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Reviews Series / The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff

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Roo Who cares?! Life is awesome! Since: Sep, 2009
Who cares?! Life is awesome!
12/06/2014 05:10:25
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Why isn't this awesome?

I'm genuinely stumped. Everything about this series dictated that it should be absolutely brilliant. It's a Spiritual Successor to Bleak Expectations, and written by the same man who made that series so fun, Mark Evans, which means it sports the same parodic look at Victorian society in general and Charles Dickens' works in particular. It stars some amazingly talented actors and comedians, such as Stephen Fry, David Mitchell and Robert Webb, and even the child actors are good and have some impressive comic timing. It has a great and funny permise. Costumes and sets look great. (Admittedly, the CGI looks awful, but at least there isn't a lot of it.) This should by all accounts be awesome.

And yet, it isn't. Somehow, what made Bleak Expectations so great doesn't work at all here. Maybe the premise just didn't translate well to a visual medium (it is a lot easier to pile on with the surreal ideas when it's a radio drama), maybe the characters just aren't as likeable, maybe the dialogue isn't quite as snappy... for whatever reason, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff just comes off as somewhat half-hearted, unengaging and vaguely dull.

A pity, because I know from experience that everyone involved can, and have, repeatedly delivered outstanding material. For some reason, they just fall flat here. Oh well, Bleak Expectations is still great.


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