[JTM45]

Anyone else see the first episode of this new show ?
It's set in Victorian England and is a kinda' Gothic style Horror fantasy featuring Vampire's, Dr.Frankenstein and his 'monster', Dorian Grey and much, much more!
Just as a side note, the show was executive produced by John Logan and......... Sam Mendes of all people!
There's a great cast as well. Here's just a few of the people who are in it;
Eva Green is the main female character in the show who's a strong, take no sh*t , heroine type.
Josh Hartnett is an American 'hired gun' type of character.
Timothy Dalton plays Sir Malcolm who's a hardened African Explorer come investigator type.
Billie Piper plays an Irish immigrant who's come to London to escape her 'dark past'.
Rory Kinnear plays Frankenstein's Monster!!!!
..........and the list goes on.

I think it actually airs officially on the 11th of May but apparently it can be viewed online in the US on Showtime's Youtube Channel and on Showtime on Demand, Hulu and many other sites.
I'm in the UK so i downloaded it as it's very readily available online and i'm pretty sure you could also use something like Hotspot Shield if you're in the UK to change your ISP to an American one and then watch it somewhere like IGN.

I actually just tried switching on Hotspot Shield and it does indeed enable you to watch the full first episode (totally commercial free!) on IGN from the UK that way. Apparently you can use the Hola extension in your browser to watch it from the UK too.
Here's a link;
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/04/2...l-premiere-now

While it bordered on being a touch on the cheesy side at times i found it very entertaining all the same and will definitely watch a few more episodes before making a definitive judgement.
Overall i couldn't help thinking that it had a distinct feel of that 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' movie but i thought it wasfar better!
It's got a warning for 'Graphic Violence', 'Nudity' and 'Adult Themes' before the show just in case you were thinking of watching it with the kids!
The production values were excellent as were the creatures and the special effects were very nicely done too.

I'd definitely recommend giving at least the first episode a try if you're into this kind of thing. Anything but 'Dreadful' i thought.

[GypsyGoth]

Been waiting for this to begin. Will down it and watch it tomorrow.

[JTM45]

I think it'll probably be right up your ally!
It was much better than i was expecting it to be from the very short write-up i'd read a few weeks back.
I think there's either 8 or 10 episodes in the series.

You're in the UK right ?
Do you have Dropbox ? If you have any trouble getting hold of the episode i could send it to you through Dropbox (i think anyway ? Only ever used it to send pdf's before).

[james130]

I've been waiting for this too!
Had no idea it was starting so soon.

Billie.

[GypsyGoth]

Thanks JTM but I found a torrent for it no prob.

And wow! The show is like a horror version of sherlock holmes, I love the characters.

I was very impressed, and the cast is great.

[Jords]

Been looking forward to this; shall give it a watch sometime this week!

[JTM45]

The second episode of this show was on earlier tonight.
I've got hold of it but haven't watched it yet. Should be a good measure of whether it's gonna' be any good going forward or not.

[JTM45]

Just watched the second episode and i enjoyed it even more than the first!
Billy Piper's Irish accent was well dodgy but Eva Green was absolutely amazing!!! Definitely a bit wilder than the first episode. Loved it!

[GypsyGoth]

will watch it tomorrow.

[Marsh.]

What exactly is this about?

[JTM45]

Originally Posted by 08marsh

What exactly is this about?

Apparently 'Penny Dreadfuls' (also known as 'Bloods') were inexpensive, serialized violent crime novels popularized in mid to late Victorian era England which were usually released in 8-page regular installments. They were known for their highly sensational horror/gore/slasher type themes and also featured fictional mythical beings such as Vampires, Werewolves and Ghouls and that kind of thing.
That sort of describes the whole feel of the show and the origin of the title but the show has a lot more to it besides these themes.

The main characters are (possibly retired ?) Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, played by Timothy Dalton, and his sidekick Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green. They appear to live together (i think ?) but aren't related or in a relationship. It almost feels like she could be his niece or something.
Sir Malcolm is on a deeply personal quest to find his daughter Mina who, it would appear, has been kidnapped in deeply mysterious and as yet unexplained circumstances.
It also features well known fictional characters of the time like Victor Frankenstein (and his 'creation' of course!), Dorian Gray and we've also seen some rather interesting Vampire based creatures too.
Another one of the main characters is a bloke called Ethan Chandler, played by Josh Hartnett, who we first see working in one of those Wild West American touring shows they used to have back then. He's a trick-shot Gunslinger type of performer. He ends up being offered work by Sir Malcolm as his hired gun-toting muscle to assist him and Vanessa Ives in their search for his daughter.

