What UK TV series Game of Thrones'd it?
Posted by MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 108 comments
I watched Line of Duty again for the first time since the finale and I forgot how annoyed I was when>!they unveiled who H was.!<Out of all the options they had I can't believe they picked that.
I appreciate that a lot of UK TV series gradually decline to the point of being unwatchable but LoD was pretty solid up to that point (IMO) and just shat the bed.
Is this the worst ending to a UK TV series?
poptimist185@reddit
Rewatch game of thrones and you realise the rot set in very quickly after season 4. The final season gets all the criticism but it’s built on a bad foundation.
TMI2020@reddit
The first three episodes of series 5 leaked online early and I was buzzing to watch them…and I was so disappointed.
Series 5 and 6 were so poor, but 7 and 8, whatever happened there.
House of the Dragon series 1 had some good moments but I gave up and didn’t bother with 2.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is really good though, defo recommend it.
el_weirdo@reddit
WHATEVER HAPPENED THERE!?!?
Broad-Train@reddit
Take it easy
LopsidedLegs@reddit
Yep, if only he'd written the books, which we are still waiting for.
Honestly I do not think it will ever get published or completed.
dvb70@reddit
Martin is in a tricky position as the ending of the TV show may be roughly what he had planned and he now knows everyone hated it. So do you stick with something you know was not well received or go in a completely different direction and have the books end completely different to the TV show.
Martin had shown every sign of possibly never finishing the books anyway but they now have an added problem of how do you cope with the bad reception the ending of the show had.
Direct_Taste_3844@reddit
Ultimately it was stupid of him to let the books get converted into a series before he was finished writing them. It was especially stupid of him to allow the show to overtake the books.
You could tell the writers were struggling to fill out the story in the later seasons, hence the reduced episode counts.
Legal_Dan@reddit
I suspect you're right that he had planned for some of the events that happen in the show. The thing is they could definitely have been done well if they were handled carefully over a long build up, but now if he writes any of them people will just say 'It's the same dumb ending as the show'. So yeah, it feels like he's in a lose-lose situation and it is better to just move on.
dvb70@reddit
Indeed. A couple more seasons building to that end could have worked. It just needed more time to develop the story lines for that end to work.
TheRadishBros@reddit
I think the broad plot points of how the show ended could have worked really well if they were given the chance to breathe.
dvb70@reddit
I don't disagree. If they had built to the ending with a couple more seasons it could have worked. Martin could certainly make it work if he gave the story enough time to develop but I can understand why they might now be wary of the whole thing.
Any_Crazy_500@reddit
I’d say if he can’t finish them get ghost writers in, but then I remembered what an awful hash they made of continuing ‘The Girl……’ series.
DarkStanley@reddit
I mean just write something different. If it diverges for the better great. He’s never finishing those books though.
Giorggio361@reddit
The rot set in before the end of the books. Season 4 ends with the ending of Storm of Swords, there are two books after that which weren’t properly adapted.
The main problem is that the series is barely adaptable at its smallest. Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons sideline some fan favourites and add in tons of new characters and convoluted plotlines - doing that in the middle of the biggest TV show in the world is too big a risk for any TV exec which is why so many of the plotlines are half arsed. The main problem then also became keeping elements of GRRM’s ending without any of the setup for them.
ZakFellows@reddit
After Tywin died, I was basically done with it
maccon25@reddit
yeh once they run out of books, the quality dips and the finale season is just the crescendo
HuntersLiberalDong@reddit
Yeah there were still stand out moments in each season but the decline started after season 4.
WiganGirl-2523@reddit
GoT peaked at S4. The show never recovered from the deaths of certain characters.
Abaqueues@reddit
Dorne...
PartyPoison98@reddit
100%. People act like it was great until the last couple seasons, but season 5 is crap.
strawberrypops@reddit
Going back in time a bit here and very low stakes but the ending for The Brittas Empire pissed me right off. >! It was all a dream !<
Unfair_Fly3053@reddit
Yes!!! Same!!!! Wtf was that?!?
MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit (OP)
Is that what happened? I clearly zoned out way in advance of that.
SceneDifferent1041@reddit
Yes, he dreamt it while on the train to the interview. All the workers were people on the train.
In fairness, it was sort of retconned by a special where they all met up in the future to celebrate the man who made them what they are today.
SamW1996@reddit
As a fan of the Brittas Empire I agree that the ending the original writers wrote was by far the best. It wrapped everything up so well.
cloudstrifeuk@reddit
Killing Eve shat the bed.
do_you_realise@reddit
It was SO good and unique and different at first, such a shame it went off the rails
Legal_Dan@reddit
Season 1 was so good! I only got a few episodes into season 2 before losing interest.
armintanzarian420@reddit
That's probably because Phoebe Waller-Bridge was head writer for season 1, she's an amazing comedian.
Legal_Dan@reddit
Ooooh, I did not know that. That makes a lot of sense though, I love her stuff!
MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit (OP)
I forgot about that. That really started to drag
Slothjitzu@reddit
That was such a good thriller with solid character development for like two series and then it just turned into a weak lesbian drama.
FreeAd2458@reddit
Yeah was it end of s2 or 3. When they started kissing
TalynRahl@reddit
Misfits.
First few season are amazing and super funny… then they replaced the whole cast, and the show went to shit.
It’s a shame, because the new actors were all solid, they just weren’t the OGs.
do_you_realise@reddit
Forgot about this! I remember enjoying the first series or two
Hellwemade@reddit
Robert sheeran recently did an interview where he talked about why he left after season 2. One of the big reasons was the plan was always to bring In new writers for series 3 onwards. The quality definitely takes a nose dive but there are decent bits for sure.
TalynRahl@reddit
Yeah, I always knew the show started to die when he left… now I know why.
Sensitive-Fishing-64@reddit
OFAH would have been left when they made their money, for some bizarre reason they ruined it but doing those extra specials
do_you_realise@reddit
What was wrong with them? Never seen them (to my knowledge) just curious!
sprucay@reddit
What's OFAH?
maccon25@reddit
only fools and horses
samiam221b@reddit
Only fools and horses
MrMonkeyman79@reddit
Sherlock made the last season of GoT look like the first season of GoT
Namerakable@reddit
It's a good demonstration of what happens when you start writing fanservice for niche online fanbases.
lottesometimes@reddit
The writer has hiostory on this, also did it with Dracula.
Funmachine@reddit
It's what happens when the writers start loving the smell of their own farts.
Normal-Height-8577@reddit
The thing is, the fans didn't want the fanservice, either.
ffordeffanatic@reddit
Sherlock was barely Sherlock Holmes, less efficient, reasoned deduction and more magic brain leaps made by a prick. Elementary ran at the same time and was a pretty good adaption though.
weierstrab2pi@reddit
Though Elementary made a fatal misstep in >!casting Natalie Dormer as its main villain and main love interest!<, and then discovering that getting hold of her given other scheduling issues might be challenging.
Gauntlets28@reddit
The rot set in the penultimate series, but it definitely didn't get much better in the last one that's for sure.
Aylez@reddit
What does this mean?
OverTheCandlestik@reddit
They leaned too much into the goofiness of tumblr headcanons.
lottesometimes@reddit
Not going out
Least-Entrepreneur23@reddit
The last series of Luther was pretty poor compared to the previous ones. Especially series 1 and 2 which were fantastic
Spoondockspaints@reddit
I didn't mind that last series that aired on the BBC. It wasn't peak Luther but it was aight. Damn near masterful compared to the absolutely awful Netflix movie they made after.
empeekay@reddit
The first series was absolutely brilliant, but I don't think the show really knew who Luther was, or even what the show was supposed to be about, after that.
earlgreytoday@reddit
Unforgotten.
First three series were excellent until !>Nicola Walker's character died<!
SamW1996@reddit
Not Going Out. I gave up on it about five years ago.
notthatbluestuff@reddit
Line of Duty didn't end, more is on the way.
Lo_jak@reddit
Mother of god!
NighthawkUnicorn@reddit
Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey
SkullKid888@reddit
We operate to the letter of the law. And i do mean the letter. Or something like that.
yellowflux@reddit
There's more coming but I do believe that was supposed to be the (lacklustre) end.
Magneto88@reddit
It was very much hyped up as the end. Personally speaking I never really cared for the H stuff, so I’m hoping that the new series ignores it altogether but I suspect they’ll try and retcon the ending to something more people like.
Obvious-Water569@reddit
I hope so. I normally don't like it when they retcon stuff, but Line of Duty really needs it.
Obvious-Water569@reddit
There's always more bent coppers.
