# ITV Demons



## Brian G Turner (Jan 10, 2009)

Did anyone get to watch ITV's Demons last Saturday?

I missed it and ended up watching it on the ITV player online, but ended up stopping after a while - partly because the ITV player kept having to pause, but also because it was quite painful to watch!

Certainly lots of the settings and filming was very well done, but the "godfather" figure was such a caricature of pulp detective stories he was impossible to take seriously. 

There was nothing realistic about his performance - nothing engaging - and it was so rampant with cliche as to kill all suspension of disbelief.

Anyone disagree with me, though, and watch it to the end - and enjoy it?


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## Adasunshine (Jan 10, 2009)

I didn't see it when it aired but I have Sky+'d it... 

Your review is very similar to most others I've read and I'm a bit scared of watching it but when I do I'll be sure to let you know what I think!

xx


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## Ursa major (Jan 10, 2009)

It seems to want to be a UK Buffy, but without the panache, style and wit. (Why they've got an American character, and played by a UK actor, heaven only knows.)


But I'll give it a chance: scene setters rarely make good programmes (and Buffy was preceded by a film, one that wasn't that good, to be honest).


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## Erunanion (Jan 10, 2009)

Having seen the build-up I wasn't impressed, and I doubt I will be delving into the vaults of the interweb to find it.

Is it just me, or is the current crop of CGI used in television dramas in the UK absolutely appalling?  (Beware, minor rant ahead).  Its come to a head with Doctor Who, and the ads for Demons makes it plain that it would carry the same style.  It looks atrociously cheesy, and makes suspension-of-disbelief incredibly hard to do.  Does anyone else get this?  I know it sounds slightly shallow, but in general I will tend to leave alone programmes which show off this style of CGI, even if it might be a decent programme without it.

Hmm, rant from nowhere there.  Sorry.


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## Ursa major (Jan 10, 2009)

The poor CGI is often only a symptom of a deeper problem. (A decent premise well put across can survive awful special effects; brilliant special effects can't compensate for poor scripts.)

I think cheese is the major ingredient of some of these programmes; it's as if they want to say to the audience, "Yes, _we_ know it's all nonsense as well, so don't you watch it thinking that we're sad enough to believe in any of it."

While shows like Buffy, say, often have their tongues firmly in their cheeks, the programmes tend to work because the makers present the underlying stories and settings seriously and _only_ then add in the humour. Ultimately they believe in their programmes and their ability to make them.


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## Perpetual Man (Jan 10, 2009)

I watched it and thought it was okay. Not the best of the new crop of British fantasy, but by no means the worst.

The comparisons with Buffy are well deserved - almost to the point of calling one of the characters a Slayer (although he is male), in fact much of it is a case of opposites - the show is set in the UK rather than the US; the watcher type character is American; the slayer male; the normal (Xander) character is female; the good vampire female; and the base of operations is a library, in this case a hidden one called the stacks...

All that being said it is only a first episode and sometimes these things need times to grow....

It's better than Bonekickers anyway.... and it's got Gene Hunt in it


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## Pyan (Jan 10, 2009)

Perpetual Man said:


> It's better than Bonekickers anyway....



That's not hard, Perp: _QVC_'s better than Bonekickers...

I don't think it's fair to condemn any program on the first, "setting-up" episode - I mean, the first Sanctuary was pretty dire, and that looks as if it may improve.

And Erunanion's got a fair point - but I wonder if we're comparing like with like, and putting the TV CGI up against the far more expensive cinema animation, maybe unconsciously...


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## nixie (Jan 10, 2009)

Well I watched it, suspending judgement for the moment. The first episode left a lot too be desired


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## sloweye (Jan 10, 2009)

I did, was a bit strange, Mr. glenisters poor American accent was hard to get to grips with. i missed the first 15min, and i to had the problems with the ITV Player. Thought it was very Buffy. will be watching tonights, and will give it a fair go.


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## Dave (Jan 10, 2009)

I just saw some of the second episode (I missed the first). I gave up half-way through for all the same reasons - couldn't take that accent, and it looked like a poor copy of Buffy. There was also the woman from _Survivors_ as a blind seer, and Richard Wilson as an undead caretaker/librarian - just escaped from _Merlin_. It seems to be trying very hard to appeal to Yooth Culture, and no doubt has it's eyes on the _Doctor Who_ target audience. I can't see that accent lasting more than one season though.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 10, 2009)

I'm rather perplexed why they didn't let Glenister keep his Mancunian accent.

