Gunboat Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 I could forgive all sorts of historical inaccuracies if it was a good drama - it wasn't. Broomers maligned The Musketeers but at least it had a bit of pace to it and was entertaining. This didnt even have that quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester837 Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 Am I wrong, or did one of the army officers give something resembling a naval salute? Nigel Well I'm glad you saw it as well, thought I was seeing things. Wasn't even a naval salute, I assumed that the Lt Col in question must have transferred from the US army the way he threw that one up! Like most others, thought the programme was awful. Is it correct that the author whose book this is based on has also panned it? How does it get to be broadcast when you have a situation like that arising? Oh, no, hold on, I've been watching W1A so never mind, own question answered!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterhastie Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 Yes, i spotted what could be interpreted as a couple of Naval salutes. The term "interpretation", I think, is relative. Who can say that what happened, at every Field or General Hospital/ CCS in France, was exactly by the book. Enjoy it, or not, for all it can be. An attempt at a period drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anneca Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 The only thing good about it was the music. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripeyman Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 The only thing good about it was the music. Anne I thought the music very American and did not like it, they have in their modern epics. I suppose it is for the Americans when it is sold to them later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 40 minutes in and that's it..........dreadful! We did 38 minutes ... then click. I even watched Match of The Day 2 to dispel the rank and fetid taste from my mouth. It's the product of the twenty-first century bright young tv things, putting their own values on to the men and women of 1914 and getting it completely wrong. Just think of it as M.A.S.H but without the humour, slick script, and excellent acting. It's as pertinent to the Great War as Red Dwarf is to NASA and actual space travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 6 April , 2014 Share Posted 6 April , 2014 There seems to be two threads on this theme. Can't we do a merge Mods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 6 April , 2014 Author Share Posted 6 April , 2014 A review from 'Metro' The Crimson Field, episode one: BBC drama delivers dark reality of WWI ...and some seriously good telly to add to the BBC canon. Wonder which programme the reviewer was watching? NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 40 minutes in and that's it..........dreadful! I made twenty minutes (with a tea break in-between), but my good lady, who loves Holby City and Casualty (while I am on the GWF) was riveted, which speaks volumes I suppose. Could only be made worse by a 'walk-on-part' for Dan Snow ... Never again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 "Could only be made worse by a 'walk-on-part' for Dan Snow" Funny you should say that for in the next episode Dan appears in a cameo role as Sidney Sassoon the famous war poet. Classic drama Downton Abbey with Bedpans & Bandages Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Funny you should say that for in the next episode Dan appears in a cameo role as Sidney Sassoon the famous war poet. Reading Insensibility out-loud no doubt ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Or perhaps quoting Robert Brooke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 I thought Dan would have played Robert Brooke You beat me to it Chris Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Funny you should say that for in the next episode Dan appears in a cameo role as Sidney Sassoon the famous war poet. Classic drama Downton Abbey with Bedpans & Bandages Norman Satire, I think? I nearly took it Norman's comment at face value . I chose to watch Endeavour and record The Crimson Fields. Seems I made the right choice. One review refers to some the characters being clichés, but here I have some sympathy with the production team. It must be difficult to come up with a set of major characters who are original, and if they do they then get criticised for misrepresentation (as with the Earl of Downton, who, some feel, is impossibly benign for a peer of the early 20th century.) Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 The reviews don't seem as bad as one might have thought Click Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Satire?, can we ever forget the moving scenes in Downton where the guy was blown-up and then returned months later as a Canadian or indeed the crippled person who was suddenly able to dance like a pro off Strictly. Crimson looks like it is cast in the same classic mould and there will be many similar delights to come over the weeks, months, years, decade etc. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Looks to me like the cast was the main priority? Click Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 "Could only be made worse by a 'walk-on-part' for Dan Snow" Funny you should say that for in the next episode Dan appears in a cameo role as Sidney Sassoon the famous war poet. Norman Well that is the end of it for me then. No more viewing of that, I will just read the comments here next Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 There seemed to be only one real medical case (apart from the shell shock) and I had my doubts about that. Can gas gangrene really infect the lungs and liver? I thought it was caused by a bacterium that got into wounds. Is there a doctor in the house who can enlighten us? Martin It did seem to infer that gas gangrene was caused by gas. Gas gangrene can infect the liver but I am not sure about the lungs although I see no reason why it couldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 7 April , 2014 Admin Share Posted 7 April , 2014 I've merged 2 duplicate threads to keep the discussion in a single place. There are mixed comments on the BBC Points of View message board http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/NF1951566?thread=8450680&skip=0 My favourite being: I lasted about ten minutes last night, the acting was impressive but I was struck by the the impossible pristineness of the outfits and the implausible pulchritude of the wearers, it looked something like The Sound of Music and I half expected the company to burst into a musical number, at the drop of a (tasteful) bandage. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron da Valli Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 It's really just a costume drama that happens to be set during the First World War. To paraphrase Claude Rains , they've rounded up the usual soap suspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbo Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Re the positive reviews. It's probably good IF you are a fan of hospital dramas, so are comparing it with Call the Midwife or Holby City rather than the actual events that it purports to represent. Meanwhile I've compared it with my list of clichéd characters: Obnoxious superior Overworked but decent senior doctor Nurse chasing junior doctor Scottish junior doctor Stern but fair matron Apparently friendly but actually nasty sister Broody nurse Enthusiastic but naïve nurse By the book nurse Helpful orderly to explain things to both the characters and the audience Man with shell shock Violent Scotsman Character who will shake things up introduced at the end of first episode I assume that a chirpy Cockney, a drunken Irishman and a war poet will appear in later episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 Watched this with the Memsahib. She thought it was bad beyond words - my view was somewhat stronger and in words not suitable for posting on the GWF... Went downhill from the opening scenes - did you notice the sailing ship at the docks? Then I saw the Corporal wearing a Sam Browne........ I was afraid it would get worse and it it did - frankly appalling but I will watch next week to see just how bad it really gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 7 April , 2014 Author Share Posted 7 April , 2014 I noticed that the credits acknowledged Lyn MacDonald's The Roses of No Man's Land. I haven't read the book, but from others of hers which are factual with first hand accounts (a quick glance through Amazon's preview indicates that to be similar), I can't help wondering whether she'd appreciate having her work associated with the programme. Still, I suppose if it sells more books & gets people reading about what actually happened, it can't be a bad thing. (That's assuming people actually read the credits) NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 7 April , 2014 Share Posted 7 April , 2014 There are bound to be millions who will adore it. As Abraham Lincoln once famously remarked in a book review, 'Those who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like'. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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