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Bedlam.. News and Snippets.

Sweetwilliamfan
in 20th Century Retro

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I've seen this advertised on TV, didn't know Will was in it, until I read the review about it in the MV mag. :o The drama series really sounds good, I shall watch it, as I love spooky dramas.
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Yes it's all very exciting right now Mart!n.. :dance: was the MV review a good one?

 

From the Dep Editor of OK! ^_^

Just watched a preview of living tv's mew drama bedlam! It's actually really good! Surprising for a uk drama!

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

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2.5 out of 5 review here..

Bedlam

In a nutshell: It’s no Being Human

 

Oh I do like a good ghost story. Nothing quite like a few spooky goings on to get the blood pumping and the skin a–goose pimpling, so when I heard about Sky Living’s new ghost series Bedlam, fair to say I was chomping at the bit. Then I read it was penned by the same folk who wrote Hollyoaks. To say I was dejected is a bit like saying your five-year-old was mildly irritated to find daddy, not Santa, laying out the Christmas presents in the early hours of Christmas morning. But oh well, everything deserves a chance right? And, to be fair, it’s not like Bedlam could be worse than Hollyoaks.

 

Bedlam centres around Kate Bettany (Charlotte Salt) and her dad Warren (Hugo Speer), two mean, cold-hearted business types who have decided to convert their inheritance – a former lunatic asylum where grandad tortured the patients – into the wittily named Bedlam apartments (geddit?). And the flats really are Grade A stunning apartments with quirky cool wallpaper, quirky unmatched furniture, beautiful lighting, massive windows and as much space as you need to swing several cats. Of course, none of the tenants would ever be able to afford to live there in real life, but hey, mere semantics that. One look at the lush loveliness of Bedlam (the bit that’s occupied, there is another bit still under construction for the necessary spooky scenes) and its array of sexy, styled occupants and you can tell, this series has its target audience eye on the younger adult – the ones that tune into Skins. Not the floppy olds who like a bit of domestic realism on their telly.

 

Sharing screen space with Kate and her moody pop are tormented cousin Jed (Theo James) and mates, geek Ryan (Will Young)and boho Moll (Ashley Madekwe). Jed is the plot’s main driver and is a bit like The Ghost Whisperer in that he can see the ghosts meandering around Bedlam. That means it up to him and his new pal Ryan to help both the living and the dead move on, while a pot boiler missing girl storyline plods along underneath.

 

Happily, Bedlam gets right in there with the malevolent hauntings from the get-go and it does have some genuinely spooky bits. A plethora of mirrors are at the ready to show creepy faces that ought not to be there and the sheer mammoth size of creepsville Bedlam means lots of stalking spooks at windows and following folks down secluded corridors. Excellent. And if you get tired of the ghosties, the sheer sexed up loveliness of the cast are there to gaze at. Bedlam looks seriously good and, with the glut of vampires on our screens in recent times, it feels right for a nice, creepy ghost series to up the supernatural ante.

 

On the downside, there are quite a few “teething problems” – the dialogue is often stilted, character development is AWOL and the plot is just a tad too contrived for its own good. Hugo Speer as icy property developer Warren isn’t just set up as the baddie, he is hammered into our minds as a total and utter cold hearted bast*rd. Look at him, glowering from the window, glowering in the office, glowering at his nephew. See, Bedlam doesn’t do subtlety. Oh your brother died in a river? Well how about lots and lots and lots of dripping noises and pics of, well, a river. And how will the viewer know it’s a malevolent ghost and not just, like, another resident? Ah, how about the vampire eyes from Being Human, that looked cool there, right?

 

I really want to like Bedlam. I really want it to be more than silly, spooky eye candy for the ipod generation but to be good, better than it is, Bedlam needs to make the audience empathise with its characters and, even tougher, it needs to keep us jaded viewers hooked with a new creepy story every week, alongside some increasingly dark sub plots. That means new ways to creep us out, new ways to make us jump and new ways to move the plot along every week. Unfortunately, it’s already looking like Bedlam may be a hot favourite which starts off with potential but fumbles midway and rolls in second last.

 

Reviewer: Curlyshirles

Thanks Bev. Amazes me how they can do such a huge review on something that has only just begun and not even got into the full characters and story and give it 2.5/5! And it's not Being Human or anything like - which is vampires and werewolves FFS!

 

Oh well each to his own and quite a few others have seen it and reviewed it more favourably.

 

Where is that from by the way you haven't said.

 

Edit - Don't worry - I've seen the source over on Baby D.

Edited by munchkin

Yes..how can you judge the whole series on one episode? dunno..seems a bit of a rip off to me.

Sorry, here's the link..i hope this one works..I've been rubbish at posting them lately :lol: ..if not it's on Baby in the bedlam thread.

 

http://popcornandcandy.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/bedlam/

 

 

Thanks for that. The reason some of the links don't work is that you can't bring them across with a post. I generally go to the link and then copy and paste from there.

A few snippets from the Sunday's thanks to Mary on Baby D for this one:

 

In the Sunday Times Review tv section, on the satellite and digital page for tomorrow Bedlam is highlighted as Critic's Choice. There is a photo of the whole cast at the top of the page, the one with Will standing on the right, with his hands in his pockets. On the previous page, in the critics choice of all the programmes the little write up is great.

