Jonathan Strange anticipation thread

[lucysnowe]

Thought I would start one as have just watched the full trailer here. Am so very exciting now!! Anyone else??

That the Gentleman thinks he's acting in others' best interests and that they'd be happy at what he instigates doesn't come over at all imo.

V tempted to buy the books but Wolf Hall & associated book-buying was a bugger.

I tink others said that they didn't especially get that impression in the books, so maybe some of us are just imagining that that's how it should be.

It'd make more sense tbh because as it seems, it's just him enjoying the power and/or being malicious. But that doesn't really ring true either I reckon. It jolts and I can't figure out why. Maybe I just don't like the actor.

dp and I both agree with you Trills we got that impression from the book as well.
Fiderer I love both Wolf Hall and JS&MrN, but they are very different, I would give it a go.

I've figured out why I fancy Childermass so much. He's just ticking all the Richard Sharpe boxes for me. And there is no man, fictional or real, let's be honest who I've harboured such a long standing devotion to than Richard Sharpe

Definitely agree about the Gentleman. There's something I don't quite like about Marc Warren's portrayal, though I suspect that is more the direction than anything else. But yes, I read him as more playful and insanely self-obsessed and self-absorbed, and utterly certain that everyone else wants to be with him and to do what he wants. MW is slightly more cold and vicious in this - which makes Stephen Black harder to understand.

Also - trying to write this without spoiling it for those who haven't read the book, so bear with me! - without the story about finding the name Stephen's mother gave him, does the whole "n-ls sl--e" thing make sense?

Igneococcus It's the damage to my bank account I worry about

You bloody lot aren't helping The more I read about the books the more intriguing they seem to be. And as I'm in ForrinLand, they're only a click away...

I saw a copy at my local Oxfam shop for under £2 fiderer but I suppose that is not an option in forrinland. I gave my mother a German version for Christmas a few years ago, she loved it, I hope some German channel buys and broadcasts it.
I have never read a Sharpe novel or watched the adaptation, maybe I should.

I've read the Sharpe books too many times. They're my ultimate go-to comfort read. Not classy or intelligent, but enormous fun.

Especially if you picture Sean Bean in his tight trousers.

Ah, thanks for that explanation re The Gentleman. For me the problem is that his scenes are just so boring, no nuance to the acting and all on the one level with that weird voice.

I know he's not helped that his scenes are so bloody long, but everyone is else is so good that he looks even crapper in comparison.

Yes I am a bit worried about Stephen too. I LOVE Ariyon Bakare's performance - it is absolutely perfect - chilly and compelling but with lots of things going on under the surface - his responsibility to England, to the Gentleman etc. But I just hope they get to bring that out a bit. The scene when he goes from seeing his mother in the mirror back into the cold corridor and then sees that Lady Pole has escaped - Bakare does so much there without saying a word.

Thurlow, [spoiler] but doesn't he remain that in the end? the prophecy doesn't mention that bit specifically. [/spoiler]

I thought that was the point of the name? He is, was, and always has been the NS, and the prophecy continually refers to the same name was well?

I've learnt my lesson about running off with poets.

Do you wish to be shot?

Then behave differently.

Well, that was a bit epic. I don't think I moved for the whole sixty minutes, even though I knew exactly what was coming.

Fantastic meeting between Strange (and his mad teeth and hair) and the Gentleman. MW was much more the Gentleman I imagined this episode. The Greysteels were a bit rushed but I suppose they had to be. Worth it for the line "Do you want to be shot? Then behave differently."

I pictured the black tower differently - to me it was just a solid tower - but who cares, that and the ravens were brilliant, and the creaking mirrors were fantastic.

Just checking in to say I absolutely love this programme not seen last nights yet but looking forward to it.

Loving Bertie's portrayal of Strange never heard of him before but he's brilliant!

I can't believe it's over next Sunday.

Loved mad cat lady but I had to look away when she gnawed that bird.

Help! DP and I very tired last night and there was loads we didn't understand!

Why was Jonathan trying to make himself mad?
Did Paul Kaye's character really think he couldn't be killed or was that a bluff? Was he the Raven King?
Why does Marc Warren want Stephen to be king anyway?
How did Stephen know to take Lady Pole to Segundas and Honeyfoot's house a couple of episodes ago?
Why did they have to get the bankrupt chap out of prison to go to Venice, couldn't they have sent anyone?

Agreed, Clive Mantle was fleeting but marvellous.

Strange is trying to make himself mad so that he can see a fairy - I can't actually remember if and where they explain that but I assume they did! There was some chat in the episode with King George about fairies having a connection with mad people. Basically, he thinks (rightly) that being mad will help him summon a fairy.

Paul Kaye - can't explain anything without giving away spoilers, that part of the story isn't finished yet

The Gentleman just thinks that Stephen is no noble and handsome and wonderful that he ought to be a king. The Gentleman is not a rational man

Segundus and Honeyfoot are running a madhouse, so it's not "their house". (When he stopped them from opening a school in that building, Childermass said he'd help them in any way he could in the future, and so when a madhouse was needed he recommended Segendus)

Drawlight - I don't think they could have sent anyone, they needed someone who understood Strange, but also Drawlight is very good at ingratiating himself and finding out gossip, as in he has no standards and will just demand people tell him things.

Thanks Thurlow. But didn't Norrell see The Gentleman a few episodes ago when he brought Lady Pole back to life? And he isn't mad.

Norrell did, but Strange didn't, and Norrell never told anyone that he had seen a fairy. Also he has all the books, so had the right spell to summon the fairy; Strange doesn't have the books, so he's making it up as he goes along.

It is the best thing on TV in at least a year or more. Can't believe it's the last episode this Sunday. I hope Susanna Clarke has a sequel somewhere ready to be published, now it's ten years since JS&MN came out. (I don't really count TLoGA.)

Bertie Carvel and Eddie Marsan deserve awards - as do all the people in script, direction and production.

That was such a great episode! Loved all those strands coming together. The creaking mirrors, Vinculus and the tree and the resignation of Stephen at the end - he really hoped that Vinculus knew how to free him.

Now I'm getting confused - who is Vinculus?

I'm confused about Stephen and the Gentleman wanting him to be the king of England.

Was there anything wrong/dangerous about Strange's book or was Norrell just being a git?

Vinculus is the mad street magician.