Great_Tradition996@reddit
It’s an unpopular opinion, but I thought who H turned out to be was a stroke of genius. Initially, I had the same sense of deflation and, “seriously?” but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it made complete sense. When you look back at how H was the whole way through the series, they were the perfect stooge
ShiveryBite@reddit
Nothing that happened in the previous few series made sense if H was just "some guy".
cloughie@reddit
The person who ends up being H was not in seasons 2, 3 or 4. From a writing perspective they were retconned in right at the end which is why people feel sour about it.
maccon25@reddit
the tapping of the fingers meaning multiple Hs was ridiculous tho surely?
roddz@reddit
Ultimate force really shit the bed towards the end. Loads of studio interference and unable to keep hold of their main cast.
MissingLink101@reddit
I remember the TV scheduling being really erratic for it too
sprucay@reddit
The first episode of season 3 is hilarious. The first thing that happens is all the characters who's actors had left piled into a building and were killed, despite the previous two series showing how good they were.
northerncodemky@reddit
The Night Manager, went from an enjoyable but stretched spy drama to an absolutely absurd and unwatchable drama
takesthebiscuit@reddit
Yes we all know he is coming back… you dont need to spin this BS out for x episodes
DameKumquat@reddit
It did the 'create a series 2 that's actually just a build up to series 3' thing.
See also Good Omens (s3 is out today, except it's only one episode so I don't have as much faith as I'd like...)
Goldman250@reddit
Oh, I forgot Good Omens was getting a finale. I don’t remember a single thing from S2.
Secure-Suspect7091@reddit
I was going to mention the wire but reread the question and decided against it.
Trogdor319@reddit
Top Boy
Muddilake@reddit
Detectorists had a perfect ending, ruined by the final special. I choose to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Scared-Room-9962@reddit
Line of Duty nose dived after season 3.
CourtneyLush@reddit
I agree. Even 2 and 3, the writing was a bit hammy but it was saved by some excellent acting, which made them compelling viewing.
It got increasingly ridiculous from season 4 onwards.
maccon25@reddit
the last two seasons of peaky blinders and the recent film were absolutely terrible imo.
But LoD has to be up there - just nonsensical.
also was disappointed by the finale of Top Boy
djwillis1121@reddit
I seem to remember the ending of Merlin was pretty disappointing
Goldman250@reddit
Please don’t, I’m still upset with the later seasons of Merlin. Why did they save the magic reveal until the final episode, we wanted to see how Arthur would react, how he’d deal with that! What happened to the Golden Age that they’ve been promising since day one, where magic would be free and legal?
Future_You_2800@reddit
I think if youre simple of mind then yes you would hate the ending of LoD. If you like nuance and reality than it was the perfect choice.
MyManTheo@reddit
Always a good idea so say you liked it so you must be cleverer than everyone else. I’ve seen people say the same about GOT’s later seasons and it’s laughable
hattorihanzo5@reddit
It's like the people who kid themselves into thinking the Star Wars prequels were actually good and people only hate them to be cool.
They're still awful films, and the newer films also being bad doesn't alleviate that.
LewisMileyCyrus@reddit
Just wait you realise things like music/ tv/ movies are subjective opinions
hattorihanzo5@reddit
There's nothing wrong with liking or enjoying bad films. I love Kung Pow and Dude Where's My Car, but I'm not going to pretend they are good films!
PastLanguage4066@reddit
You would say that.
skibbin@reddit
Blackadder goes Forth. Deeply unfunny ending.
SleaterK7111@reddit
I'll choose to believe this is sarcasm
skibbin@reddit
You found it funny?
SleaterK7111@reddit
Oh jesus you were being serious fuck me 🤦♂️
skibbin@reddit
No sense of humour. Blackadder was wasted on you.
SleaterK7111@reddit
Mate I literally asked you if it was a joke.
skibbin@reddit
Mate millions died...
SleaterK7111@reddit
Thank fuck blackadder was funny because you're not
roddz@reddit
That was the point of that ending
skibbin@reddit
That's the joke.
MattyCatts1@reddit
Line of Duty?
Azlamington@reddit
Yeah, Line of Duty
IrritablePowell@reddit
The last episode of Grace with the hitman storyline was ridiculous.
Jesisawesome@reddit
Yes, it was terrible. I wish they had just given upon the whole 'central shadowy kingpin' nonsense and just had one case per series.
imtheorangeycenter@reddit
Please someone say BBCs version of The Diary of Ann Frank just ended abruptly.
I won't.
Esexboy101101@reddit
Most TV Series fall flat at then endto the point that I now expect it.
I get your frustration.
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