[TV] The Serpent BBC 1

Lenny Rider · Jan 4, 2021

Anyone else watching this?

Have caught the first two episodes, quality drama and very graphic in its depiction, my only observation, not a criticism, is there are an awful lot of flashbacks, so best not watch it when you've had a drink or you're tired.

Bry Nylon · Jan 4, 2021

Lenny Rider said:
Anyone else watching this?

Have caught the first two episodes, quality drama and very graphic in its depiction, my only observation, not a criticism, is there are an awful lot of flashbacks, so best not watch it when you've had a drink or you're tired.

I thought that about an episode of Silent Witness I'd recorded once, before I realised I was watching it on rewind.

FindonFan · Jan 4, 2021

Lenny Rider said:
Anyone else watching this?

Have caught the first two episodes, quality drama and very graphic in its depiction, my only observation, not a criticism, is there are an awful lot of flashbacks, so best not watch it when you've had a drink or you're tired.

Agree with you about the flashbacks, very confusing. Not really quality drama in my opinion, but I do like the use of original newsreel and home movies that help set the scenes from the 70s.

fleet · Jan 4, 2021

I’m going for a restart after not giving much attention to the first episode and getting confused with the flashbacks.

Peteinblack · Jan 4, 2021

Having finished 'Shaggerton' yesterday (imagine the Bronte's with copious bonking

), this is next on our list, along with Spiral.

dejavuatbtn · Jan 4, 2021

It’s put me of going to Bangkok and glad 5hat my kids and I have never been there.
As far as &lash backs are concerned, how the hell you can keep up with where you are when they go forward and backwards in random numbers of months I will never know.
How many more weeks of this have we got being confused?

FloatLeft · Jan 4, 2021

I’m on episode 6 and I’d have to say it’s some of the best television I’ve seen for a long time.

Must have cost a pretty penny to make.

durrington gull · Jan 4, 2021

Lenny Rider said:
Anyone else watching this?

Have caught the first two episodes, quality drama and very graphic in its depiction, my only observation, not a criticism, is there are an awful lot of flashbacks, so best not watch it when you've had a drink or you're tired.

I've got the last 2 episodes to watch - really enjoying it but agree the jumping back and forwards can be confusing!

marlowe · Jan 4, 2021

dejavuatbtn said:
It’s put me of going to Bangkok and glad 5hat my kids and I have never been there.
As far as &lash backs are concerned, how the hell you can keep up with where you are when they go forward and backwards in random numbers of months I will never know.
How many more weeks of this have we got being confused?

In these times of social media, instant messaging, camera phones etc it's not something someone could get away with so easily nowdays. The traveller kids then were much more cut off from their families then, whereas today you can be in daily immediate contact.

Also passports aren't so easily to fake now as they obviously were then so that aspect wouldn't provide so much of a motive either.

Obviously there are still dangers today as there are regarding travel to any destination but the circumstances Sobhraj was operatiing in were far different and he would not have been able to operate so freely now as he did then.

Gwylan · Jan 4, 2021

marlowe said:
In these times of social media, instant messaging, camera phones etc it's not something someone could get away with so easily nowdays. The traveller kids then were much more cut off from their families then, whereas today you can be in daily immediate contact.

Quite. My dad died 30 years ago while my sister was travelling in Thailand, it took us two weeks to tell her (and she only found out because I didn't send the money she'd asked for and rang me to find out what was happening). It was not uncommon to go for months without contact, hard to imagine these days.

Lenny Rider · Jan 4, 2021

Peteinblack said:
Having finished 'Shaggerton' yesterday (imagine the Bronte's with copious bonking ), this is next on our list, along with Spiral.

It certainly wasn't family viewing that aside I thought Phoebe Dynevor who played the lead (her Mums in Corrie) was superb, I think she's going to be the next Kate Winslet or Keira Knightley.

Lower West Stander · Jan 4, 2021

FloatLeft said:
I’m on episode 6 and I’d have to say it’s some of the best television I’ve seen for a long time.

Must have cost a pretty penny to make.

Agree.

2 more episodes to go as well. Who'd have thought Tim Mcinnerny would be so good?

marlowe · Jan 4, 2021

I couldn't help notice there were certain parallels with Manson (also called Charles) and his manipulation of young hippy kids and creating a commune of loyal followers who he could control.

Manson's actions had been thrust into the public consciousness only five years earlier so I wonder if Sobhraj took that as a template for his own actions.

Gwylan · Jan 4, 2021

Lower West Stander said:
Who'd have thought Tim Mcinnerny would be so good?

I did. It was the main reason I watched it - he's a fine, really under-rated, actor. He's one of those people who never play the lead but always do superb work (see also Richard McCabe and the late and lamented Michael Bryant). I thought of him as a light actor but then I saw his Iago and he was a revelation.

marlowe · Jan 5, 2021

I like it when I discover new music via film and television drama. Tonight it was this little number at the end of episode 5 by an artist I'd never heard of before, the late Karen Dalton, a contemporary of Bob Dylan and part of the Greenwich Village 1960s folk scene and a bit of a complex and troubled figure by all accounts. I think this song is beautiful...

https://youtu.be/CsYHN7eCCtU

The Clamp · Jan 5, 2021

Enjoyed this. The flashbacks are a bit jarring at first but after a awhile you know where/when they are without relying on the father annoying departure board device in the corner. It was slightly repetitive in parts but these are small gripes. It was very well done. And as someone said, must have cost a pretty penny to produce.
Great cast as well.

withdeanwombat · Jan 6, 2021

dejavuatbtn said:
It’s put me of going to Bangkok and glad 5hat my kids and I have never been there.
As far as &lash backs are concerned, how the hell you can keep up with where you are when they go forward and backwards in random numbers of months I will never know.
How many more weeks of this have we got being confused?

Depends.

Are you three months forward or four months back?

Surf's Up · Jan 6, 2021

marlowe said:
I like it when I discover new music via film and television drama. Tonight it was this little number at the end of episode 5 by an artist I'd never heard of before, the late Karen Dalton, a contemporary of Bob Dylan and part of the Greenwich Village 1960s folk scene and a bit of a complex and troubled figure by all accounts. I think this song is beautiful...

https://youtu.be/CsYHN7eCCtU

You're right Karen Dalton was a very troubled person with a penchant for copious amounts of booze and heroin but she had a unique and haunting vocal style - she was never really appreciated in her lifetime but has gained some posthumous recognition. I've also watched 6 episodes, so 2 to go, and once you get into the swing of it the flashbacks aren't a problem. This is a really good "docudrama" made all the more powerful because as I understand it the basic story remains pretty faithful to what really happened. Charles Sobhraj was an intelligent, manipulative, charismatic, cold blooded serial killer with a massive chip on his shoulder....what could possibly go wrong

Return of the Rev · Jan 6, 2021

Lenny Rider said:
It certainly wasn't family viewing that aside I thought Phoebe Dynevor who played the lead (her Mums in Corrie) was superb, I think she's going to be the next Kate Winslet or Keira Knightley.

Needs to get her nose sorted(too small) Watched all the episodes very good :clap2:

Official Old Man · Jan 6, 2021

Lenny Rider said:
Anyone else watching this?

Have caught the first two episodes, quality drama and very graphic in its depiction, my only observation, not a criticism, is there are an awful lot of flashbacks, so best not watch it when you've had a drink or you're tired.

Exactly this. Watch it early evening before the bottle of wine kicks in otherwise you'll never follow it.

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[TV] The Serpent BBC 1

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