OK, finally finished watching that ( it was interrupted by a mandatory Wreckers viewing).
I enjoyed it. Gave more insight to Class and position in those days.
Schmaltzy ending though.
I hate 'happily ever afters'.

I finished watching this last night.  It's available through Netflix streaming and comes in three 90-minute episodes.  I hadn't realized it was based on books written by William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies.

I really enjoyed the entire series, although the second episode was, in my opinion, the weakest one.  Sometimes it was hard to decide if the events presented were real or a dream.  But the ending of the final episode answered that question. 

I, too, didn't care for the very end of the series.  But, without spoiling things for people who haven't seen it, the scenes towards but not quite at the very end were very exciting and I'm not even sure what happened to one of the characters.  I'm pretty sure I know but it was made explicit enough for me to be sure.

Benedict was great throughout and I highly recommend watching this show.

Please let us know what you think of it when you reach the end.   

I couldn't go to bed without saying my praise for this wonderful series.   Something tells me I've seen this before,  but I can't recal when or where.   I  LOVED  it!!   enough to go and buy it.  This reminded me of the Horatio Hornblower series, which I watched,  but this one was great because it had benedict in it.  At first I thought he was a bit snobbish.  his godfather was, after all, a lord,  (but he wasn't BORN into a noble family, right?)  but--  he had his godfather to thank,  for him having that upper class position.  So  this miniseries was set in 1812,  a hundred years before they had the titanic tragedy.  I looked up the info on IMDB. 
Edmund  flaunted his position, which set in motion the events leading to the parson's death.  then there were other strings of bad luck that followed.  and oh,  those hutches/cabins were absolutely   horrible. 
Ben's acting in here was a joy to watch.  I could not stop until I got to the end.  His yelling,  his crying,  his tears,  his embarrassment, his fear, his loss at leaving Miss Chumley behind,  his heroism at the end,  when HE  spotted the ice ahead....   And the costumes he wore---oh those were a treat to see.    And I loved the ending--  where Edmund began to rethink his position in life...and then he saw Miss Chumley at the dock,  and that's how it ended?  I  was disappointed at that.   Would have loved to see a wedding. 

Great miniseries.  I  loved Our boy starring in it.  I  LOVE naval ships--  actually  ships of any kind, I love. 

Thank you kazza for posting it...the subtexts  really helped.  I did have trouble with the shockwave flash player,  I don't know why,  but I did see it to the ends.  so this was a book trilogy by william golding?  I  will have to go and see if my library has it.   goodnight all!!  thanks again kazza

Wholocked wrote:

I've got this at home and I've watched all the episodes. I found it a bit slow going in parts so I watched it over a few weeks.

I did also go "oh you have got to be kidding" at the end...but yes, it was a very interesting look at the class system and the challenges of naval travel etc.

I loved the ice berg scene. I was like "There, see? The Captain does have a clue!"

I found Benedict's character very arrogant and naive. It was a very nice character journey. He had to 'wise up' a lot over the trip. I also like the scene towards the end when he visits some of the 'lower class' passengers who basically go "what are you doing here, the trip's over, we don't associate anymore". Demonstrates the isolation the class system imposed on people I thought.

Me too...and our boy spotted the ice first!!  this was set in 1812--100 years before that mean ol' iceberg struck my favorite cruise ship!!   

wholocked--  how long were the episodes?  I  know there were three in total-- were they each about 2 hours long?

susigo  you're welcome.  after my vacation at the end of july,  I plan to get this  dvd set too.  It's well worth keeping.

Oh,  one more thing to add--  in the movie there is a character named 'Cumbersham"   Oh  our  poor boy must have been so confused when he was in the same scene with that charrie!!

Last edited by sherlockskitty (July 1, 2012 3:02 am)

I finished it, and loved it with all my heart. Yes, the end is a little bit of a fairy- tale, but the whole series is something of a "Edmund Talbot's Pilgrimage towards being a good man", so I did not mind the ending at all. I loved Benedict in it. It was great to see him so open, so "emo" ( rather than brilliantly introverted, as in "Sherlock" or "Tinker Tailor").

I like your review, SusiGo, and agree with it. Though to me Edmund never projected as unlikeable. Priviledged, arrogant and naive, certainly; but with a conscience and ability to analyze, feel and change.
I plan to read Golding's books and then re- watch.

Aussie members will find this show on Pay TV tonight on the UKTV channel.

It was a bit of a struggle for me to get through as well, but it's quite a nice little series. It's very interesting to see the way the classes interact on the ship vs when they reach Australia too.

I just watched the first episode, I enjoyed it, no hardship to watch, it was quite entertaining. It's a joy to have The Batch on screen from beginning to end for an hour and a half, a younger version, Babybatch, is that his natural hair color maybe? Nice coming of age story, and very good acting as usual. Looking forward to the next 2 episodes. It seems from the other comments there is a happy end, I won't complain about it, sad endings haunt me and make me sad (the other day I went to see Royal Affair at the cinema and I cried my heart out). When I was watching Parade's end, I was so afraid he was going to die in the war.