Bedlam

Jed (Theo James) sees ghosts and how they died. Put him and an attractive cast in an old mental asylum that is now converted into luxury apartments and you get an enjoyable easy going, light hearted glossy horror. The location is spooky and ideal for the setting.

The series and the twists pick up as it progresses. If I were to pick any flaw, it would be to ask how all these people can afford such nice apartments decorated so well? I am eagerly awaiting the 6th episode as it's really all coming together and everything looks to kick off.

Don't expect anything new, but unlike other reviews I doubt you will hate it or feel you wasted time watching.

The much advertised first episode of Bedlam aired on Monday. While it is a good premise for a show, the idea of a creepy mental asylum is an exhausted location in TV and film (Kingdom Hotel, Shutter Island, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, even Supernatural had an episode based on a haunted asylum).

The first episode ' Cohabitants' centers around Kate, an estate agent working with the sale of Bedlam Heights, a mental asylum being renovated into apartments. The character of Kate sort of rubbed me the wrong way, she came across as cold and uncaring to me. Kate lives in Bedlam Heights with her flatmates, Ryan and Molly. Her cousin, Jed, turns up to 'Save Kate' after he receives numerous text messages from an undisclosed source.

The characters are not very deep and the acting is a tiny bit stilted, I hope there will be more time given in future episodes to learn more about their histories, as it seemed we were only given a crash course into their past. There was subplot, involving Ryan's brother who had died a year ago but not much else was mentioned about Ryan's life.

I don't see how they'll stretch a whole season out of it, the plot has a lot of clichés and it was quite slow moving in parts.It is defiantly influenced by the horrors and thrillers that have gone before it. Having said that, Will Young put in a surprisingly strong performance and the action scenes were quite well done. For a British show with a low budget, it's a breath of fresh air for Monday night viewing. I'll be very interested to see how the show and its characters progress and I will be tuning in next week.

I REALLY liked this show simply based on the cool subject matter. The setting is GREAT and can lead to many creepy stories to be told. In reality it would be SOOO COOL to have a flat in a place like that, as long as the spirits have not targeted you any particular week.

I read reviews about bad acting and maybe it is because I am not a Brit I cannot pick up on it as much, acting is in the little details and I am not sure what they are supposed to sound like so I must miss it. I think the acting is just fine. The actors are also attractive and that is not always commonplace on Brit TV. Maybe the acting bar can be lowered because they are pretty people.

I see A LOT of potential for future seasons and even though I read the article about the low ratings I see will have season 2 and I am excited.

I think the show is really worth watching. It's short, condensed, well balanced between the self-conclusive episodes and the main plot. Nothing new, slightly flat characters, but a whole lot of entertainment.

That said, it's interesting how much derivative the show is. The locations, the iconography of the ghosts, the dynamics between ghost and characters... everything seems to convey a sense of deja-vu. And it's surprising how much this show tries NOT to be British while still remaining it; the reference is more or less the recent American horror (and, indirectly, the Japanese new wave) but many things in the production (good lookin', sexy actors; cinematography; editing, ecc...) just seem to try and be in that trend, maybe to be "easy". On the other side, a kind of British aftertaste still remains and the writing (characters issue aside) is really good.

It has it's flaws, but still works better and better each episode, till the great, though a bit "tecnical", final cliffhanger.

The series is set in a large apartment block (apparently a work in progress) located in the old Bedlam mental hospital. The reactions from our small audience were very mixed - between finding it very addictive to others (including myself) who found it to be a badly written piece of entertainment. The actors are all very competent and give their best but the characters are not well developed and so much more could have been achieved by making this first episode a two-parter with a more involved story and a rich tapestry of background for the building and its inhabitants. Hopefully, as the series progresses, it will find its feet.