Yeah, the script wasn't exactly watertight. It particularly felt like the whole labyrinth thing was over before it had begun.

 

HOWEVER, the melting pot of mythology that was promised delivered, Atlantis feels like a wide setting and there are a couple of hints of a greater arc afoot. Hopefully all that pays off. I'm not commenting on all the historical inaccuracies because it's clearly meant to be full of anachronisms, but having that setting with 'two worlds' (parallel universes?) and then including a line about how this Pythagoras (who clearly can't be the real life Pythagoras because of many many many reasons; unlike all the other characters, Pythagoras is a genuine historical figure rather than just a legend so it bugged me a little) was going to have a lasting impact on history was a little off-putting. Which is thinking too much about it. Oh, and many building features (+ chase scenes) were looking like they'd come straight out of Assassin's Creed.

 

All that aside, it was a very fun little romp, the stone-drawing scene in particular was well-done, and the actress who plays Ariadne is VERY beautiful. So I'm impressed. Definitely has potential.

Just watched the episode, and that really was amazing. I'm not 100% sold on Jason's acting, and at times it was a bit cringey, but on the whole everybody delivered, and the plot itself delivered. I can see this shaping up to be better than Merlin if they deliver. I'm really intrigued to find out who Jason is going to turn out to be, but I don't think we'll find out until either the end of the series, or in the next series (if this is going to follow the same route as Merlin becoming/being who he was destined to be).

Sarah Parish was absolutely amazing, as expected. She is honestly such a bloody GOOD actress and amazing at playing the villains, just as they should. Every other irrelevant hoe who tries to play an evil queen should take note. Sarah's done it twice now. :wub:

Looking forward to next week's episode, especially the introduction of Medusa.

I have to say I found this LAUGHABLE. Acting bar Alexander, Sarah and Juliette was awful. Plot wise it was all over the place and felt very "lets throw it at the wall and hope something sticks". Some decent potential mythology and lore and the world seems very interesting so I'm going to stick with it for a bit.

Oh I forgot to say too that the Oracle is basically just Atlantis' answer to Merlin's Great Dragon. She's good nonetheless, though... I think she's gonna turn out to be Jason's mother, though.

Oh and I also couldn't help but (negatively) compare it to Stargate Atlantis. The ''portal'' thing made it all the more hilarious as it's for all intents and purposes a wormhole/stargate.

So this was pretty good. Very like Merlin, which is obviously what they were aiming for and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Jason's arrival in Atlantis was almost identical to Merlin's arrival in Camelot! But apart from that, it was mainly quite good, I agree with Iz though - I didn't really like how it was a normal person from real life who came here, kinda screws up the integrity of it. Same thing with that Merlin finale and that scene at the end with an older Merlin in the modern world - I think it could be more 'credible' without it.

 

I can't help but feel it moved a bit too quickly as well, like how did the three characters instantly become the best of friends?

Edited September 29, 201311 yr by Chez Wombat

I saw it earlier this evening. It was utter tosh bit tosh in a good way. It didn't try to be historically accurate like other time travel shows such as Life On Mars and should just be seen as pure entertainment.

Viewing figures

 

1.01 | 'The Earth Bull'

Overnight 5.62m

Share 25.3%

 

Surprised it managed to get that many viewers, although maybe I was underestimating how well it would do because it was airing at the same time as The X Factor was, but great stuff!

It really is like Merlin goes to Morocco circa 1500. Same concept, replacing wizardry with mythology. The 'humour' is identical.

 

Again, much like Merlin, it looks like some visually appealing lightweight entertainment. Perfect Saturday fodder.

Just seen it on iPlayer, its alright, its got a great cast, as previous comments, its more of a replacement for Merlin

I was unsure after the first episode but the second episode was much better. Loved seeing Jemima Rooper as Medusa but I do seem to love anything with her or any other As If cast member in.

Just watched the episode and it was fantastic! It was much better than last week's episode, even if the story is really just 'Merlin' but with different characters. You can totally imagine the scenario being an innocent Morgana helping Merlin, Arthur and the knights through the forest and on the way back before she turned to her wicked side. The whole mystery regarding who Jason is is really quite interesting now, and I can't wait to find out - the Oracle makes it all the more interesting. Medusa is a fab character too, great acting from her. :wub: Looking forward to next week's episode now, QUEEN SARAH PARISH back *.* and Jason shirtless *.*

I definitely liked the introduction of Medusa, she seems like a great character from what scenes we got of her. Other than that Hercules is really making the whole thing watchable for me, Mark Addy's doing a great job with him.

This has been renewed for a second series! ^_^ No news on amount of episodes or when it'll air, though.

Well that was easily the best episode yet. It's definitely growing into a better series than the first few episodes suggested it would, we've had enough time to get a good handle on the characters and it seems a nice arc is becoming clear for the remainder of the episodes. :D I might have to start watching it live again, been catching up whenever I had time up to now.

 

Mark Addy getting tricked by someone called Circe (pronounced like 'Cersei') did make me smile, although I suppose that was just coincidence.

Trying to catch up with this after giving up after episode 2. The third episode was amazing! Sarah Parish continuing to prove why she is just such an AMAZING actress :wub: The story's gradually getting a lot better too, and easier to watch. Jason with his shirt off is such a delight, too. :kink:

The show will not be returning for a third series, the remaining 7 episodes will air later this year.

 

The BBC haven't really been clear on their reasons why but I guess filming abroad is expensive and perhaps the ratings don't justify this.

That's a shame to hear. I didn't even finish the first series, but from what I saw it definitely had potential to be as good as, or better than, Merlin! I think one of the major pitfalls though is that they did seem to focus a bit too much on how "fit" Jack Donnelly is - probably because there was a lot of filler material.

 

The show probably would have worked better as an 8-part series.

I actually lost interest in this after series 1, I think with all the time shuffling and low audience, people were just turning off. BBC1 need to bring back Robin Hood probably an adult version even if its only for 8 episodes per season on Saturdays at 9pm and shift Casualty, seems to be working quite well for The Three Musketeers.

Confirmed that the final seven episodes will start airing from 11 April. This would probably be an ideal time to try and get up to date with all of it, but that's unlikely to happen. :kink: