Favourite Mini-Series / Drama Serial

[DanaC]

Yes it's another telly thread!

I don't often watch mini-series - I tend to prefer dramas that are ongoing (or are at least intended to be!) But now and then a self-contained, serialised drama of 2-8 episodes just really hits the spot.

Not sure what you guys would consider a short series really - over here recurring series are often fairly short anyway. I don't include things like Sherlock in this, despite being very short series (3 eps a time) nor series that were intended to run to further series but weren't picked up (like Fades). But the single story told across a fairly short number of episodes (usually 2-4 but if intended as a single story, then more eps).

So, which mini-series have rocked your world, floated your boat or otherwise left their mark?

I'll start with what I consider to be one the best single series dramas ever produced on Brit tv: Holding On. Written by Tony Marchant and told across 8 episodes, this was a real game changer for British drama in the 90s.

Here's what the BFI site has to say about it:

Holding On (BBC, 1997) was Tony Marchant's first significant project for television, an eight-part drama set in London, following disparate characters and exploring in complex detail personal responsibility and how it becomes threatened in a society which has been told by Margaret Thatcher it no longer exists. It remains just as relevant after years of New Labour rule.

Holding On turns a critical eye on modern British society: Alan's (Sean Gallagher) story emphasises the lack of provision for mental health patients; bright DJ Chris (Razaaq Adoti) and his sister Janet (Diane Parish) highlight the lack of facilities for bright black youths; all the characters reveal the gap between what people say and what they do; what happens when urban isolation meets a 'me first' mindset. Marchant's characters are joyously complex human beings and the actors who play them are thoroughly convincing. It's unusual in such a large cast not to have one false note.

The series' core themes are blame and responsibility, but the drama is not without humour, provided most obviously by restaurant critic Gary Rickey (Phil Daniels) as he travels the capital, spitting bile and saliva at all the top gastronomic eateries in town. Everyone is looking for something - or someone - to blame for the position they find themselves in. But just when we think a situation is black and white, Marchant reveals the grey area which that makes us question our judgment. Werner's (David Calder) tax fraud case, for example, seems cut and dry until Shaun's wife (Caroline Harker) turns a blind eye to her childminder's petty fiddling. Where do you draw a line between good, bad and really bad? Shaun's (David Morrissey) collapse reminds us that we are all self-deceivers who are susceptible to corruption.

Adrian Shergold's direction is masterful, swooping and rolling around London, making the city a central character. A stream of plausibly conceived coincidences allow a fluid shift of focus as the plot moves from one character to an unconnected other within the same scene. The camera is often placed in unusual positions to challenge our perspective but the drama's visual style never becomes more important than its characters. Holding On deservedly won an RTS award for Best Drama Serial in 1998.

What made me think about this again, was watching David Morrisey in the first ep of a new 3 part mini series (The Driver - highly recommend). His character and performance in Holding On were absolutely compelling. As was Phil Daniels as a bulemic food critic.

There aren't many youtube clips unfortunately. But I highly recommend seeking this one out if you haven't seen it.

A couple of clips though to show how the flavour ofthe drama shifted and changed throughout:

In this we see one of our key characters, a tax man who is starting to lose his grip. He's a by the rules, highly moral character - but he's living in a shitty flat in a shitty area and has just been burgled. And he spends his working life investigating millionaires. he truly believes in what he does - but that belief is starting to crumble. There's something in his past that we don't know about yet - something from his youth. We know it plays on his mind, but that's all we know. His descent from moral arbiter to something else is one of the most memorable storylines for me.



Tonal shift - to our occasional narrator, the food critic and writer. As far as I recall, he is the only character that breaks the fourth wall, and to an extent he ties all the disparate stories together:



And the wrap up from the final episode, narrated by the food critic:



I haven't done it justice really, with these clips. There were so many character stories all intertwined and connected mainly by location and theme - as much a love affair with London as anything else.

[DanaC]

The second major landmark drama for me, again from the 90s, when Brit tv was really on a roll on dramas, was Our Friends in the North. Based on a stageplay - it tells the story of a group of friends in the North of England. Told across nine episodes, with each episode catching up with the four main characters in a different year: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, and 1995. Through the story of the four friends, we see also the story of the changing face of Britain across three decades.

Superbly written and acted, it pretty much launched the careers of several of our best actors (including Chris Ecclestone and Daniel Craig).

Here's episode one: I recommend watching the first few minutes to get a sense of the flavour of the drama.

