New BBC series - Life after Life

[mum2jakie]

Just seen an advert for a new BBC series of Life after Life - based on the Kate Atkinson book. I loved the book! Starts 19th April. Can't wait!

This is my favourite book! I lent it to a friend years ago and keep meaning to buy a new copy to read it again. I'm definitely going to have to now!

Arghhh!!! I loved the book too, how exciting. It will be interesting to see if the series can do it justice.

Oh it's a few years since I read this. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out on TV, quite a complicated plot iirc.
Been a bit disappointed with other KA adaptations but I think that's because it's impossible to get all the characters' thoughts & details on the screen.

It will be interesting to see how they different time lines switching back and forth.

I adore this book, and feel very nervous about this! I will watch though.

This is one of my favourite modern books - can't quite see how they can do it justice, but will definitely give it a watch - thanks!

There is an interview with the actress (Thomasin McKenzie) playing Ursula in The Times today. It's 1 of my favourite books too.

Starts tonight -BBC2 at 9pm. Surprised it's BBC2 and not BBC1 with such a well known author.

I shall watch it although i really didn't like the book. It made no sense to me at all so I shall be interested to see whether the adaptation makes things clearer.

@Seeline

I shall watch it although i really didn't like the book. It made no sense to me at all so I shall be interested to see whether the adaptation makes things clearer.

Fingers crossed it's good. Starts at 9!

I didn't like the book.

I didn't like the book either. Love Kate Atkinson but just kept thinking 'what's the point?'

Going to give it go though.

Never read the book but loving the TV show so far

I loved the book so I was very worried about this. I had two slight quibbles. Firstly, the ages aren't right. Ursula was only 8 at the end of WWI but the actor playing her looked about 16. An 8 year old writing childish notes and pushing the maid down the stairs is very different from a teenager doing it. Secondly, to compress a longish book into four 50 minute episodes they have had to concentrate on the deaths and not enough on all the life that gives the book its flavour. I think the joy of Kate Atkinson is something very hard to translate to the screen.

Overall I think it was beautifully done, if a bit rushed. I wish the BBC had had the confidence and ambition to give 10 episodes to a book like this so the story had the room to breathe. I'm looking forward to binge-watching the rest of it.

Loved the book but not sure about the programme so far. I’ll persist though!

I think this was scene setting it had to package up her childhood into one neat episode

I enjoyed it. Hopefully it will be popular and we can also have A god in ruins

@EsmaCannonball

I loved the book so I was very worried about this. I had two slight quibbles. Firstly, the ages aren't right. Ursula was only 8 at the end of WWI but the actor playing her looked about 16. An 8 year old writing childish notes and pushing the maid down the stairs is very different from a teenager doing it. Secondly, to compress a longish book into four 50 minute episodes they have had to concentrate on the deaths and not enough on all the life that gives the book its flavour. I think the joy of Kate Atkinson is something very hard to translate to the screen.

Overall I think it was beautifully done, if a bit rushed. I wish the BBC had had the confidence and ambition to give 10 episodes to a book like this so the story had the room to breathe. I'm looking forward to binge-watching the rest of it.

I can see what you mean about the focus on the deaths. Wonder if that will change as the lives get longer?

To be honest, if they had made it into ten episodes, I don't think I would have started watching as I struggle to keep up with lengthy series!

Four episodes sounds fine to me. In fact I might have preferred it as a two hour film. I did enjoy it tonight, the casting was good, not too many famous faces. The book is one of my absolute favourites, so I'm intrigued to see how it develops.

I completely agree with this.

When I read the book, I took the main theme to be one of opportunity not death. The adaptation (and the reviews so far) seem fixated on her many deaths, rather than the opportunities that being born into your life over and over would give you, the chances to avoid the mistakes you made last time. And very little of the humour Kate Atkinson writes with was conveyed.

I might be getting it wrong though - DSis and I disagreed strongly about the ending of A God In Ruins!

I thought it was a good adaptation although it's a few years now since I read the books, so my memory is a little hazy. Ursula looked bigger and older than Pamela in the beach scenes. Looking forward to next week's episode.

I loved the book, but gave up on the TV version really quickly. Perhaps it's because I'm at a low ebb with Covid, but I quickly realised that I didn't want to watch all those deaths.
Then I had to get over the shock of Fleabag's sister being the mother.
Worst of all, it was such an unrealistic birth scene. She looked as though she was mildly incommoded, expecially as she had no anaesthetic.

I too loved the book. I also enjoyed last night’s adaptation too and looking forward to the other episodes. I liked how they portrayed the deaths and starting again.

I didn't enjoy the book and I couldn't see how they could do it well as a screen adaptation.

They didn't in my view. We hated it and turned off after about 20 minutes. We were just waiting for the next death, and the rest was dull. We we just wondering how much they were going to keep repeating.

Agree with a PP that it had none of the humour of the writing.

That's such a shame about the humour. Kate Atkinson's humour is one of the things I like most about her writing. She is so clever. I presume I can catch this on iplayer? I didn't watch last night but not expecting too much now. I agree - 4 episodes cannot possibly do it justice.

Spoilers **

I've now watched all four episodes and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the book.

Some of the casting was spot on (Hugh, Teddy, Pamela) but the younger Ursula was too old and the older Ursula was too young, and I don't understand why every incarnation of Ursula was so passive and drippy, with that awful John Lewis music baby-voice.

The whole atmosphere was too sombre and despairing, whereas the book was full of humour and verve and pace.

The Blitz and Berlin sections lacked the epic scale and drama of the book. When Ursula was having the conversation with the Berlin pharmacist I thought we were being told and not shown. In the book you really get the sense that the Red Army is at the door and Ursula doesn't need to give a speech explaining why she does what she does. (IIRC, neither does she explain to Pamela about being raped, which l felt was more about unnecessarily clarifying for the viewer that what happened was rape and rape is wrong. The book trusts that the reader understands the howling injustice of the situation. In fact, Ursula having to carry a 'secret shame' is part of the whole unfairness.)

My main moan is that too much was missed out: Izzie's secret baby who was raised in Germany; the Shawcross family and Teddy's childhood sweetheart, Nancy, who was murdered/alive depending on the timeline; Ursula befriending Eva Braun and becoming close to Hitler's inner circle; most of Ursula's rescue work, relationships and friendships during the Blitz; all the dogs. What was there was mostly beautifully done but the whole thing was stripped of flavour.