What UK TV series Game of Thrones'd it?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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DarkStanley@reddit

I mean just write something different. If it diverges for the better great. He’s never finishing those books though.

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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.

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ZakFellows@reddit

After Tywin died, I was basically done with it

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maccon25@reddit

yeh once they run out of books, the quality dips and the finale season is just the crescendo

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HuntersLiberalDong@reddit

Yeah there were still stand out moments in each season but the decline started after season 4.

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WiganGirl-2523@reddit

GoT peaked at S4. The show never recovered from the deaths of certain characters.

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Abaqueues@reddit

Dorne...

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PartyPoison98@reddit

100%. People act like it was great until the last couple seasons, but season 5 is crap.

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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 !<

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Unfair_Fly3053@reddit

Yes!!! Same!!!! Wtf was that?!?

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MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit (OP)

Is that what happened? I clearly zoned out way in advance of that.

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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.

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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.

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cloudstrifeuk@reddit

Killing Eve shat the bed.

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do_you_realise@reddit

It was SO good and unique and different at first, such a shame it went off the rails

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Legal_Dan@reddit

Season 1 was so good! I only got a few episodes into season 2 before losing interest.

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armintanzarian420@reddit

That's probably because Phoebe Waller-Bridge was head writer for season 1, she's an amazing comedian.

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Legal_Dan@reddit

Ooooh, I did not know that. That makes a lot of sense though, I love her stuff!

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MyDadsGlassesCase@reddit (OP)

I forgot about that. That really started to drag

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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.

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FreeAd2458@reddit

Yeah was it end of s2 or 3. When they started kissing

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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.

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do_you_realise@reddit

Forgot about this! I remember enjoying the first series or two

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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.

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TalynRahl@reddit

Yeah, I always knew the show started to die when he left… now I know why.

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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

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do_you_realise@reddit

What was wrong with them? Never seen them (to my knowledge) just curious!

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sprucay@reddit

What's OFAH?

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maccon25@reddit

only fools and horses

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samiam221b@reddit

Only fools and horses

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MrMonkeyman79@reddit

Sherlock made the last season of GoT look like the first season of GoT

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Namerakable@reddit

It's a good demonstration of what happens when you start writing fanservice for niche online fanbases.

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lottesometimes@reddit

The writer has hiostory on this, also did it with Dracula.

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Funmachine@reddit

It's what happens when the writers start loving the smell of their own farts.

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Normal-Height-8577@reddit

The thing is, the fans didn't want the fanservice, either.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Aylez@reddit

What does this mean?

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OverTheCandlestik@reddit

They leaned too much into the goofiness of tumblr headcanons.

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lottesometimes@reddit

Not going out

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Least-Entrepreneur23@reddit

The last series of Luther was pretty poor compared to the previous ones. Especially series 1 and 2 which were fantastic

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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.

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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.

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earlgreytoday@reddit

Unforgotten.

First three series were excellent until !>Nicola Walker's character died<!

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SamW1996@reddit

Not Going Out. I gave up on it about five years ago.

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notthatbluestuff@reddit

Line of Duty didn't end, more is on the way.

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Lo_jak@reddit

Mother of god!

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NighthawkUnicorn@reddit

Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey

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SkullKid888@reddit

We operate to the letter of the law. And i do mean the letter. Or something like that.

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yellowflux@reddit

There's more coming but I do believe that was supposed to be the (lacklustre) end.

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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.

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

I hope so. I normally don't like it when they retcon stuff, but Line of Duty really needs it.

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

There's always more bent coppers.

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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

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ShiveryBite@reddit

Nothing that happened in the previous few series made sense if H was just "some guy".

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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.

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maccon25@reddit

the tapping of the fingers meaning multiple Hs was ridiculous tho surely?

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roddz@reddit

Ultimate force really shit the bed towards the end. Loads of studio interference and unable to keep hold of their main cast.

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MissingLink101@reddit

I remember the TV scheduling being really erratic for it too

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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.

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northerncodemky@reddit

The Night Manager, went from an enjoyable but stretched spy drama to an absolutely absurd and unwatchable drama

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takesthebiscuit@reddit

Yes we all know he is coming back… you dont need to spin this BS out for x episodes

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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...)

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Goldman250@reddit

Oh, I forgot Good Omens was getting a finale. I don’t remember a single thing from S2.

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Secure-Suspect7091@reddit

I was going to mention the wire but reread the question and decided against it.

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Trogdor319@reddit

Top Boy

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Muddilake@reddit

Detectorists had a perfect ending, ruined by the final special. I choose to pretend it doesn’t exist.

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Scared-Room-9962@reddit

Line of Duty nose dived after season 3.

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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.

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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

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djwillis1121@reddit

I seem to remember the ending of Merlin was pretty disappointing

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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?

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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.

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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

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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.

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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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