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Utopia (UK TV series)


AncalagonTheBlack

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Which character was recast, Veltigar? It's been a year since I've seen the first season but all the main actors appeared to be still present. The guy who plays Arby has just lost a lot of weight (and gained a beard) - I agree he's the stand out actor. He uses his whole body in the role, i love how he rolls everywhere in line with his character in that he looks like he could tip over at any point.



As for series 2, I did enjoy it a lot although I thought the network lost a bit of that sense of being able to ruin people's lives with impunity (they still did but it wasn't really as visceral). It was also clear this series was written with a third in mind which robbed it of a strong ending to be honest.


I thought the prequel episode was well cast (shame Rose Leslie wasn't cast as a regular though) and I don't know how they got baby Arby to appear so similar and so sinister. I wasn't so convinced with Phillip Carvil's switch from genocidal saviour to protagonist although the latter part of this series helped fill in the blanks.



What I did like about this series were the speeches on population and resources. I especially liked when the guy had a go at the woman for having a child (I've often felt like saying something similar to parents who preach being environmental warriors). The networks plan and methods are abhorrent but I did find myself warming to the threat they felt was imminent. The initial sterilisation plan technically isn't even murder - although I think they were naive to think society would continue to work with 90% of the population being sterile (Haven't they seen children of men?). Perhaps Carvill's idea of

wiping out 90% was more cuthroat?



Which gets me wondering - are there any post apocalyptic books/films where the apocalypse is merely too many people, no more resources? We don't really need asteroids, zombies or pandemics to get such a collapse in society. I guess Mad Max is essentially from that scenario.


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Which character was recast, Veltigar? It's been a year since I've seen the first season but all the main actors appeared to be still present. The guy who plays Arby has just lost a lot of weight (and gained a beard) - I agree he's the stand out actor. He uses his whole body in the role, i love how he rolls everywhere in line with his character in that he looks like he could tip over at any point.




Donaldson (the sleezebag science guy who provided Becky with her pills) was recast ;)



I still haven't watched the finale. For some reason I can't move myself to see it. I'll watch it this week probably, since there is no 'the Knick' this week.









Which gets me wondering - are there any post apocalyptic books/films where the apocalypse is merely too many people, no more resources? We don't really need asteroids, zombies or pandemics to get such a collapse in society. I guess Mad Max is essentially from that scenario.






The network's idea's always remind me of a twisted, modern interpretation of the Malthusian trap, but that's a political theory, not a show ;)


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Donaldson (the sleezebag science guy who provided Becky with her pills) was recast ;)

I still haven't watched the finale. For some reason I can't move myself to see it. I'll watch it this week probably, since there is no 'the Knick' this week.

Ah, ok that's probably why I didn't notice. I thought there was something off about him this time around.

I suspect you not having seen the finale is because the cliffhangers weren't really as strong in this series. That and things felt relatively "safe". Still worth checking out for some interesting developments in the finale although it feels like things will be business as usual for a series 3.

@ redsnow: check out Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/159780276X?pc_redir=1409143935&robot_redir=1

I haven't read it, but I do remember it getting very good reviews when it came out.

Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like it fits the bill. Although one review suggests some moderately spectacular elements turn up later.

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Really loved both series of this, even though the plot didn't make quite as much sense as it should have. Some very interesting moral dilemmas, cool (if theatrical) character arcs, and so very very stylish in both the visuals and the soundtrack. Amazing how they managed to make something so brightly coloured be so dark.

Not only was Young Arby the dead spit of his older counterpart, was also very impressed with how much Ygritte resembled her present-day version

and lol a bit at how closely her death-scene matched Ygritte's in the show :-D

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Really loved both series of this, even though the plot didn't make quite as much sense as it should have. Some very interesting moral dilemmas, cool (if theatrical) character arcs, and so very very stylish in both the visuals and the soundtrack. Amazing how they managed to make something so brightly coloured be so dark.

Not only was Young Arby the dead spit of his older counterpart, was also very impressed with how much Ygritte resembled her present-day version

and lol a bit at how closely her death-scene matched Ygritte's in the show :-D

Now you mention it the death scenes were very similar :)

It's definitely one of the most stylish shows on TV. I can only think of "hannibal" with the same super slick ID.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally saw the last episode. For some reason, I had a hard time getting into it. Despite the killings and bloodshed, it all felt so terribly safe. Like, the show took all the easy outs to create yet another season. Personally, I'm not sure that that was wise. We'll see next year of course (and

hurray for the survival of Arby

, but at the moment I think they should have wrapped up everything in season 2 and be done with it. The season overall was fine, but not as stellar as the first season was. The only really good episode was the first one with Rose Leslie. That one really stuck with me, while the rest of the season is a bit of a blur to be honest.


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Lee is my favourite shithead of a character for a quite a while

The actor playing him was very good. I'm surprised that I hadn't seen him before in anything, most of the time you see the same people popping up, even if you don't know their name. I checked his IMDB page and he doesn't appear to have a large ammount of roles to his name. Sometimes, I wonder where those actors come from really.

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Really loved this show. I fail to see the point in HBO doing a version themselves...I'll not even tune into that, unless this ends prematurely.

Anyway, I think this seriously needs to be considered as one of the best Sci-fi/conspiracy shows of the last decade. Just amazing.

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I'll not even tune into that, unless this ends prematurely.

You might want to reconsider that. News is just in that David Fincher will be directing the entire first season. And it will be adapted by the writer of 'Gone Girl', which seems great, since that movie will probably be very good.

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You might want to reconsider that. News is just in that David Fincher will be directing the entire first season. And it will be adapted by the writer of 'Gone Girl', which seems great, since that movie will probably be very good.

I still don't get it. If it follows a similar pattern, I can't see myself watching it, just like I won't be watching the rehash of Broadchurch. I like Fincher a lot and Gone Girl looks like a good film, but Utopia was so unique that I can't see them capturing the same awesomeness that was Utopia, mostly due to cinematography and music.

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