The Luminaries - BBC1 - started 21 June 2020 - a NZ Poldark?

[stumbledin]

I thought this was going to be a sort of southern hemisphere Poldark.

First 10 minutes I couldn't even see what was going on!

But what with switches back and forward in time got a bit confused.

Did anyone else watch?

(I understand it isn't a faithfull adaptation of the book, so maybe those who have read the book might want a different thread, so that those of us trying to get to grips with the tv storyline?!)

[Egghead68]

Watching now. Confusing and hard to see but I’m still enjoying it weirdly.

[user5656]

I watched it. I loved the book and have been waiting for the television adaptation in the hope it would help me understand the story a bit more. It's so long since I read it though, I've forgotten most of it.
I enjoyed it, it seems to be more focused on the women's characters so far.

[Furball]

I watched it and am also confused - I too couldn't see a darn thing for the first part, and missed the bit which said '9 months earlier' and thought she was in the present but going back to a previous time, not the other way round. I ill stick with it, but not sure I 'll keep up with it if its going to be a dark screen all the time.

[TonTonMacoute]

I liked the book but not sure about this at all. I seem to have the attention span of a gnat at the moment and this did nothing to keep me glued!

Back to Walter Presents!

[Newgirls]

The two women were gorgeous to watch but it wasn’t very gripping. I think it will get better/more magical - let’s hope so

[slalomsuki]

I watched it but struggled a bit due to the dark filming. I wasn't even sure who had been killed at the start.

I've read the synopsis on Wikipedia about it today to try to understand it a bit more in advance of tonight's episode.

[jay55]

I was totally lost. I was hoping for Poldark meets Merlin. But was disappointed

[AlessandroVasectomi]

I have failing vision and many current productions appear dark to me, so I’m glad I wasn’t the only viewer struggling to see it! We watched it because we love a Sunday evening drama and we have a bit of an affinity with NZ, having toured both islands 2 years ago and having a son who is working towards settling there (😕). I sort of followed the plot but wasn’t gripped by it, so I hope I shall be more strongly drawn in by tonight’s episode. I heard barely an antipodean accent, but maybe that is because the main characters are settlers rather than native Kiwis, if I understood that much of the plot.

[crispysausagerolls]

Can we PLEASE talk about how bad Eva Green’s American accent it?!?

[lotusbell]

I'm watching it now, haven't read the book. It was on my tbr list ages ago but I never got a copy and changed my mind. Am i right in thinking the book is told from a male character's perspective?
It's very dark, quite confusing and I'm not sure I've got the attention span for it!

[crispysausagerolls]

Yes - book told from
Walter moody’s POV.

I’m very unsure as to why they have ruined the surprise ending and also made things much more convoluted than need be! It’s already complicated enough!

[pickingdaisies]

Was looking forward to it, but was left totally confused. Just watched the first ten minutes of episode 2 and decided I didn't care enough to invest any more effort. Now watching the art of Persia, absolutely gorgeous and fascinating

[lotusbell]

@crispysausagerolls, thank.you, I may skip reading the book then!

[crispysausagerolls]

@lotusbell

The book is sensational; really excellent - many more characters and much more complicated/clever. I would definitely read if you!

[Dulra]

I found episode 1 a bit slow and confusing but thought last nights episode got very interesting and I think I am invested in it now. You need to concentrate though miss a few minutes and you are lost as happened my dh. Hard to know where all the actors are meant to be from. Eve Hewson who plays Anna Wetherell is bono's daughter and I can definitely see the Irish accent slipping in but I am not sure where her character is meant to be from. Anyone know? I know she came on the boat from London but they never said if that was her birthplace

[crispysausagerolls]

@Dulra

I think she is just being Irish, which is fine tbh even if from a London. But I did think the initial scene she was being English so I don’t know! But Eva Green...come
On Eva. Why make her American? Just let her do her own accent, surely it’s the benefit of setting it elsewhere and having a mixture of accents.

[Thislittlekitten]

So glad it wasn’t just me who was confused and found it too dark.

I really struggled to see much at the beginning. I thought it was my tv!

Was so looking forward to it. I’ll watch the next episode but hope it’s better.

[StCharlotte]

Nope. Gave up after Episode 1. Too dark. Too confusing.

[Thesuzle]

Ive ripped through it on IPlayer, and at some point the husband says “were is my passport, where are my papers”. Don’t thinK NZ bothered with passports till about 1915. Someone correct me
And yes its too bloody dark, accents are useless, i was hoping for more scenery

[Furball]

What about the saying 'oy oy' when you enter a room, when those chaps entered Emery Staines room last night

[stumbledin]

I can remember saying this about some other series on another thread.

This seems to be one of the programmes where the film maker is more interested in showing off to other film makers.

This switching between times destroys most of the drama of what is happening. And none of the characters make sense, and even if by the end it somehow comes together, what is the point of wasting time on watching something that makes so sense because it has been made so clumsily because it is trying to be clever clever.

It would be dramatic enough to see a young woman who for some reason travels on her own to New Zealand but is then taken advantage of because she cannot read.

Having little snatches of this story line interrupted with what happens to her in the end just makes it almost time wasting.

If you dont want to tell stories well and in an interesting way why are you making dramas. There is no drama. Just stupid little set scences that are meant to do what?

What a waste of what I assume will now be the sunday evening slot.

[AppleYumYum]

I stuck with it and I think it got better, well I was sucked into wanting to keep watching.

It was very dark, there was more scenery in the final episode and it was beautiful.

I feel I spent a lot of it being confused as to what was present or in the past. I need to watch it again or read a good synopsis!

[Waspnest]

Yes, the time shifts were very very confusing. I tried going by Anna's dresses but that didn't really help (neither did the Wiki summary) but I did sort of enjoy it. The whole astral twins thing did my head in, is that why Emery, having shown no previous inclination towards opium suddenly became a raving addict?

[AppleYumYum]

Yes agree the astral twins part grated.

[AppleYumYum]

The actor playing Anna is Bono's daughter!