andiroids-1

I'm old enough to remember watching the original Bergerac and always enjoyed it. A lot of time has passed since then and the people I watched it with have long since passed away. As a bit of a detective buff I wondered what was that I enjoyed about the original series so I watched a few d episodes ahead of watching the new one. I'm glad I did because there it was straight from the opening credits, the sheer beauty of Jersey itself! The new series could literally have been filmed anywhere and is all the weaker for it. Unfortunately the more I watch the more I realise that Bergerac 2025 is inferior in virtually every aspect. Damien Moloney is a decent actor but lacks the charm of John Nettles, the support cast are all lesser versions of the originals and Zoe Wanamaker is completely wasted here.

The long form story could have been an upgrade but 2 three part episodes or even 3 two parters would have been preferable as the story was fairly basic and stretching it over 6 episodes made for dull viewing at many stages which made the lack of use of the beautiful surroundings even more difficult to understand.

Mention must be made of the excellent Phillip Glenister who stands head and shoulders above all others involved and left me wondering if he wouldn't have been better suited to the titular lead role.

All in all not terrible and probably better for those who have never seen the original but it could have been so much better.

James Patterson is an incredible author who created a modern day legend in Alex Cross. The first 6-8 books are essential reading and whilst later revisits to the Cross character aren't quite as strong every book is a real page turner. The stories are unique, detailed and intense giving all the ingredients for great screenplays. So why is it that the movies were so dull despite starring 2 of the greatest actors around? Now this series attempts to make something watchable and entertaining with the character but whilst the story is pretty solid there is too much "background" nonsense with family and WOKE at work rubbish all detracting from the plot.

I really wanted to love this but once again it isn't a patch on the books and maybe that is the problem, the books were just so incredible there is no way to recreate them on screen? I will continue to watch Cross as it's not bad but I hoped for so much more.

Ok, where to start? So the plot starts out as blatantly obvious as the title suggests. By episode two the con is on and the money has been transferred to Niko's bank despite the ridiculously short time they have been together. So if this is the obvious yet ridiculous premise of this show then how to fill the next two episodes with the fight to get the money back. Well I was still engaged at this point despite the wobbly start and acting but what follows goes beyond the preposterous, there a plot holes everywhere and ridiculous storyline after ridiculous storyline culminating in an equally unlikely ending.

I watched all four episodes of this as I was stuck in hospital at the time. I wouldn't recommend either experience!