Mildly nsfw


Most of it's intelligble, but from time to time a character will speak in full on geordie - at which point I would suggest the use of subtitles :P Most people probably won't understand much of what the kid says in this clip - but it's one of the very few clips available - though whole episodes are all available on Youtube. I'm posting it though because I thought you might interested to see Daniel Craig (james Bond) looking rather different. His character arc takes the long way round, via the sex industry in 60s London, and back to Newcastle in the 80s, now down and out:



One of the brilliant things about this series was the way it veered between glamour and squalor, personal and political.


Here's the advert for the box set:

[DanaC]

So - what have I missed? What mini series should I be watching?

[DanaC]

Bloodyhell - missed out my all time favourite ever drama!How remiss - allow me to rectify :P


From the mid 80s - The Monocled Mutineer. The (mostly) true story of Percy Toplis, a first world war british army stretcher bearer turned mutineer and deserter, who masqueraded as an upper class officer and gentleman, scamming his way around Britain.

I say mostly true, because his involvement in the Bull Ring Mutiny has been disputed, as have some of his criminal activities (whether or not he shot the truck driver for instance). The general gist of it, however was true, he did impersonate an officer when on leave - he did desert after the war in 1920 and continued to play the part of an officer, using that identity to engage in confidence tricks and he did end up as Britain's 'most wanted' and his bloody end, shot down by police in a lonely country lane is well documented.

As far as his involvement in the mutiny - well, we may never know. His regiment was en route elsewhere at the time, but there is no record of him having arruved with them - and he was known to move around regiments, posing as an NCO or officer to scam food, gamble and engage in various black market activities. The records due for release ina couple of years mayhelp answer the question - but since the records ofthe Etaples enquiry were destroyed the chances are slim. He was convicted in absentia of the murder of a truck driver, but some say he was fitted up for that. We'll never know.

He may or may not have been as sympathetic a character as he was in the series. Differing accounts give a different picture. But Paul McGann's portrayal of him was beautiful. And I have been a fan of his ever since. In fact, it was him being cast as the doctor for the mid-90s revival movie that pretty much started my ongoing love affair with Doctor Who.

It's also one of the key reasons I ended up so interested in the history of British soldiers, and in particular deserters and criminality. Though somehow I ended up in the 18th and 19th centuries rather than the 20th ;p



A trailer from the time.



Cultural note: this was before BBC announcers were allowed tohave regional accents lol. I forgot how posh they all sounded back then. Very proper BBC English.

This is an extended scene from early in the series, before Toplis deserted. For a fairly low budget BBC production, they do a pretty good job of getting across the atmosphere and the sheer horror of the trenches.



What I haven't been able to find are any scenes thatget across the humour and barefaced cheek of his impersonations.

[footfootfoot]

Orphan Black.

It is the best TV serial evar.

[DanaC]

I really do need to check that out at some point. I don't think I've heard anybody give a single bad word about it.

[Gravdigr]

Mini-series...

"Lonesome Dove", still the best thing ever broadcast.

It's on Netflix, rfn.

I couldn't find the Garth Brooks song "In Lonesome Dove" on YouTube, but here's a pretty fair cover by a fellow named John Rainey:



How many songs have been written about a mini-series, I wonder?

[DanaC]

Ohhh, my dad loved that! I've never seen it but he really loved it. I think he read the original books too.

[Gravdigr]

I thought the book was at least as good, if not better, a tad long-winded at ~900 pages, though.

I really like Larry McMurtry.

The story is based on a couple Texas Rangers that retired to cattle ranching in Texas well before cattle ranching in Texas was a thing. Their names were Loving and Goodnight, and their names were attached to the first cattle drive out of Texas, on the Loving-Goodnight Trail, appropriately enough.

Today is the anniversary of Oliver Loving's death.

[DanaC]

I'll have to check that out. I was never that into westerns (though I watched a few I enjoyed) - but I think I'd probably enjoy it now.

My Dad was huge into westerns. Major Clint Eastwood fan - he actually looked a little like him too - we carried his coffin into the church to this music:p

[Gravdigr]

If you have a spot for westerns at all, you should watch this, Dana. The movie itself is huge, and the music is great, I bought the soundtrack (it's just background/ambient stuff, no actual songs). I think Basil Poledouris outdid himself on this score. I love his work.

[DanaC]

Thanks for the tip, Grav. I'll put in on my must see list

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by DanaC

...we carried his coffin into the church to this music:p

That. Is. Fucking. Awesome.

[DanaC]

I know right?

My Dad was a very cool guy. Only fitting he should have a verycool exit :P

[Happy Monkey]

HBO's Band of Brothers is superb.

Firefly is an amazing miniseries that ought not to have been a miniseries.