To the Ends of the Earth

[DaddyCool]

Fantastic. I love things like this. Anyone else watching this? It's strange because the main character isn't your standard hero or heartthrob... he's actually a complete idiot.

[Marina]

He does clueless prat really well, doesn't he DC! Benedict Cumberbatch is a real star in the making IMO. But I think you could argue that the crew and passengers as a whole embody aspects of heroism (Summers, Prettiman, the Captain, Miss Granham, even Benet) with Deverel the spectre of what privileged men like Edmund Talbot might become if they fail to make the most of their better start in life. I especially like Lieutenant Summers, and even Jared Harris is better than I ever thought he could be.
I love this programme too (love all of William Golding). Brilliantly scripted and filmed. Am very sad it ends tonight.

[bossykate]

love it.

[DaddyCool]

its so fantastically filmed and the characters are so strong. apparently it cost an absolute fortune to make.

the whole ordeal looks hellish. they probably mentioned this in the programme but exactly how long did it take to get to oz back then? 3 months?

[Marina]

What does Professor bk think, bk? Was interested to read that Golding's reputation is currently still in a post-demise trough of uninterest, and he is barely taught at university at present. Dh loves him and encouraged me to read beyond Lord of the Flies. The Spire was weird and this trilogy is definitely my favourite of all his writing.
DC, you can see where the money went, I think the production values rival big-screen equivalents such as Master and Commander. I am racking my brains to think of the journey time from London to Oz in the late 18th century because I used to work somewhere where this type of maritime enquiry came up quite frequently!

[bossykate]

marina, i will ask him tonight!

dh loves this sort of thing - i got him the set of hornblower dvds for christmas, the ones starring ioan gruffudd (sp?). enjoyment for both of us then!

[DaddyCool]

wow, that last episode was good last night. can't believe summers died. why the hell didn't he just jump off the bloody boat!

[Marina]

Because he was finally everything he wanted to be - captain of his own ship, I guess. Maybe he wanted to go out on a high? I found that puzzling too, and the sudden withdrawal of friendship by the Prettimans somewhat surprising too.
Still completely gripping though

[DaddyCool]

i'm going to have to read the book. there is probably a better explanation of the summers and prettiman thing in the book.

i got the impression that summers didn't even know that he had been promoted yet and that made his death even more tragic. it was only the next morning after they arrived that the fire started.

[Davros]

Loved it too. LIke having Master & Commander as a series!