 

Quote:

Asylum Seekers

Bedlam (Sky Living 10pm)

This six-part paranormal drama has an imagination that, while not quite matched by it's production values, ensures the results are entertaining. Living in a block of flats converted from an asylum, it's telegenic characters (Will Young is amongst the cast) find their romantic imbroglios blighted by the spirits of former inmates. Whilst it's portayal of the mentally ill is not exactly progressive, this opening episode is pleasingly heavy on atmosphere.

And to Griff for this:

 

In the double page spread in the Mail on Sunday 'Your Must-Record Guide To This Week's TV' they list their picks day by day. For Monday Bedlam is one of the 7 featured: Bedlam, Sky Living, 10PM -

 

After impressing the critics both in film and on stage, singer will Young (left) [little pic of him sitting on the desk] gets his first lead role acting on TV in this new supernatural drama about a group of flatmates living in a former lunatic asylum.

 

And to spidie for this:

 

Observer

 

It's the Drama Pick of The day for Monday

 

 

Spooky, sexy and filled with fashionably stopped glottals, this paranormal drama will keep teens and twentysomethings from putting out the light for weeks to come as they follow the exploits of the new inmates - among them Will Young - of lunatic-asylum-turned-apartment-block Bedlam Heights, where the spirits of the dead are distinctly restless

 

Tweet from David Allison one of the writers: :lol:

 

Hate the weekend before transmission. Reading previews is like picking a scab. Still, a mostly decent bunch.
*mostly*

 

And from the other writer Neil Jones:

 

@DavidHAllison Luckily for me, any of the bad ones I can now blame on this Neil James fella
They got his name wrong in an article :lol:

pleased to see that most of the #bedlam previews are good. There's only two of you that I'll be seeing in my office later. Same old faces..

 

Thanks to Abbie: 2 snips from the NOTW.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Abbiej/IMG1_0001.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Abbiej/IMG1_0002.jpg

 

 

Edited by munchkin

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In all the reviews we've seen not one has slated Will's acting..and they would of done if they could..I'm sure of it.

It seems we've been waiting forever for this...but now it's almost here! :w00t:

 

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

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How about this then? :cheer:

Bedlam: Better Than We Expected

http://image.com.com/tv/images/genie_images/uk_topslots/UK_Hub/Bedlam_Banner.jpg

 

Musicians rarely seem to make a successful or even dignified transition to acting, but that hasn’t deterred Will Young. Despite being better known for his music, the star makes his major TV debut on Sky Living this week. Casting him as one of Bedlam’s lead roles was a risk to the show's credibility, especially as it’s the first British drama to be commissioned by the channel, but it’s a risk that appears to have paid off.

 

At no point in the show’s premiere (airing on Tuesday, February 7 at 10pm) were we unconvinced by Young’s portrayal of Ryan McAllister, a computer nerd who lives in a haunted apartment. His performance--pivotal to this episode--stands strong alongside his more established co-stars.

 

Theo James (A Passionate Women) plays arguably the most vital role: his character, Jed Harper, is the only one that can communicate with ghosts. Essentially, he's Jennifer Love Hewitt's character from Ghost Whisperer, but without the water works and flimsy dresses. This is no coincidence: the channel admits it wanted to launch a UK show that was similar to its supernatural US acquisitions, of which Ghost Whisperer is one.

 

Like its American counterparts, each episode of Bedlam has its own “story of the week”. In the first episode it’s of a ghost who tries to drown Jed and Ryan’s flatmates Kate (Charlotte Salt) and Molly (Ashley Madekwe). There are also heavy hints of a dark series arc, which involves Kate’s dad Warren (played by Hugo Speer) who has history with the apartment block.

 

While Bedlam shows a lot of promise--certainly far more than we originally gave it credit for--it does also have its problems. Our main gripe is with the face-painted ghouls, thrust on our screens by cheap camera tricks. Oh, and the fact that they can communicate by text. If Sky Living want their new show to be taken seriously, we suggest they make their effects as believable as Will Young’s acting.

http://www.tv.com/story/25078.html

:yahoo:

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

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So proud! :heart: When he really wants something he really works at it..puts in the time...and it's clearly paid off for him. :heart:

Looks like his dream of his dual career is finally happening for him. :wub:

So proud! :heart: When he really wants something he really works at it..puts in the time...and it's clearly paid off for him. :heart:

Looks like his dream of his dual career is finally happening for him. :wub:

 

Read the tv.com review to hubby & he said he couldn't imagine Will not excelling at anything he puts his mind too.

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Read the tv.com review to hubby & he said he couldn't imagine Will not excelling at anything he puts his mind too.

What a wonderful and insightful thing for your husband to say TT! :heart: It's true of course..but it's nice to know some people do actually get Will..looks like that will be happening a lot more from now on too. :dance: I bet the offers will flood in!

 

What a wonderful and insightful thing for your husband to say TT! :heart: It's true of course..but it's nice to know some people do actually get Will..looks like that will be happening a lot more from now on too. :dance: I bet the offers will flood in!

 

Well we know there's already one in the pipeline for 2012. :cheer: Isn't it great being a Will fan! :dance:

 

I think he would make a fantastic eccentric Doctor Who but then I would have to change a habit of a lifetime & watch it. :lol:

 

Bet he achieves an excellent marathon time too. :thumbup:

Edited by truly talented

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He'd be a mad Doctor who :lol: i'm sure he'd be brilliant....and he already has the clothes :rofl:

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2557/14026878.jpg

 

Talking of the Marathon..My little Sis is doing it too..she's already told me she's not trying to catch him for and autograph! ..so much for sisterly love! :lol:

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

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