In the first episode, Mackenzie Crook's 'villain' was absolutely dire. 

The monkey was nice though.

Second one's a little better, I rather liked Richard Wilson.


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## nixie (Jan 10, 2009)

Dump the fake American and the blind seer. This weeks episode was a little better than last week, not a lot but a little.Mind you maybe I'm just watching it because its so bad.


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## sloweye (Jan 11, 2009)

Much the same as Nixie really. keep the actor but loose the poor American accent. was better than the opener.
I think they should have found someone else and not used Richard Wilson so soon after Merlin.


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## Pyan (Jan 11, 2009)

The trouble with Richard Wilson, as I said in the Merlin thread, is that I find it very difficult to see him as anyone else but Victor Meldrew...

A bit better this week - but somewhat anti-climactic, I thought...the fight was a joke, and surely everyone knows that you don't go leaping into a circle...
Needs a lot of work to bring it up to must-see TV.


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## The Ace (Jan 11, 2009)

After Scotty ? Yes, let's murder American accents for a while and see how _they _like it.


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## sloweye (Jan 11, 2009)

pyan said:


> I thought...the fight was a joke, and surely everyone knows that you don't go leaping into a circle...



Granted Py, But it would be a little differant in that sitch, i mean the whole idea was to do away with the Demon. Personaly i'd have bottled one like that.
and yeah the fight wasn't upto much, could have bulked it out a bit.


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## Shadow Trooper (Jan 11, 2009)

Cack!

I was looking forward to a British Buffy type programme that might delve into history (dragging in the Euro links (Transylvania etc)). It could have used these folklore tales like Supernatural did, or even Stargate who used the Egyptian Gods to tie in with our history knowledge. The previews looked hopeful and I thought the CGI Gremlin thing looked well done.

It just wasn't dark enough; the Hyena Boys were.... well, laughable! Gene Hunt, just wrong (I wouldn't have minded if he'd kept to that character!)

I will watch the next episode in the hope of something better; fingers crossed.


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## High Eight (Jan 12, 2009)

After Richard Wilson gave our hero the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch I expected the demon to look like a rabbit with big, pointy teeth.......


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## Ursa major (Jan 12, 2009)

It was marginally better than the first episode; I just hope that there's going to be a bit more story arc on future episodes and not a series of pathetic foes who are far too easily dispatched.


Merlin can get away with a villain per episode (well, just about) because there is, for the older viewers, a (future) story and setting that they think they know something about. (The same is true, I guess, with Smallville, but I understand that it was deemed too villain-per-episode in at least one of its seasons.) In the case of Demons, though, the viewer is left stranded; the name, van Helsing, is not enough to go on: the programmes need to show more of the backstory. (And a driving test is not sufficient to give a feel of the complexity that should be there; in fact there apears to be no complexity to the story at all at the moment.)


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## Pyan (Jan 12, 2009)

High Eight said:


> After Richard Wilson gave our hero the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch .....


 

Hah! I _knew _I'd seen it somewhere before...


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## Vladd67 (Jan 12, 2009)

Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out.


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## Ursa major (Jan 12, 2009)

And after all that, all it contained was Channeling No.9.


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## Pyan (Jan 12, 2009)

Well, I'd really like it to take off - but I can't help remembering that Bonekickers, as Perp mentioned, had a really good premise, as did the first series of Torchwood, and the execution of both of those fell a long way short of the build-up...


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## Ursa major (Jan 12, 2009)

And _Primeval_ had a decent premise, and that's been awful (and truly awful at times).


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## Shadow Trooper (Jan 12, 2009)

Just finished watching 2nd episode. 

When it started in the graveyard, I thought back to one of the best Doctor Who episodes I've ever seen 'Blink' (aged 38 but it still sent the shivers down the back!).

Unfortunately Demons was no where near as scary, and what was with the Demon? I think it got in one swipe before being vanquished! Any random Vamp in Buffy lasted longer.

Oh well, 4 episodes to go.


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## Constantine Opal (Jan 24, 2009)

_So_ wanted to like this, as I love Philip 'I'm 'avin' 'oops!' Glenister, (Gene Hunt was inspired), but I just couldn't like it. Partly because of his awful American accent, partly because I just didn't care what happened to any of the other characters. Have actually stopped watching it after 2 and a half episodes.


