Today over at MSN TV: there's a double-bill of reviews, covering BBC1's new adaptation of THE LADY VANISHES, and BBC3's new zombie drama IN THE FLESH...
I'm glad to see the BBC adapting books that aren't written by Charles Dickens or Jane Austen. Ethel Lina White's The Wheel Spins is best-known as an early Alfred Hitchcock movie starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave (celebrating its 75th anniversary this year), so this version faced an uphill struggle from the start. The Lady Vanishes tells the simple (and silly) story of a rich and impetuous woman called Iris Carr, travelling home from a holiday in the Balkans by train. Once aboard, and while suffering from sunstroke, she gets acquainted with amiable governess Miss Froy (Selena Cadell), who later vanishes after Iris falls asleep in her private carriage.
Continue reading 'The Lady Vanishes' at MSN TV...
BBC Three's In the Flesh has been touted as the successor to their esteemed supernatural drama Being Human. It has inherited the latter's timeslot, but I think comparisons to The Fades are more accurate. Having said that, three-part drama In The Flesh already feels more serious than either, which could frustrate viewers expecting something more fun. The Walking Dead this ain't. Naturally this opening hour had to lay out In the Flesh's unusual concept and introduce all of the characters, but writer Dominic Mitchell managed this extremely well. In a nutshell, several years after thousands of zombies started killing people, the government has managed to reverse the symptoms using medication and rehabilitation.
Continue reading 'In the Flesh' at MSN TV...
