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Shows like Discovery of Witches?


Calibandar

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I am really enjoying this series. I thought I might after I saw the trailer a few months ago.

The two lead characters Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode are excellent and have great chemistry.

First 3 episodes that I have seen do a lot of set up and the potential pay-off is clear to see.

Has anyone else seen it, and also, what other shows in this vein would you recommend?

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I think a few of us have discussed it in the "watching" thread with mixed feelings. 

Buffy/angel and twilight spring to mind. Ultraviolet (an old channel 4 show) and being human cover the "monsters living in the real world" similarities.

The Dresden files have just been optioned for a second attempt at a TV show. If they are faithful to the books that would be similar to discovery of witches 

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6 hours ago, kairparavel said:

Really? Hm. The books are so awful. Perhaps it's better on screen  

I'm ho hum about the show but others have commented on the books being excellent so I'm still unsure whether it's a mediocre adaptation of a good book  or it's a faithful adaptation of a love/hate book series. You should check an episode out for scientific research purposes :)

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11 hours ago, red snow said:

I think a few of us have discussed it in the "watching" thread with mixed feelings. 

Buffy/angel and twilight spring to mind. Ultraviolet (an old channel 4 show) and being human cover the "monsters living in the real world" similarities.

The Dresden files have just been optioned for a second attempt at a TV show. If they are faithful to the books that would be similar to discovery of witches 

All of those shows have a different feel to me. Most of those I did not care for. Being Human probably deserves another chance.

Some other shows I saw linked to this on Amazon were The Originals, True Blood, Supernatural.

True Blood feels a lot sillier to me though. Don't care for Supernatural, not seen The Originals.

8 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

I’m really hooked on this show as well atm 

It's great, I look forward to each episode though I'm thinking about holding back and binging the final five.

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3 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

All of those shows have a different feel to me. Most of those I did not care for. Being Human probably deserves another chance.

Some other shows I saw linked to this on Amazon were The Originals, True Blood, Supernatural.

True Blood feels a lot sillier to me though. Don't care for Supernatural, not seen The Originals.

It's great, I look forward to each episode though I'm thinking about holding back and binging the final five.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact feel of A Discovery of Witches because it’s  just a song much about an academic and a scientist than it is about a witch and a vampire. Obviously it will become more heavily about the creatures as it goes on but I really love their relationship and chemistry and the idea of the world it’s built - it feels more integrated with humans and a bit more convincing than some of the other vampire shows 

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I’ve only seen the first episode but it I want to carry on with it for now.

True Blood is quite good, at least for the first 3 or 4 series anyway, although compared to other shows mentioned here, it is more adult themed in terms of gratuitous sex and violent scenes-probably on par with early GoT in that regard.

The last few series it got a bit too silly for me.

 

I’ve only seen a bit of The Originals (it being a spin off off the very teen orientated Vampire Diaries didn’t fill me with confidence)

From what I have seen it seemed ok, the premise seems to revolve about the first created vampires which were all part of one family and have stuck together for a long time, obviously making loads of enemies over the years with betrayal and back stabbing seeming to be a common thing, I’m only going on seeing the first series on Netflix.

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haha my god but this show has some of the most awful dialogue that i've ever heard.The love story between the two leads is like some CW tween drama.:laugh: I'm assuming a good actor like Matthew Goode was hard up for cash when he signed on for this!:P Are the books as terrible?

I dare anyone to watch one whole episode!

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Whoever said the Harkness novels are awful is wrong.  They are very smart books in a variety of ways.  

Whoever said that is particularly wrong when one compares and contrasts the Harkness novels with the enormity of real drek being published in the genre(s) and made into television or movies.

I, of course, due to location, haven't been able to see the ITV version, but I'm beginning to think that somebody on these threads has a real hate on for it that's personal in a way, of course, none of can know. But considering that others with whom I've often concurred in watching opinions have more positive things to say -- leaves one wondering.  :cheers: :read:

I of course am prejudiced in the other way, firmly believing these are among the smartest fantasy novels written in a very long time.  Plus! all that history of science and art and just plain old history, is presented with great intelligence.  One will seldom see a representation of Queen Elizabeth as terrible and brilliant as the Queen was -- utterly terrifying.

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16 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

haha my god but this show has some of the most awful dialogue that i've ever heard.The love story between the two leads is like some CW tween drama.:laugh: I'm assuming a good actor like Matthew Goode was hard up for cash when he signed on for this!:P Are the books as terrible?

I dare anyone to watch one whole episode!

The dialogue is quite bad but I really enjoy this show anyway and I like the characters, the actors performances of those characters and the world it’s set in. They definitely need some better writers though. 

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18 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

haha my god but this show has some of the most awful dialogue that i've ever heard.The love story between the two leads is like some CW tween drama.:laugh: I'm assuming a good actor like Matthew Goode was hard up for cash when he signed on for this!:P Are the books as terrible?

I dare anyone to watch one whole episode!

This is the same kind of place I am in. It just seems like a Twilight variant. The protagonist being super powerful, yet unaware of her powers, is such an obvious trope. Plus, their cheesy 'true love' relationship is so naff and unconvincing to me. It hasn't been earned at all. I think they could have done a much better job with the romance and made it much less predictable, more genuine and believable. It's like a Mills & Boon book. It feels like they didn't care and just went for the most obvious, shallow Hollywood type of relationship, where two pretty people are attracted to each other - because they're attractive. 

I discussed it with a friend who did their degrees at Oxford (20 years back) who said, 'but doesn't Oxford look absolutely beautiful?' And she's right. It does. It looks as if most of the scenes take place in a perpetual peachy sunset. 

 

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On 10/8/2018 at 10:22 PM, red snow said:

Buffy/angel and twilight spring to mind. Ultraviolet (an old channel 4 show) and being human cover the "monsters living in the real world" similarities

Ultraviolet is one of the greatest genre shows of this kind ever made (although it's very much more at the The X-Files end of the spectrum in tone).

Supernatural is interesting, landing exactly halfway between The X-Files and Buffy in tone. Surprisingly enjoyable, if a little disposable (in Season 1, anyway).

 

Quote

 

The Magicians?

 

 

You could theoretically watch The Magicians or, for greater enjoyment, insert the leading edge of a buzzsaw into your eyes for much the same effect.

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Another British series I would mention is Hex, which starred a young Michael Fassbender before he made it to Hollywood. Witches, ghosts, fallen angels, boarding school setting. Was good, pulpy fun as I recall, and Wikipedia tells me that it had generally positive reviews at the time, which I think makes sense. It had a couple of good twists.

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The whole vampires not bursting into flames in sunlight thing is starting to feel like a bit of a cheat to me.

Whoever said it makes Oxford look amazing is absolutley right it does, all I’ve associated Oxford with in the past is a university I’m not clever enough to get in to and it being the home town of one of my favourite musical artists, and now dreamy sunsets added to list!.

 

Also being a vampire must come with additional superpowers-you can drive a Tesla in the remote Scottish highlands without running out of power :P.

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1 hour ago, Werthead said:

You could theoretically watch The Magicians or, for greater enjoyment, insert the leading edge of a buzzsaw into your eyes for much the same effect.

My soul hurts for you and your poor tastes.

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1 hour ago, RedEyedGhost said:

My soul hurts for you and your poor tastes.

Magicians is just batshyte crazy, and I love that.  Don't think the books were, though.  which makes the batshyte even more fun, because I think the author really believed in his books in a way that the television writers -- just don't.

Discovery of Witches just doesn't go into that territory of tone and attitude intentionally or unintentionally.  The books at least, believe in themselves.

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