use. The UK [as was] was being given a very large dose of it's own medicine in terms of violent colonization by those with superior weapons and intellect.

But even the second world war was an example of all the European "pushing and shoving" which then abounded when it came to who gets to plant their own flag and where they get to plant it.

If history now looks back at these events as being the atrocities of nation states and The War Of The Worlds is being presented as a: "How would you like it?" scenario...meant to educate and expose the hubris involved in nation building, then I suppose that's fair enough. We live in an ever evolving world but peacefully co-existing with those we may have the might and means to overpower is relatively new concept given the bloody history of colonial expansion. Whether or not we're ready to burn all our flags and everything else which symbolizes national identity is another question, but HG Wells was definitely a proponent of a "One World" government and saw the dismantling of nation states [as we know them] as the only solution to the problem of conflict and warfare.

Ironically, it's the very notion of some kind of "New World Order" which meets a tremendous amount of resistance and suspicion within the modern minds of many who remain unconvinced that the desire for this is rooted in "noble" aspiration. There are many who see this as being nought but an opportunity for the ultimate form of tyranny from which there will be no escape, should it ever come to pass.

We live in interesting times...     

[jillcwhomever]

You'll get no argument from me there, my media library is stuffed with some excellent BBC material inc radio plays/dramas/adaptations etc. I wouldn't posit the word "generally" on such a wide ranging body of output because that would be unfair, but I would say that in more recent times, the start of which is likely debatable, the BBC have noticeably and significantly become very "preachy" in the way they mount their output, and that their dramas and adaptations etc have simply been caught up in the general thrall of that enthusiasm.

You are making an interesting point. I wonder more, if its the fact that now they are having to take on the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime so it means they are marketing programmes that have more of a "wider" appeal overall. It's not easy for the TV companies now with so much choice over how you watch TV. I think now if anything there is too much choice I mean Apple have started doing shows now and its like when does too much become too much? I'm watching His Dark Materials which the BBC are making with HBO and wonder if there will be more of these types of co-productions now rather than just the BBC or ITV. It maybe the best way for the TV companies to compete now, though you wonder if something could go missing with this type of production. I just miss the family shows they used to do on Saturday nights now, eg Merlin, but they were great all round programmes that every part of the family got something out of. I guess its the way television is going now. I not sure if its a good thing or not.

[Alan_X]

You'll get no argument from me there, my media library is stuffed with some excellent BBC material inc radio plays/dramas/adaptations etc. I wouldn't posit the word "generally" on such a wide ranging body of output because that would be unfair, but I would say that in more recent times, the start of which is likely debatable, the BBC have noticeably and significantly become very "preachy" in the way they mount their output, and that their dramas and adaptations etc have simply been caught up in the general thrall of that enthusiasm.

BBC Drama has always had a 'preachy' strand running through its drama output. Cathy Come Home, The War Game, Threads, Doomwatch, Survivors, Our Friends in the North, Boys from the Blackstuff, Scum, Edge of Darkness, This is England and so on...  I remember watching 'preachy' plays like The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on the BBC when I was growing up.

[RedSince86]

You'll get no argument from me there, my media library is stuffed with some excellent BBC material inc radio plays/dramas/adaptations etc. I wouldn't posit the word "generally" on such a wide ranging body of output because that would be unfair, but I would say that in more recent times, the start of which is likely debatable, the BBC have noticeably and significantly become very "preachy" in the way they mount their output, and that their dramas and adaptations etc have simply been caught up in the general thrall of that enthusiasm.

Speaking of BBC.

Radio 4 has a dramatisation on the novel Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman , the first part was on saturday, i think its just over a couple of hours long.

Kenneth Branagh is in it.

[Dr. Beaker]

BBC Drama has always had a 'preachy' strand running through its drama output. Cathy Come Home, The War Game, Threads, Doomwatch, Survivors, Our Friends in the North, Boys from the Blackstuff, Scum, Edge of Darkness, This is England and so on...  I remember watching 'preachy' plays like The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on the BBC when I was growing up.

