A Town Called Malice

[12rounds]

Anybody else watching?

I'm 2 episodes in and struggling to tell what the show is trying to be so far. 

It's obvious there has been a hefty budget spent on production and the soundtrack but can't help feel the script lacks substance. 

I'm not writing the show off as bad - I guess the disappointment stems from the way the show was presented in trailers and teasers. It comes across as a good old British crime drama with 80's flare, but in reality what you get is over the top theatrics, cardboard dialogue and cheesy sing alongs that might be better suited to the stage than the screen. I wish the trailers Sky present to us would better capture the mood of the show, rather than hype it up to be something it's not. 

Not the first time this has happened either. The first season of Gangs of London done the same. Was expecting a British version of Gomorrah and got a mighty shock when the first action scene happened and realised the show was going to be a Kung Fu show with OTT blood and gore. 

[SlenderRobert]

@12rounds 

Have to say I agree. I've given up on it. 

Sky really don't have a good strike rate when it comes to their own Original content. 

[nolte]

i watched the first episode and i'm intrigued to how it will progress.

[lettice]

Did watch the first episode, but will not continue.
Do feel you have summed up basically how I felt with it.

The trailers looked promising, but that first episode was just lacking in any script and acting that makes you want to watch any more.

[redsky88]

I haven't got to this yet but did fancy giving it a go. I loved Gangs of London but Sky originals have been very hit and miss with more misses for me. They are obliviously spending money on shows which is great but I'm not sure how many are really break out hits. 

Does make the point that they are completely reliant still on HBO content. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@redsky88 wrote:

Does make the point that they are completely reliant still on HBO content. 

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To be fair, HBO will be spending more on one episode of a prestige product than a Sky Original may have for a season.

[redsky88]

@TimmyBGood I'd say you may be right. You can't make a Stranger Things or Game of Thrones without the budget, but the BBC show with the likes of Happy Valley, Peaky Blinders, Shetland etc you can make excellent TV without Hollywood budgets.  

[SlenderRobert]

Sky just aren't commissioning the right scripts. They're too busy trying to find things that are quirky, a bit different or Original that they're not actually working out if they're any good. 

[Timelord2018]

They Obviously think differently

Everybody will be looking to be as cost effective as possible,” he adds. “As I’ve said before, your most expensive show isn’t always your best show. But we’re still looking at very big marquee pieces because that’s what our customers demand. We’re selling premium pay-TV products.”

That is why, he says, Sky has ordered a series remake of thriller The Day Of The Jackal. It is being made by Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films and co-produced with fellow Comcast-owned platform Peacock. Bennett describes the production as a “huge endeavour”.

 Our customers love our originals,” he insists. “They’re the shows that are getting over 2 million viewers. There’s only a few HBO shows that can get above that, such as House Of The Dragon [famously costing around $20m an episode] and The Last Of Us.”

Sky Originals, many of them co-produced with US partners such as HBO and AMC — such as Gangs Of London, A Discovery Of Witches, The Midwich Cuckoos, Christmas Carole, COBRA and Never Mind The Buzzcocks — all attract between 1.7 to 2 million viewers, when audiences are consolidated over a month, according to Bennett.

It may come as a surprise but some of Sky’s high-end acquired fare is less popular. “The first series of Succession got less than 200,000. It was only with season three that we got it to just under a million,” he reveals.

Such comments perhaps hint that Bennett is preparing for life beyond 2025, when Sky’s exclusive deal with HBO comes to an end. Many think HBO parent Warner Bros Discovery will go direct to consumer in the UK with its HBO Max service. “There’s nothing to worry about in the immediate term,” he says, when asked about the end of the HBO contract. “The HBO deal has got a while to run.”

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oBeXKYi41sIJ:https://www.screendaily.com/featu...

[redsky88]

@Timelord2018 I'm not sure HBO will give them a choice once the contract expires regardless of what they think. If they've the ratings then fair play to them, but i'm yet to find anyone who raves about Sky originals. Save Me and GOL for me are the only two standouts. 

[nolte]

Of recent Sky shows, I really liked I hate Suzie and Funny Woman, both of which i found excellent. Breeders is another excellent sky show.

My favourite type of programme are quirky Comedy Drama's, but I know not every ones cup of tea.

I feel BBC  are a bit more into making crime/police drama's which I do watch occasionally but not a big fan of. 

But they do half hour slots very well - ghosts, ladhood, in my skin, are very good.

Guilt is the last hour long drama I remember really enjoying on bbc. 

Each to their own preferences.

[Skull+Treaty]

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@nolte wrote:

Of recent Sky shows, I really liked I hate Suzie and Funny Woman, both of which i found excellent. Breeders is another excellent sky show.

My favourite type of programme are quirky Comedy Drama's, but I know not every ones cup of tea.

I feel BBC  are a bit more into making crime/police drama's which I do watch occasionally but not a big fan of. 

But they do half hour slots very well - ghosts, ladhood, in my skin, are very good.

Guilt is the last hour long drama I remember really enjoying on bbc. 

Each to their own preferences.

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Not forgetting the BBC's excellent Inside No. 9 (more down to Steve & Reece)

[nolte]

Inside No 9 is indeed excellent