I just dont get english dramas - dark and boring

[sherbetpips]

So this weekend we attempted to watch The Fall and also the new Michael Palin one - Remember Me. I am sorry just dont get English Drama. why does everything have to be in the dark - are there no lightbulbs or are they using those energy saver ones? Also I don't mind a bit of scene building but for the first 30 minutes all I did was watch either the gillian anderson staring at something or the baddy staring at something. Totally mind numbingly boring. Throughout that whole episode nothing happened to move it along at all. So we switched off and tried Remember Me instead. More of the same, people standing around staring out of windows, making tea, small talk. Very little that actually added to the storyline or made any sense. I have to admit that the american drama series annoy me with there 'everyone looks like a supermodel at work everyday even when they are doing an autopsy' but at least the stories move along - anyone with me on this?

No sorry, I don't agree at all. I think that British (not necessarily English ) drama is fantastic for slowly building tension and drama. Remember Me was utterly brilliant and terrifying in a very understated way, and often it's the sheer normality of what the characters are doing most of the time that makes the drama.

I don't honestly think that American dramas do understated or subtle very well at all and, like their sports, have to be glitzy and fast paced to suit the audience's attention span. I don't mean that to be offensive, I just think that American audiences demand more action, whereas British audiences look more for substance.

i think it;s the knock on of dramas like the killing, it seems to be fashionable

midsomer murders always looks bright and gay

Sorry but I think a lot of British dramas are excellent. Just that Benedict Cumberbatch BBC ad at the moment that shows drama clips over the years hits that home for me.

I was gripped by Remember Me. Totally chilling and I have no idea what the story will turn into. I also like The Fall.

Also everyone was so gripped by BroadChurch a few years ago that it made national news and several threads on here.

I do enjoy the nothing really happening & getting to know the characters tbh, where everyone isn't good looking/well off...

I love gritty , dark dramas especially The Fall

I think OP literally means filmed in the half-dark, not "dark" as in serious! And one person's "boring" is another person's "interesting setting the scene/character development".

Never heard of Remember Me before though, is it WW1-related?

That's like the Harry Potter movies, everything dark & brown. I'd like to see an American version of it.

The Fall isn't English...
Plenty of stuff happened in Happy Valley.

I was gripped by Prey, the John Simm thing that was on a few months ago. Very fast paced but not at the expense of understanding the characters.

Broad Church was just a rip off of The Killing.

two programmes where the OP has a point. Not every single programme from the UK's massive output is the same, though.

Not everything is filmed in the dark, although it does seem to be a trend. As does mumbling actors.

(old fart mode ON)

I think mumbling reached its annoying peak with the recent adaptation of Jamaica Inn. Looked fantastic but I really struggled to understand most of what was being said.

The amount of recent gritty northern dramas are getting a little boring.. And I live in a gritty northern village! (and about 3 miles away from where they filmed Happy Valley).
Nobody ever smiles..

Oh I loved Happy Valley, thought that was quite fresh, aside from the gritty Northern-ness.

Totally agree about Remember Me. Doesn't anyone have a decent lightbulb in these houses? I found it unwatchable for that reason and also for its use of American horror film tricks of sudden screamy noises accompanying stuttery images - ruined what might otherwise have been a great drama.