Not forgetting Edna the Inebriate Woman.

[So… Howard Philips]

BBC Drama has always had a 'preachy' strand running through its drama output. Cathy Come Home, The War Game, Threads, Doomwatch, Survivors, Our Friends in the North, Boys from the Blackstuff, Scum, Edge of Darkness, This is England and so on...  I remember watching 'preachy' plays like The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on the BBC when I was growing up.

I thought the post invasion scenes in WoW was very reminiscent of the nuclear winter scene in Threads.

[Port_vale_lad]

Absolute crap that made tom cruises shitefest seem oscar worthy
What's with the currant obsession with flashbacks/ flashforwards as well ? Everything I watch at the moment has got these in and it's starting  to get on  my tits
How can you feel anything for the main characters when you know they survive cos of the constant flashforwards
As someone said earlier in the thread biggest tv meltdown of the year

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Bit of a damp squib in the end, I kind of hoped for more.

If they'd spent a little less time gazing hopelessly into the distance and more time speaking and doing things, it probably would have been a bit more interesting.

Even that bit at the end with the sky clearing..

I mean..... Hmm..

[Dr. Beaker]

Watched the final episode last night thinking that it was just about rescuable, in an Istanbul kind of way. But instead of the mighty Liverpool, conquerors of Europe, Pickford and ten Sandy Browns turned up. That last episode, well the whole thing really, was thin gruel indeed. No pace, no momentum, and no crescendo moment. Three quarters of the last episode seemed to be spent on close ups of a whimpering face. This was pure tedium from the word go.

Now surely destined for daytime TV on the Horror Channel sandwiched between Blobquake and 3 Arsed Megaskunk v. DinoKoala.

[The Gulleysucker]

I unfortunately couldn't stop thinking that Amy as portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson was going to shout out towards the end "Ross...".

It was compounded by that child actor Woody Norman having also been with her in Poldark too as Valentine Warleggan.

[RAWK Meltdown #1]

BBC Drama has always had a 'preachy' strand running through its drama output. Cathy Come Home, The War Game, Threads, Doomwatch, Survivors, Our Friends in the North, Boys from the Blackstuff, Scum, Edge of Darkness, This is England and so on...  I remember watching 'preachy' plays like The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui on the BBC when I was growing up.

Then I'm forced to conclude that the "preachy-ness" appears to have lost much of it's subtlety. There is also material in your examples which was more social comment than anything else. That's the phrase we used to use whenever we were exposed to worlds and lifestyles that were decidedly "rugged" in nature but were all the more compelling and enlightening for their basis in truth.

Not forgetting Edna the Inebriate Woman.

"Pishtn Broke.." as the man from the AA declared at the roadside!!

[Stevie-A]

Felt like a missed opprtunity. A wonderful book, one fantastic/one OK film adaptation, now a rather tedious miniseries. Felt too rushed, or more interestingly that they had no idea how to end the series. A key issue for me was the abolsute lack of charisma of the leads. You want to root for these people, against overwhelming odds. I felt the two leads were just dull. Average SFX as well. Was the budget curtailed, I wonder?

[Spongebob Redpants]

A key issue for me was the abolsute lack of charisma of the leads. You want to root for these people, against overwhelming odds. I felt the two leads were just dull.

I cheered inside when George approached his impending death - pity it wasn't both of them .

I would have thought it difficult to make such an interesting story a complete borefest , but they suceeded by jove !

[Son of Spion]

...anything will do. killed it for me when he said it was just Downton Abbey with Martians. 


It definitely was a missed opportunity though.

[jillcwhomever]

I unfortunately couldn't stop thinking that Amy as portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson was going to shout out towards the end "Ross...".

It was compounded by that child actor Woody Norman having also been with her in Poldark too as Valentine Warleggan.

I don't half miss Poldark. 

[Red Beret]

Sounds like The Tripods was better.