I was the youngest [actor]. In fact, the next play we did was '12 Angry Men,' and I directed that when I was I directed them all. And we had a year-old in that. And again I was the youngest. Immediately after graduation he got an agent and began working professionally. I was desperate to get away from them, and the first thing I did was fing 'Oliver! You start off going, 'Well, I don't need much to live.
How am I going to get there? I've got to pay for it. Nobody will ever see it. And it didn't take long. It took me about a year, and I was suddenly the Swedish Coffee Man , and I was doing Doritos adverts in Luxembourg, because you've got to pay your way, but it meant I could carry on doing theater and doing what I wanted to do.
Both men became close friends of Moyer's. Numerous TV and film gigs followed, most recognizably to U. That was amazing to me, because there's no way in London you could go and just say that, because nobody would care. Not only would nobody care, there's no way to do it.
What would you do? You wouldn't be able to get an agent like that. You wouldn't be able to get a casting director to even [look at you]. It's hard now for people getting out of drama schools to get an agent. So I'm always impressed when people just go, 'I've come to L.
He says, "One thing that is different and I find really impressive about the way it works here is that people do class all the time. People finish a job, and when they're not working they do class.
I rented the DVDs and started watching this series with great interest and high expectations, particularly due to the writer, and the presence of Susan Hampshire. Very rapidly I became turned off by the whole thing, and quit half-way through the second episode, I just couldn't take it any more.
I found the characters somehow rather repellent, and felt that the writing was just awful, particularly the extremely heavy-handed emphasis on the leering "evil brother and his nefarious deeds"; I wondered why the producers hadn't given him a long mustache to twirl! I don't mind melodrama, but this one pushed the concept over the cliff for me. Upstairs, downstairs and even in my lady's chamber eddie 27 August A remarkably well preserved Susan Hampshire plays an aging courtesan to the gentry, Tim Healey is excellent as Jacob, the all-seeing Hall Porter with principles and Mark McGann is perfect casting as devious, supercilious hotel proprietor Marcus Bannerman.
However, a couple of cast changes to major characters cause confusion and some of the storylines, especially the surrogate baby issue, become extremely far-fetched.
Watch out for spunky little chambermaid Kate. A soap dynasty in the making? Nothing particularly unique, fresh or new happens in The Grand, but it succeeds because it constantly surprises and turns expectations on their heads. Russell T Davies, that genius writer, is always good at catching the viewer out, and the show's greatest successes are delivered by deft overturning of what we think is going to happen next.
Casting Susan Hampshire as a prostitute? Straightaway, that's brilliant. I expected the whole series to involve Miss Harkness at risk of being caught out, struggling to keep one step ahead of propriety By episode three, her trade is an open secret. Series One thrives on the aspiring, go-getting maid Monica. Several gobsmacking twists on the trot lead Monica's story to an appalling conclusion: gang rape, murder in self defence, execution. Well done, Mr Davies. It all falls apart in series two. Head transplants are always tricky to pull off in ongoing TV series, but The Grand fails in giving two key characters head AND personality transplants.
The impossibly handsome, tormented Stephen becomes ten years younger and infinitely wetter. Outspoken, bitter Ruth becomes a shivering, febrile mess. These two changes are a huge failing and, with the Bannerman family granny forgotten between series, and with John and Sarah Bannerman the irreplaceable Julia St John written out after a couple of episodes, major driving forces are lost.
Series two is very different from series one, and much weaker. Sure, there are still great episodes Monica's revenge, Clive's dilemma , but these individual story lines are divorced from the main ongoing stories. As is the way of these things, the Below Stairs characters are always the most interesting. While the Above Stairs characters worry about business deals and all of that old nonsense, there is a real sense that life below stairs is tough, cruel, bitter and horrible.
The Grand, at its best, really is "grand". The problem with the majority of series two is that those memorable characters aren't quite as memorable as they used to be, which handicaps the story from the very beginning. Immediately evident is the sharp class distinction between the rich and poor. Both husbands were well meaning oafs too busy to recognize the problems of their family members. They each had a despicable brother. Both wives had an affair though they claimed to love their husbands.
Both sons were severely damaged by WWI and both owned a pistol. Both daughters were rebellious. Four members of each family with a strong grandmother showing up periodically. The roles of both head porter Collins and Head Butler Hudson were almost interchangeable. Both very observant, often shocked yet always subservient to their masters. Collins had Clive and Hudson had Edward as their loyal assistants.
Both series had one of the downstairs girls dying at the end of a rope. The main difference in the two series is that few of the characters in the Grand were likable. Poor Susan Hampshire labored mightily for us to empathize with her Madam character but even her immense talents could not make Esme likable. Marcus Bannerman was a classic villain, well played by Mark McGann. The acting is excellent, the settings impressive and while it captures the essence of the period, it's not worth a second look.
This series centers on the people involved in a high class hotel: the family who runs it, the staff who work there, and the guests. The setting is Manchester, England, in and thereafter. There are 18 episodes. I enjoyed it more as the episodes progressed, and increasingly came to appreciate it as special toward the end and to its conclusion.
I recommend the viewer stick with it for at list 6 episodes, before rendering judgment on the whole series. This production is first class in all respects: storyline, acting, dress and settings, musical accompaniment, etc. The plots of each episode are quite compelling, while underlying themes that develop in twists and turns across the plots are engrossing. Some very powerful drama is therein presented. If you like psychologically valid human relationship drama this should be of interest.
I rank it in the top 10 percent of movies or series I have seen many thousands. The Grand,it isn't. This series is a sort of,television "monument to sleaze". There are simply no likable characters and some are so evil an average guest at the Grand would have to think twice or thrice before daring to leave their room!
If you are into,suicide,murder,wicked ways and weird weird surrogacy, plus heaps of infidelity,"The Grand" will appeal. Stephen MOyer plays Stephen Bannerman, a WWI vet who has been drastically changed by the experience and has trouble fitting in back in civilian life. On the outside, The Grand, located in Manchester, appears to be a flourishing hotel, complete with the latest modern luxuries of the s. Stay awhile and discover the dramatic style, riveting stories and wonderful characters in this highly acclaimed series.
Harvey 16 episodes, Julia St. Visual Effects: n. Photos from this series:. But Jones, the "half man", converted to the Forerunner Chronicles faith based on, but not affiliated with Seventh-Day Adventism at some point before season 10, and made his contempt for the morals of his show pretty clear. He left the show at the end of the season though he later returned for the final episode of season When he went, the dynamic was completely different.
As well as dotcom billionaire Kutcher having already replaced jingle writer Sheen, Amber Tamblyn came in as the absent Charlie's illegitimate, estranged, lesbian daughter.
Which made it two men and one woman: totally different show. With an average of around 7 million viewers, it's no surprise ITV quickly commissioned a follow-up to its hit drama series, which starred Christopher Eccleston and Marsha Thomason as a couple who give shelter to a family under threat. Eccleston, for reasons unknown, later decided to abruptly depart the second series , but rather than just write his character out or recast , ITV opted to overhaul Safe House entirely, scrapping the original scripts, devising a new storyline and characters and relocating from the Lake District to Wales.
True Blood 's Stephen Moyer made for a suitable replacement as the show's new male lead, with series two averaging out at a still-respectable 4 million.
No word yet on if the show might continue on in an anthology format. As we've detailed elsewhere , Scrubs ' final season was a trainwreck.
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