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Reviews
Stag (2016)
Unbelievable
We watched this 3-part series yesterday on BBC Canada and found it incredibly putrid compared with the great TV that we normally associate with the UK. In addition to what earlier reviewers have said about the inconsistencies, (spoiler alert) what was Cosmo's motivation in turning on the gas jets in the crofter's home if he wasn't the killer? Why didn't the crofter alert the authorities when he found the body hanging upside down in his home - and why did the killer put it there in the first place? And how was it this band of yobs could wander around the highlands for so long without encountering anyone else? Incredible.
Only gave it a 3 (rather than a 1) because the acting wasn't half bad given the ridiculous plot.
Any Human Heart (2010)
It could have been so much better
After seeing the three episodes on PBS Masterpiece Theatre , I really wonder if lots of material was simply left out. I understand the premise of the novel but what appeared on TV was so herky-jerky that it left me wondering why not a couple of more hours of Mountstuart's eventful life to put things in context. For example, in the book (haven't read it though I shall) he apparently has an affair with his late son's friend Monday until it is revealed to him she is a minor - at which point he has to leave his successful New York career for eventual penury in London. But on TV, there's one shot of Monday holding his hand - and then he's gone from riches-to-rags with no satisfactory explanation. Also, his involvement with the radical leftists in London-Germany-Switzerland was so unbelievable portrayed that there must be much more coherent detail in the book - or on the editing room floor. I thought the cast was first-rate and - having been born in WW2 England myself - the story seemed very authentic. But all-in-all, I'm disappointed. It could and should have been much better.