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United Kingdom - TV SHOWS & MOVIES

I saw a few shows of Grantchester while living in Oxford. It was fine but not a fave. I got really really fed up with The Fall and the Gillian Anderson character. Honestly wearing high heels while traipsing through a muddy crime scene. And the revealing silk blouses. And her "sexy" accent. I found I couldn't continue to watch. Just too sexist for me.
But I discovered Happy Valley. Takes place in Yorkshire with a fantastic female lead. Loved it. Hope 2nd season doesn't go downhill like Broadchurch.
I use PrimeWire and can usually get all the shows here in NA. Mmm if I work at it. Just make sure you have AdBloc. Not sure it's 100% legit(lol).
 
I stareted watching The Casual Vacancy. Such gorgeous scenery. I think I recognized different parts of the village. But the story line was so painful i had to stop.

The really weird thing is I read and enjoyed the book. But I remembered nothing! Yikes! I don't remember the book being so bleak altho I know many people at the time thought so. My memory is that it was darkly humorous about all the goings on in this village. But so far, nothing humorous in the TV series. Nothing even darkly funny about a heroin addict and her young family or a horrible father abusing his children or a lovely man dying at 40. So.....does it get better???
 
We're still catching up after being away, so have only seen 2 of the 3 episodes. And yes, it's dark, but I've also found humour there. And I've thoroughly enjoyed spotting the various bits of Painswick on show - not to mention the school, which is the same school our son went to!

But I'm also hooked by the performances - not just from actors like Michael Gambon (who's always wonderful), but from new (to me) faces like the one who plays the heroin addict's daughter: brilliant!
 
I really enjoyed the TV series, and loved the scenes in this area, but it is dark. I read the book when it came out and, just like you Lisa, completely forgot the plot. So I reread it last week after watching the series. The book has an even darker ending and many more subplots.

I like the way she shows how decisions in the community affect people in so many different ways. And how different the lives are between different groups in the same place.

As you said @jonathan, the performances are amazing. I hated Michael Gambon's character - ugh!!
 
We watched the last episode last night. And the book is even darker - golly! (Haven't read it)

We kept on wondering if they'd filmed some of the 'the Fields' scenes in Mason Road (just up the road from us here in Stroud, and definitely Stroud's own equivalent!). So it was nice to see that final shot, with the field sloping down to the estate houses - and realise that it's the view that I get of Mason Road, every time I drive back into Stroud from Cheltenham (the 'over the top' route).

I happened to be driving through Bisley on one of the days they were filming at the Old Vicarage (which, now I've seen the programme, is where Parminder & Vikram live). I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Keeley Hawes... (but only saw film crew)
 
On Facebook my friend Fiona who lives south of Bristol said they filmed The Fields somewhere there. Maybe they used several places for it. I kept the series on my Sky box and we will watch them again.

What amazes me around here is how it is frequently the nicest town locations, like that south facing slope at the top of Stroud, that has the social housing (previous council estates). It must have to do with when the growth happened in the towns and what land was available. I think of the south facing hill in Avening, the east facing hillside in Nailsworth. Even in Painswick, the old council estate is on that lovely spot on the northern edge of the village.
 
Yes, I think the shots filmed inside the estate were filmed elsewhere - it's just that external shot which is definitely Mason Rd!
 
I'm watching season 1 of Last Tango in Halifax. I love this show. The link is for season 4. I'm surprised as I can't imagine how it can go on for that long. It's very sweet and the Yorkshire countryside is splendid. When the Brits do it well they're the best!
 
I love Last Tango too. Season 3 starts in a few weeks here on PBS. I thought it would be a one-season show too, but the story just keeps unfolding. I think I liked season 2 better than 1.
 
I couldn't face watching Last Tango. It looks too sappy. But I avoided Happy Valley because of the sappy title - and when we finally watched it, I loved it!

There is another Scandi-Noir thing on now but we are recording it and have not watched it yet. Here is an article about it.

The Guardian - Jordskott: the latest Swedish import brings a mythical edge to Scandi drama
A new 10-part thriller adds a supernatural Norse element to the dark crime formula previously laid out by The Killing and The Bridge

But the best thing on TV now is the US show Silicon Valley. Season 2 just ended here. And The Affair - also a US show but with two Brits in the lead.
 
Pauline said:
I couldn't face watching Last Tango. It looks too sappy. But I avoided Happy Valley because of the sappy title - and when we finally watched it, I loved it!

There is another Scandi-Noir thing on now but we are recording it and have not watched it yet. Here is an article about it.

The Guardian - Jordskott: the latest Swedish import brings a mythical edge to Scandi drama
A new 10-part thriller adds a supernatural Norse element to the dark crime formula previously laid out by The Killing and The Bridge

But the best thing on TV now is the US show Silicon Valley. Season 2 just ended here. And The Affair - also a US show but with two Brits in the lead.
Click to expand...
Last Tango is NOT soppy. The family backdrop stories are excellent and so well acted. Of course the love story between the 2 main is romantic but difficult stuff happens. At same time not exactly film noir.
 
NEW BBC DETECTIVE SERIES!!

The Guardian - 'I've turned down every other cop show': Stellan Skarsgård on River, by Ben Arnold 7 October 2015
"The troubled detective is nothing new, but in her first police drama Abi Morgan has mixed procedural with a Plato-quoting Victorian poisoner. We go behind the scenes of her hallucinatory new TV show."

Stellan Skarsgård, the Swedish actor, stars in new BBC police drama River, written by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame, Suffragette) with Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan and many other things).

River starts on BBC1 on 13 October.
 
We watched the first episode of Doctor Foster last night (it's one of several series backed up/backing up on the HDD). I wasn't totally convinced by the plotting - but the performances are superb (Bertie Carvel is just so believable in anything he does, whether it's Jonathan Strange, Nick Clegg, or Dr F's husband), and the reviews have convinced me to stick with it until the end.

Meanwhile, backing up on the HDD, there's the above-mentioned 'River', as well as ITV's 'Unforgotten', both featuring Nicola Walker.
 
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