Noughts + Crosses

A fantastic concept often let down by a somewhat clumsy and obvious storyline.

I love the concept and take great joy in the nuances and small details of the world. The adoption of African cultural dress and hair styles, the music, the ceremony, everything quintessentially English replaced by an alternative culture is so well done. The attention to detail is laudable........

......if only the characters and storyline weren't so hamfisted this would be a 10/10 show for me.

I guess the pedestrian nature of the actual plot is to do with the original text being aimed at young adults.

Back on a positive note though....anything that enrages the right wing, racists, Daily Mail readers, whining man-babies and angry man-boys has got to be worth supporting and this show certainly seems to have done just that.

Well done BBC :)

This adaptation of the alternate-history YA series made big waves in 2020 with its contemporary soundtrack, bold afro-futurist designs and cool cameos (the legendary Stormzy shows up). The second series feels like a strangely sad and flaccid afterthought, reduced to only four episodes and clearly shot under restrictions so most scenes are tedious two-or-three person conversations in empty streets. The first series, although clunky at times, had some momentum and felt in comparison like a lost golden dream. The only real throughline here is the evergreen Paterson Joseph as the increasingly erratic and maniacal leader of Albion, pushing for independence to suit his own ends. There is some intriguing world-building here but sadly it seems like unfortunate circumstances and strange decisions have rather sunk the prospects of further visits to this dimension.

Compelling characters in a terrifying situation that highlights the opposite terrifying situation still alive to a significant degree today :-( Shines an ugly light on racism, police brutality/bias, and segregation.

I was obsessed with the books growing up, I fell in love with the plot and how the story was told and how they used all the different perspectives. When I saw online they had the green light for a series I was excited.

I binged all 6 episodes on BBC iplayer back to back the weekend they were released. Whilst the show was amazing and addressed the issues well I do think it would be better as a stand alone drama rather than an adaptation of the series.

The show mostly focuses on the events of the latter half of the second book and the third. Where the cast were automatically aged up to 18/19 where the story on the first book focuses on their friendship and developing feelings as young teens. The third book which is what the series is mostly based on is a time jump where the social events is tearing them apart.

The time line of events in the show jumps around, which if they had stuck to the original order it may have been more gripping.

I stand by its an amazing show I just wish it was more true to the books.

Great story of a dystopian alternate reality , many similarities to apartheid south africa in here . As a white south africa growing up in apartheid, I saw so many similarities that I could relate to here. I find it odd that some reviewers on here give it a bad rating and then state that they just don't like the idea of the story and how offended they are by it, but then probably go off and are pretty happy to watch a show like "Man in the High castle" (an alternative reality where the Nazis rule the world). Clearly indicating their bias...