Hostages BBC 4

[DracoM]

Well, crikey
...........but honestly..........not a worthy successor to Spiral or much else, even Montalbano.
IMO, of course.

[vinteuil]

... we gave up part way though the second episode; Cornelian choices are all very well, but this time it didn't engage us. Clunky.

I also felt they were overloading the back story of the family - every one with a shady secret - pregnancy, bankruptcy, computer hacking : to make us feel involved with them, I s'pose, - but it felt artificial and over-done.

[jean]

... Cornelian choices...

Thanks for that - I had never heard of such a thing.

Before I looked it up I was trying to make it something to do with Scipio Africanus.

[Dave2002]

At least it's only 40 minutes per episode. I'm not sure why I wasn't enjoying it much - maybe the "acting" is rubbish, or perhaps it's because I really do have no idea what they are talking about without looking at the subtitles. Perhaps the scenarios are too unfamiliar - though the same could apply to other series. Maybe it was too slow, and without any interesting changes of scene or interesting twists of behaviour - as in Spiral - Engrenages. The focus at present is mainly on the surgeon - maybe there needs to be more variation. We'll probably watch it again - though I agree it was quite hard going.

[Nick Armstrong]

Unlike others, I found this new series intriguing - some (not all) engaging characters and performances, an interesting narrative premise... Perhaps because I've spent time in Jerusalem, I was drawn to the setting and the language (though not a syllable do I understand). I'm hooked.

[Nick Armstrong]

Well I think you lot were harsh about this series, which concluded last night. It held me pretty gripped, and it managed to pull a surprising if complicated dénouement out of the bag.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

ta Cal i will watch my recordings now!

[mangerton]

Well I think you lot were harsh about this series, which concluded last night. It held me pretty gripped, and it managed to pull a surprising if complicated dénouement out of the bag.

I watched it too, and was gripped, although I had to suspend disbelief and shout at them a few times.

Must confess, though, that I'm not altogether clear about all that happened at the end. I would agree "complicated"!

edit: Shouting didn't aid my comprehension.

[Dave2002]

Somethings were very complicated, and actually made less sense by the end - arguably. I think the point is that Adam's wife was the daughter of the Prime Minister by a rape which occurred many years earlier, and was in need of a bone marrow transplant. Quite how getting him into the convent (that's what it appeared to be) was going to help that was not, of course, clear.

Adam was not, directly responsible for killing anyone, IIRC, but the mad nutter he engaged as his "soldier" seemed to smash up anyone he didn't like, and kill a few. Quite where his girl friend who killed him in the end came in seemed a bit random too. I think there really were other people out to kill the PM, presumably for different motives.

Overall very bizarre, but gripping nevertheless.

[DracoM]

I kept barking my shins on amazing coincidences and outcomes.