Bramwell

Fantastic series. Season 3 was amazing and is a good ending for the show. I watched Season 4 despite the reviews and because I usually watch shows in their entirety. However, the last season, it was like watching someone on drugs. It was horrible. The music, the way it was shot, it was all truly painful to watch. I'm going to simply pretend that Season 4 doesn't exist.

I started watching this show (Netflix instant play) as background noise while I worked on some projects, but soon fell in love. I am particularly drawn to medical dramas, and this show was no exception. I love the relationship between the doctors Bramwell (Elanor and her father) and the hopefully somewhat-accurate depiction of the struggles a woman doctor might face in those times. I also love the depth of the more minor characters (Dr. Marsham, nurse Carr, Kate) and the witty humor and sarcasm employed.

I was grossly disappointed by the fourth mini-season of the show, however. I was warned not to watch it, by a Netflix review, but gave into temptation. Now I repeat a similar warning: if you admire Elanor's strength and character (and especially if you are fond of Dr. Marsham) don't watch Season 4. I am now trying to trick myself into remembering the series as it ended in season 3 as I was so disgusted with what went on in Season 4. The creepy music used in the intro, and throughout the fourth season should have given me a head's up. Also, Sidnney was replaced with a weenie of a character that badly needed a shave, and Dr. Robert Bramwell didn't make an appearance. Perhaps if he had, he would have knocked some sense into his daughter.

Season 3 not so much, and Season 4 is embarrassing..or it should be. The characters lose all of the traits and behaviors that made them so endearing. And there were some excellent stories in the first couple of seasons, but season 4 shows this very smart woman acting like she had a frontal lobotomy. It's as if the series was written by two different sets of writers.

Do watch the first two seasons, maybe skip the later ones if you've come to love the characters. The synthesizers used for the music in the last two episodes have no place in the 1890's!

I have followed "Bramwell" since I started watching the mini-series on PBS's "Masterpiece Theatre" a few years ago. The depiction of a female doctor in Victorian England is very entertaining and groundbreaking. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in period drama or the history of medical practice.

I've watched this series several times over the years. What an abomination the last season was, and it seems to be everyone's overwhelming opinion, which is why I've taken away the last two stars. I guess the writers decided to just make some huge change to characters for the sake of making changes. What a betrayal to the characters. It was ended on such a low, low note. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. No one said anything while reading the script and went ahead with production? So go ahead and watch the show, and skip the last season. I'd rather walk away from a quality project with unanswered questions instead of a huuuuuge disappointment.