Peaky Blinders

[Dr Nookie]

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of her before! You can really hear how different her accent is to the Brummie one!

 

[Onket]

says a lot for the actual content of the show when most discussion's been on the actors' accents!

Exactly. I said this on page one. I even posted while the programme was still being broadcast. If it was actually any good that wouldn't have happened and people wouldn't have written 5 pages about the accents. As I've said though, I am going to watch again this week and see if I can get into it a bit more. the 2nd half of the programme was better than the first, I'm hoping that'll continue.

First World War/Somme 'shell shock' stuff I only read about yesterday- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml

 

[DotCommunist]

I should think having howitzer shells exploding right next to you 4 three fucking years would turn the strongest man into a nervous wreck.

 

[blossie33]

Gosh I'd forgotten about Dolly Allen.
Dr Nookie is probably too young to have heard of her!

Edit to add - that's the last accent comment I will make - back to the programme now.

 

[Onket]

I should think having howitzer shells exploding right next to you 4 three fucking years would turn the strongest man into a nervous wreck.

Not really a likeable post, but you know.

 

[Red Cat]

Exactly. I said this on page one. I even posted while the programme was still being broadcast. If it was actually any good that wouldn't have happened and people wouldn't have written 5 pages about the accents.

Except that some of us posted that we liked it.

 

[Onket]

Except that some of us posted that we liked it.

 

[Cheesypoof]

i have a mate that is in this, but i dont watch TV so wont be chooning in. Good luck to em though and all that

 

[blossie33]

Interesting article by Carl Chinn (the Brummie historian) about the real peaky blinders

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/tv/birminghams-peaky-blinders---fact-5912820

According to this they did not put razor blades in the peaks of their caps, there are no actual reports, it is a tale that has arisen from a novel A Walk Down Summer Lane set in the inter war years.

 

[belboid]

saw this last night, and I'm utterly bewildered why anyone has said its any good.

Accents are atrocious, plot creaking badly already, acting patchy as hell, and the script is just fucking atrocious exposition. Very, very bad.

It has twenty minutes to improve tonight or it can fuck right off.

 

[Onket]

This really isn't very good.

Shame, cos I wanted it to be.

 

[Sweet FA]

Tonight's episode really turned me around. I was pretty underwhelmed last week but I think I was expecting some historically accurate, HBO quality telly. Having recalibrated my expectations, ignored the accents and just got into the kind of rompiness of the whole thing; I really enjoyed it. Billy Kimber's scenery chewing was ace

 

[Onket]

The last 5 mins were alright but the rest of it was tripe.

Worst fight scene I've seen in a long time, at the start.

 

[Frances Lengel]

I like it, me.

And I never notice things like whether accents are accurately portrayed anyway.

 

[tony.c]

I like it, me.
And I never notice things like whether accents are accurately portrayed anyway.

I liked it too. I didn't think the first two episodes were great, but they were ok for a tv series, and I thought the settings and filming was good. Last night's episode was really good with plenty of action. Can't wait for next week.
OK might not be historcaly accurate but it's entertainment not a documentary. And I don't know whether the accents are accurate, but I wouldn't expect them to be. They are actors not people from 1920's Birmingham. I don't expect actors in 'Troy' to have Greek accents, or the actors in 'Gladiator' to have Italian accents either.

 

[Onket]

It certainly wasn't packed with action! Barely passes for entertainment.

 

[magneze]

First one was a bit slow, but it's all introductory stuff. Second one was much better.

 

[belboid]

The series is set to record, so I may well keep up with it if I'm bored in the week. Started badly, that fight! Lest said the better. I can forgive most of the accents, altho whenever Helen McCrory fits comes on, I think its Josie Lawrence. I could let the silly lines like 'wheres your beautiful horse' go, even the crap exposition ' you know who Freddy is! But, just in case the audience have home have forgotten...', but then there was Billy Kimber. Fuck me, that would have been an embarrassing performance in a school play.

The other thing is, having read that link blossie posted about who the blinders actually were, then this is just complete and utter nonsense. Even the 'official' BBC page on the 'real' history of the blinders points out they were all done by the turn of the century. Why set it 20-30 years after the reality?

 

[butchersapron]

Cheeky bleeders. This is rubbish.

 

[Belushi]

This really isn't very good.

Shame, cos I wanted it to be.

This. Really wanted to like it but it's dire.

 

[girasol]

I watched the first half(ish) of both episodes, but it really wound me up. It was like watching a music video at times - seriously, is that their idea of appealing to a 'younger audience'? What's going on with the music and slow motion? Also a good example why mixing period drama with modern music usually doesn't work well. The fight scene was indeed a pile of badly executed shite.

Visually: interesting to see some of the places, so grey, no trees anywhere, very grim.

The only bit I enjoyed was when the main character was calming his horse down - that was sort of gripping and touching. The rest? Trying too hard and not working. Poor horse

 

[Onket]

but then there was Billy Kimber. Fuck me, that would have been an embarrassing performance in a school play.

Billy 'You Pikeys' Kimber was the best bit about this episode. Loved it!

 

[Part 2]

I'm gonna stick with it, it's not as bad as the other recent period stuff; The Mill and The Village.

The admin worker at work was asking me if I'd been watching it, she's in her sixties and has a thing for Sam Nield. She was saying how she likes the music, outing herself as a potential Nick Cave fan. I said she should probably avoid listening to Stagger Lee.

 

[discokermit]

how often do you hear the word 'diddicoy' on the telly? never. that's how often.

 

[discokermit]

The other thing is, having read that link blossie posted about who the blinders actually were, then this is just complete and utter nonsense.

fiction, i believe they call it. tricky concept to get your head round, but basically, sometimes people who write telly programs, or books, or films, sometimes make stuff up.

Even the 'official' BBC page on the 'real' history of the blinders points out they were all done by the turn of the century. Why set it 20-30 years after the reality?

oh come on. first world war? massive social unrest?

 

[Sweet FA]

how often do you hear the word 'diddicoy' on the telly? never. that's how often.

That word always reminds of 'Kizzy' on the tv in the 70s.


Fuck me, I was the same age as my little girl is now [/old]

 

[Kaka Tim]

meh - some good stuff - but spoiled by some clunky writing, over complex story lines (just keep it simple and gangster) and the anachronisms. The contemporary soundtrack distracts from the action. Too much padding. Far too much style over substance. Its like tarantino does period drama and it just doesn't work.

The accents are really poor. And that girls singing was shite - it was affected, X factor-esque, overtrained cobblers - and nobody sang like that 20 years ago - let alone in 1919.

And why were irish travellers speaking roma?

 

[discokermit]

over complex story lines (just keep it simple and gangster)

you're completely missing the point. despite the title, it's not about the gang or gangsters, it's about war, the effects of war, and in particular, the effect on one man. all told in the style of a western, transferred to brum in 1919.

 

[Kaka Tim]

you're completely missing the point. despite the title, it's not about the gang or gangsters, it's about war, the effects of war, and in particular, the effect on one man. all told in the style of a western, transferred to brum in 1919.

Is it? I see that as background character context and historical set dressing, the main thrust is yer man building up his empire.

 

[discokermit]

Is it? I see that as background character context and historical set dressing, the main thrust is yer man building up his empire.

they don't go two minutes without mentioning the war. it's crucial to the character and informs everything he does.
i'm not sure where it's going but there seem to be little clues everywhere. the opium use, refusal to shake hands with people for not fighting in the war, possible impotence. if it does turn out to be just him empire building then i'll be disappointed but i think there's a lot more to it.