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## thaddeus6th (Jan 25, 2009)

I agree with Constantine absolutely. Only I stopped watching after the first two episodes.


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## Precision Grace (Jan 25, 2009)

It's truly awful. All of it. I tried watching it on two occasions and both times had to run off and rinse my eyes with surgical spirit to remove the poison from mine eyes.

I don't know how they're managing to produce such utter rubbish lately but they are. Guess all the good people have switched to Films or something. Even Merlin, which I did like, required quite a lot of good will to endure.

They should ask me to write/produce/direct something. I bet it would be awesome.


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## Pyan (Jan 25, 2009)

Watched it last night, probably for the last time...honestly, there were holes in the plot you could drop a small planet through...


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## chopper (Jan 25, 2009)

i watched BidTV instead. there was a lot more drama and the characters were far more believeable. at times it was genuinely exciting, and i swear Mrs C was on the edge of her seat at one point when the price fell below £4.99 for a lot of gold-encrusted watches.



do i eat too much cheese?


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## Constantine Opal (Jan 25, 2009)

chopper said:


> i watched BidTV instead. there was a lot more drama and the characters were far more believeable. at times it was genuinely exciting, and i swear Mrs C was on the edge of her seat at one point when the price fell below £4.99 for a lot of gold-encrusted watches.
> 
> 
> 
> do i eat too much cheese?


 
In my experience, you can never eat too much cheese. *twitches madly in sleep*


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## misaditas (Feb 8, 2009)

Watching the first episode of Demons was like witnessing a car crash - awful but couldn't quite look away.....

It's getting better. Or my tolerance is broadening. I'm not sure which. Then again, I did sit through the first series of Primeval didn't I? lol

I've gotten used to Glenister's accent. But I think listening to Tapping's attempt at English in Sanctuary has destroyed my ear drums so... yeah.


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## Vladd67 (Feb 8, 2009)

I didn't think Tappings accent was that bad, given her family background I should imagine she grew up hearing the occasional english voice. Of course she is meant to be a victorian so her accent would be a little different from now.


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## Daisy-Boo (Dec 7, 2009)

pyan said:


> The trouble with Richard Wilson, as I said in the Merlin thread, is that I find it very difficult to see him as anyone else but Victor Meldrew...


 
LOL. I kept thinking Victor Meldrew too. 


What a tragic waste of Philip Glenister. Why oh why, I ask with tears in my big brown eyes, did his character have to be American? His accent is terrible! Struggling with the accent also dampened his natural comic wit and timing. 

Did anyone else spot the tiny nod to Life on Mars? In one of the episodes (I forget which) he scornfully calls a male character "Gladys". He often referred to Sam Tyler as Gladys when he thought Sam wasn't being man enough.


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## Vladd67 (Dec 7, 2009)

Daisy-Boo said:


> What a tragic waste of Philip Glenister. Why oh why, I ask with tears in my big brown eyes, did his character have to be American? His accent is terrible! Struggling with the accent also dampened his natural comic wit and timing.


I think I read somewhere he decided to play the part american of course I could be wrong.


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## Daisy-Boo (Dec 7, 2009)

Vladd67 said:


> I think I read somewhere he decided to play the part american of course I could be wrong.


 
Maybe he thought it a good idea to try something new?


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## Dr.Jackson (Dec 10, 2009)

Not a huge surprise that this series got canned, but it wasn't a bad attempt at some homemade Buffy-esque fantasy stuff.

*whisper, whisper*

What?
It was professionally done?
Where?

I did like the opening titles though, and the end ones. The stuff in between was obviously written by someone who'd read Dracula, watched some Buffy, had too much coffee, not enough sleep and the script-writing skills of a 5 year old. Oh, and lack of belief in the product may have played a part in the lack of funding, leaving us with shoddy effects on top of shoddy... everything else.

On the surface it was a good idea, just executed badly.


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## Vladd67 (Dec 10, 2009)

Daisy-Boo said:


> Maybe he thought it a good idea to try something new?



He was wrong


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## Daisy-Boo (Dec 11, 2009)

Vladd67 said:


> He was wrong


 
LOL. No argument from me.


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## Vladd67 (Dec 11, 2009)

Of course it could have been part of the mirror buffy idea
Buffy hero female
Demons hero male
Buffy assistant who fancies hero male
Demons assistant who fancies hero female
Buffy guide and mentor a Brit in America
Demons guide and mentor a Yank in Britain
Well its a theory


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