JAMaica INN

[Honoured Guest]

I Claudius was utter tosh, just like Jamaica Inn. Tosh has its deserved place in a popular service, but it's silly to pretend it has any higher merit.

(I anticipate the replies - "I never said I Claudius had any merit, etc. etc.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Jamaica Inn isn't tosh, but there were shortcomings with this production.

[mercia]

in what way(s) was/is I Claudius 'utter tosh' ?

do you mean the novels, the TV adaptation ........ or what ?

[Honoured Guest]

Jamaica Inn and I Claudius are both populist and sensationalist entertainments.

[mercia]

still not sure whether you are referring to the original novels or not - I don't see what's sensationalist about I Claudius (seeing as it's based on historical fact), though I'm sure part of the reason Graves wrote it was to entertain

are we calling all fiction populist sensationalist entertainment - Hamlet, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights ?

[gurnemanz]

Jamaica Inn and I Claudius are both populist and sensationalist entertainments.

Rarely have I read greater garbage than that statement. Jamaica Inn did have shortcomings - as Alpie says - and stupid sound problems but it was a bold and interesting attempt to do something a bit different. I did have tears in my eyes at the end and am not generally the type of person who succumbs to "populist and sensationalist entertainments".

[LeMartinPecheur]

I enjoyed trying to work out where it was filmed. Was highly suspicious of a brick-built inn on Bodmin Moor, but apparently that structure was in Yorkshire. And an inn with no trace of any highway past its door - a contradiction in terms surely?

Some of the moor-scenes were definitely Bodmin but Altarnun church (exterior anyway) and vicarage was St Germans/ Port Eliot, a helluva long walk or even ride from Bolventor!

[David-G]

Jamaica Inn and I Claudius are both populist and sensationalist entertainments.

Populist - "appealing to the interests or prejudices of ordinary people". So anything that appeals to ordinary people is tosh?

[Sir Velo]

I think our HG is hoist with his own petard here!

On another thread s/he bangs on about how R3 is to be congratulated for bringing classical music to the masses with tweets and phone- ins but I Claudius and Jamaica Inn are both "utter tosh" for making classical literature populist.

You can't have it both ways dear!

[James Wonnacott]

I don't normally watch television (haven't got one) but seeing this thread and as the real Jamaica Inn is just down the road from me I had a look on iplayer during my lunch break. With the volume on full in a silent office I couldn't make out a word the uncle was saying. What I did manage to understand of the other actors was in BBC Cornish- a strange dialect, nothing like that spoken in this part of Cornwall.
However, on the plus side, they did get the pronunciation of Launceston just about right.

[Thropplenoggin]

I think our HG is hoist with his own petard here!

On another thread s/he bangs on about how R3 is to be congratulated for bringing classical music to the masses with tweets and phone- ins but I Claudius and Jamaica Inn are both "utter tosh" for making classical literature populist.

You can't have it both ways dear!

S/he's now a Dishonoured Guest.

[Ferretfancy]

My original reference to I Claudius was made in order to illustrate the cavalier way in which a retired BBC producer with a long career in television was treated with indifference by the BBC. I was not commenting on the quality of the original series, which incidentally pioneered many new techniques which have now become commonplace.

[Flosshilde]

Nevertheless it was high quality, with a superb cast & very witty script (which used a contemporary idiom & references, just as Graves did), and clever use of very limited sets. It stood up extremely well on its recent repeat, knocking acting, script & Rome-on-steroids CGI stuff in 'Rome' for six.

[David-G]

Well, I have now seen all three episodes of JI. I have not read the book. There was an interesting and unusual plot, some first-rate acting, some haunting visual images. The much-commented problems with the sound did not significantly spoil my appreciation. Some of the scenes were very long, with not much happening, for example our heroine following her wicked uncle across the foggy moor; I enjoyed that. There were some powerful scenes and some shocking ones. But overall, I did not find the whole thing gelling as a drama. Despite the tense situations, there was somehow a lack of tension. The drama did not grip. I suspect that the long drawn-out scenes perhaps required joining material to be omitted if the whole was to be contained in three hours, upsetting what I imagine would have been the forward momentum of the novel. I guessed the "twist" in the plot before it was revealed. The ending seemed formulaic, even ridiculous. I should be disappointed in Daphne du Maurier if this representation conveyed the essence of her novel. I am disappointed that the very fine aspects of the series did not add up to a better whole.

[mercia]

more novel dramatisations coming up .......... sometime

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/bbc-one-20th-cent-lit