In the last 3 weeks, I’ve not only completely fell in love with BBC’s Merlin on CBS, but can’t get enough of Being Human, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Desperate Romantics.
How is this possible? Simple. For me, BBC simply has better tv. And two of them deal strictly within a historical/literary background.* This is where BBC always gets it right. They’re the masters of fantasy-drama or just the historical-drama.
Yes, Merlin is more modern retelling of the French/British classic and yet the storytellers of Merlin are able to mix a great amount of historical fantasy and plot, in a new and interesting way, with more modern relationships. Need I not remind everyone of the failure that was Crusoe on NBC? Such is an example of how the American tv medium gets it wrong consistently, especially with something that’s not a crime drama.
The point of this isn’t that American television is bad, but that British television gets it right. And when they get it right, they get it so right. Turn to Desperate Romantics. (more…)
FANCY THIS! packed clouds away 