The Shadow in the North (formerly Ruby in the Smoke)

[Stephen Morgan]

I thought we'd have had a thread for this, did no one watch it?

I thought it was very good, a very moody period piece, lots of intrigue and murder, mystery and a bit of suspense.
Billie Piper was very good as the heroine, she played her part with a kind of moody understatement perfectly in keeping with the mood of the piece. Julie Walters was good too, one of the best roles I've seen her, nice to see her in a part like this with no comedy element, she was as brutal a villainess as they come.
I'll be looking forward to a series of this, should be very good.

[Andrew Curnow]

Morning Steve!

I watched it, admittedly mainly to see how Billie did. I thought she was very good, in that she was very different in a different part to how she was in Who. The story itself, and even some of the production values, seemed to be all over the place I felt - I'm pretty sure the books are generally well-regarded, so maybe the book had to be heavily trimmed to fit the slot? There were some big revelations in the story (the cracking of the code by Julie Walters, who was fab; the truth over Sally's parentage) which were over in a flash with no sense of drama at all. I even felt that the first scene between photographer chappie and Sally was lamely directed - he directs her towards some trees we can't see, while they discuss some beautifully-coloured scenery that we also can't see. And I'm still not sure - did the chap off the boat who ended up with his throat cut go to Mrs Holland deliberately, or was it all just a hugely massive coincidence?

It was watchable in a Christmassy sort of way, but I have to admit I only stuck with it for Billie and Julie Walters (and even the latter's death scene felt a bit forced).

HST, by coincidence Zel got the other three books in the series for Christmas, so I am at least tempted enough to read the second one and see whether the novels are more involving.

[Captain Tancredi]

Parts of it were good.

The same parts were also good in 'The Sign of Four' and 'The Moonstone'.

[Dave Tudor]

Not having read any Philip Pullman before, I watched this last night, and thought it was quite enjoyable. Fast-paced (if a little too rushed at times), dark and full of gloriously seedy Victorian detail, this made an engaging little tale for Christmas.

Our Billie was excellent, proving (as if proof were needed) that there are more strings to her bow than just Rose Tyler, while Julie Walters was a brilliant as you'd expect her to be.

I see that there is another Sally Lockhart drama planned ('The Shadow In The North' I think?) so I shall look forward to that.

[Milky Tears]

Is this thread worth another shot? Did anyone else watch The Shadow in the North?

Was Dave looking forward to it all year?

[Andrew Curnow]

Lovely as Billie is, I have to admit I didn't want to get to the end and feel I'd wasted another 90 minutes of my life. So I didn't watch it (actually, that's not 100% true, I did catch the very, very final scene by the river). Sorry Ms Piper!

[Stephen Morgan]

Am I the only one who likes these, I enjoyed last nights episode. I thought it was very well executed, and again, a very moody period setting. Viv thought Piper very wooden though. I'm in the process of putting both episodes onto disc anyway for my future enjoyment.

[Dirk Gently]

Am I the only one who likes these

Probably. I actually had my parents round here last night & therefore didn't see a lot of TV. So in short, I've not seen either of these & really can't comment on it.



What a waste of a post!

[Captain Tancredi]

It probably says something that I was able to follow the plot while doing other little bits of odd jobs, pottering around the flat and so on. A bit galling, then, to be told in work this morning how good the Big Fat Quiz of the Year had been.

[Larry]

I never saw Ruby in the Smoke, but I did watch The Shadow in the North and I don't know if it was just me or that I was not in the right mood but it never really grabbed me and I found it for the most quite boring.

[Dave Tudor]

Was Dave looking forward to it all year?

I was looking forward to it so much...

... I taped it, and will have a look when I get a chance.