That pretty much covers the basics of the show i think. It's definitely aimed at the adult audience with lots of 'F's' (the swear filter has gone into overdrive here these days!) and even a liberal smattering of the 'C' word in the second episode this week (i was quite pleasantly surprised by this, it being a Showtime/Sky TV production and all). There's also a certain amount of nudity as well (a nearly naked Billy Piper this week!), which is always good!
The first episode was entertaining but i was unsure how it would shape up but i personally thought this week's second episode (called 'Seance') was really excellent, highly entertaining viewing!!!

I'm a longtime fan of Eva Green anyway (i know there's a lot of people who aren't) but so far in this i think she's been absolutely brilliant!!!!
The look of the show, particularly some of the outdoor scenes depicting the (no doubt somewhat exaggerated for dramatic effect) smoggy, grey and eerie Victorian Gothic feel of 19th century London are really fantastic i think. The look of the busy London harbor/dock in episode two was as good as, if not better than, anything you see in big-budget Hollywood movies these days!

Hope that goes some way to giving you an idea of what the show's all about. I tried to explain it as well as i could without giving away any actual plot Spoilers etc..

I'm quite excited to see where it goes from here!

[Marsh.]

Sounds quite interesting. I think I'll download episode 1 and see how it goes.

[LeatherTrumpet]

cant wait for this

[Glenn.]

I've put a series link on sky for it.

[Niamh.]

might try this

[JTM45]

Did you watch episode 2 after Gypsy ?
I had to watch it a second time and i don't often do that with a TV show episode (unless the show has finished and i'm re-watching the whole thing over. I've watched the entire run of Battlestar Galactica 5 times over so far!!!).

I enjoyed it just as much on the second viewing. Only problem was that Billy Piper's terrible accent annoyed me even more the second time round. It's a shame because i normally quite like her.

We've gotta' wait until next bloody Sunday (the 25th) for the next new episode now though apparently!!! Gutted.

[JTM45]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

might try this

Give it a go!

By the end of episode 2 i couldn't wait for episode 3.
I think it would have been a good idea for them to have aired the first two episodes as a TV movie premier thing because while i enjoyed the first episode it's not until episode 2 that it really starts waking up........and it really does wake up!

[arista]

On NOW

[JTM45]

Originally Posted by arista

On NOW

Did you watch it Arista ?
The reviews seem to be rather positive on the whole. Even IMDB has an 8.9/10 score at the moment.

[arista]

Yes
some good actors
Quality

[GypsyGoth]

Originally Posted by JTM45

Did you watch episode 2 after Gypsy ?
I had to watch it a second time and i don't often do that with a TV show episode (unless the show has finished and i'm re-watching the whole thing over. I've watched the entire run of Battlestar Galactica 5 times over so far!!!).

I enjoyed it just as much on the second viewing. Only problem was that Billy Piper's terrible accent annoyed me even more the second time round. It's a shame because i normally quite like her.

We've gotta' wait until next bloody Sunday (the 25th) for the next new episode now though apparently!!! Gutted.

I did, it's a great show and it's kinda like a well written fanfiction the way characters from separate gothic books encounter each other.

And yea Piper's accent was unnecessarily hard to make out at times. Hopefully she tones it down a bit. But that would be my only gripe with the show, and actually it's not that big a deal, I do love listening to accents so I got the majority of her lines.

Also I think London during that time is one of the greatest setting you could have for a story, it always seems like there are adventures and mysteries on every street corner. Anyway yep I'm looking forward to the next ep

[smeagol]

gonna watch this when its all over. eva green Mmm yes indeedy cant wait to see her in sin city as well Mmmm lol

[arista]

on now

[JTM45]

Yep....another really great episode this week again!!! Loved it.
I'd imagine it was probably a body double but regardless, Billy Piper redeemed her terrible accent with some splendid ass-thrust action this week. A bit of nudity from Miss Green wouldn't go amiss either!

I enjoyed the broadening of Frankenstein's story in this episode too, and the new weird evil boy is intriguing too (just who is this "Master" of whom he speaks ?). You just know he's gonna' be trouble that one!

The whole night trip to the Zoo was interesting too.

I'm loving the dialogue of the show too. It's wonderfully written. Frankenstein's 'first born' definitely stole the show for me this week!

Next week's episode can't come soon enough.

[Slevin]

i didnt care much for the pilot but i dont give up so easily. i like to see a few episodes of something that peaked my interest before i decide. episode 2 was an improvement and i'll be watching the rest. havent watched 3 yet.