(no subject)

[llywela]

The first instalment of ITV's new drama, Marchlands, was all kinds of intriguing last night. The show tells the story of three different families living in the same house in three different time periods: in the 1960s a young couple mourn the loss of their beloved daughter, who drowned in mysterious circumstances; in the 1980s another couple worry about their little girl's imaginary friend (which appears to be the ghost of that other child); and in 2010 a young couple have just moved into the (haunted) house and are preparing for the birth of their first child.

The first episode was very well done, extremely atmospheric. I really liked the little visual devices used to mark the wonderfully fluid transitions from one time zone to the next, as the story hopped back and forth between the different families - especially since they didn't go down the usual route of using different colour palettes in the cinematography to mark those changes. Usually when a show involves different time periods, they will use something like sepia tinting or desaturated colours to indicate that we are in the past, but Marchlands didn't do that, instead used the same colour palette for all three time zones. The reason being, of course, that for each of those family groups, the time they are living in is the present. Yet it was always clear exactly when we were at any given time, even in exterior shots of the house, with subtle differences marking the changes to it over the years.

Having had my appetite for spooky ghost stories whetted by six seasons of Supernatural, I found myself enormously intrigued by the mystery behind little Alice's death and how her spirit appears to linger in the house, linking the three different families. I'm looking forward to seeing how the story develops from here!

Comments

[birggitt.livejournal.com]

Oh... this looks really, really attractive... *thinks*
I know I shouldn't, but I think I'm gonna be hunting this show :P

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It's well worth watching. I'm hoping next week's episode is as strong as the first.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I watched it because all the women at work were too scared to watch and needed me to vet it (dear me). It was okay. At least the 60's and the 80's were. The actors playing the couple in the present though were awful.

[(Anonymous)]

I very much enjoyed it as well and like you I loved the way they blended the timezones so neatly. Can't wait for next week!

Carol

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it - I think, though, that I was paying more attention to the story than to the acting, so any weaknesses on that score didn't bother me. Although Alex Kingston's accent was a bit distracting. I loved how cleverly the separate stories were woven together - the direction was fab.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

The direction was brilliant, no? I loved the cleverness of the writing and the evocative atmosphere.

[(Anonymous)]

You seem to have much better television than we do here.


Humbird.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about US television beyond the major shows, but I think we tend to have more one-off shows and mini series than you do - probably because your networks tend to be tied into long-running shows of 20+ episodes per season, not leaving much time for other stuff. Over here, we have several shorter seasons per year and even shows with long seasons don't get more than 12-13 episodes, leaving more time available in the schedule for other shows, which allows for slightly more creativity. If not anything comparable in terms of budget!