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Post by orokiah on Jun 29, 2013 17:12:51 GMT
I have a couple of questions to add to this thread (and a few rambling thoughts about the answers). They're not specific to the first season, but I'm not sure where else to put them:
1/ Where did the episode titles come from?
The titles were largely regarded as unofficial on this board, as far as I remember. They're on IMDb and Wikipedia etc., but I don't think they were ever on Sky's Hex site, and I don't remember them being used in TV listings, either. The titles are used, however, on the Region 1 DVD set (though not the Region 2 versions, which were released earlier). There's one small variation/typo: the Region 1 DVD cover calls episode #2.1 'The Cursed', but everywhere else, it's listed as 'Cursed'.
So when did they first appear, and who was it who created them? Was it Shine, somewhat late in the day, or are they really just unofficial titles that somehow gained traction?
Regardless of the source, they're a pretty random set. 'The Showdown' I can live with for purposes of hype, even if it sets up expectations of the finale that are never really met...but things like 'Death Takes the Mother'? Hello there, major spoilers: it might as well be called 'The One Where Cassie Dies'.
2/ Did BBC America have the right idea, in the way they divided the show?
The original US broadcast took in season one and the first four episodes of season two. When it picked up a year later with episode #2.5 (or 'With A Little Help From My Friends, Part One'), it was promoted afresh. Cassie was replaced in the ad campaign by Ella, Leon and Thelma – a much truer reflection of the way the focus had shifted.
Obviously it's a hypothetical question, since there was no scope for a repeat of that scenario here in the UK: Sky commissioned thirteen episodes for season two, and it was broadcast a year after the first, instead of being tacked on straight after. But what if they'd split those thirteen at some point, effectively turning the back end of season two into a makeshift season three..? BBCA used the end of episode #2.4 ('Ella Burns') as a cliffhanger; if that same division had been used by Sky, it would have given us a second season that was only four episodes long. That aside, I wonder if a break at some point could still have benefited the show, even with no changes to the content.
Whether the ratings would have improved is impossible to say, but the 'flow' of the episodes could well have. The decline towards the end might not have been so noticeable: you don't realise how steep the drop is when there's less distance to travel. And there would no longer have been the issue of having to promote Cassie as the lead character, when she really wasn't. A shorter season 'three' would have been Ella-led from the get go, giving Laura Pyper some well-deserved time in the spotlight.
I think it's interesting to ponder, especially in the wake of the recent split series of Doctor Who. And it raises the next obvious question: What if Sky had commissioned a shorter second season in the first place? Even with Christina Cole's departure to deal with, how much tighter could the story have been if Shine hadn't had to struggle to fill those thirteen episodes?
There's only one answer to that, in my book: an awful lot.
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Post by fenris on Jul 3, 2013 22:50:55 GMT
1/ Where did the episode titles come from?When did they first appear, and who was it who created them? Was it Shine, somewhat late in the day, or are they really just unofficial titles that somehow gained traction? We're in agreement, orokiah: as far as I'm aware, Shine never allocated titles to any of Hex's episodes. I've always assumed (or at least been under the impression) that an over-eager fan took it upon themselves to title them, posted the resulting efforts on the IMDB and/or Wikipedia or another website, whereupon (as is often the case with the Chinese Whispers nature of the 'net) they took on a life of their own and were adopted/accepted as being 'official'. Personally, I don't like the titles. They're clumsy, heavy-handed, and spoilerific. I've never used them and never will. I'll post my thoughts on your second question when I have more time.
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Post by fenris on Aug 31, 2013 22:49:48 GMT
2/ Did BBC America have the right idea, in the way they divided the show?What if Sky had commissioned a shorter second season in the first place? Even with Christina Cole's departure to deal with, how much tighter could the story have been if Shine hadn't had to struggle to fill those thirteen episodes? Pondering orokiah's question, something occurred to me that (in the eight years since Hex was cancelled) I'd not previously thought of. I've always assumed that the reason the show's second season descended into a shambles (and I speak as an avid fan) was because Christina Cole's decision to leave the series meant that the writers had to scrap all their pre-planned storylines (with Cassie as the central Buffy-style protagonist) and hastily invent a whole new mythology. However, supposing Cole actually gave the show's producers & writers plenty of warning about her intention to leave, granting them ample enough time to re-think the show's entire narrative and successfully re-configure the scripts for the second season? What if the real cause of all the problems that ultimately scuppered the series was that Shine was only expecting Sky to commission another season of six episodes... but at a fairly late stage, Sky surprised them by deciding to order thirteen episodes instead, meaning that Hexs producers & writers suddenly found themselves at short notice having to make seven more episodes than they'd originally planned? Think about it: in my humble opinion, the first six/seven episodes of the second season still stand up incredibly well. It can probably be argued they're the highpoint of the entire series, first season included. The extremely difficult & potentially problem-laden writing-out of Cassie and introduction of Ella is handled with surprising confidence. In a deft bit of retconning, it's revealed that Cassie isn't the show's principal character & heroine - instead she's just a disposable pawn in Azazeal's scheme who has outlived her usefulness. It's a very brave and risky move, and I consider it to be a masterstroke. Those opening six/seven episodes also boast the introduction of Jez and Perie (both far more effective villains than Azazeal), the rapid forging of a firm & trusting friendship between Thelma and Ella that swiftly became the bedrock of the show, and the convincing transition of Leon from background character & comic relief into capable sidekick & romantic interest. In other words, the writers were constantly knocking it out of the park. It's only after those initial six/seven episodes, when Ella, Thelma and Leon covertly return to Medenham, and (if my theory is correct) the scripts had to be churned out in a rush, that everything starts to go horribly wrong and the main storyline(s) descend into blatantly-making-it-up-as-we-go territory, as the writers struggle to think up a series of extremely unconvincing and plothole-stricken excuses why Ella simply doesn't kill Malachi and have done with it. (This may also be the reason why Michael Fassbender disappears mid-season. Supposing he had accepted work that fell safely outside of the planned filming dates originally penciled in for the second season. However, when Sky sprung their surprise thirteen episode order, the filming dates had to be extended and The Fass suddenly found himself with an unresolvable scheduling conflict.) If Sky had only ordered a second season of six episodes, then assuming it was a success and a third season was commissioned, the writers would have had the best part of a year to work on the key storylines and accompanying sub-plots, instead of the limited time they had in reality to script the latter half of the second season we were actually given. Just think of what might have been, as opposed to the hastily cobbled-together mess we got instead... .
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Post by orokiah on Sept 2, 2013 20:00:16 GMT
What if the real cause of all the problems that ultimately scuppered the series was that Shine was only expecting Sky to commission another season of six episodes... but at a fairly late stage, Sky surprised them by deciding to order thirteen episodes instead, meaning that Hexs producers & writers suddenly found themselves at short notice having to make seven more episodes than they'd originally planned? It would certainly make sense if that were the case. The first part of the season is in a totally different league to the second: pacing-wise, story-wise. It's a coherent whole, almost a season in its own right. The back run of episodes gave us Maya and Mephistopheles, and several other things I'd consider vintage Hex, but the story is patchy; you can practically feel the writers straining for ways to stretch out the inevitable. I don't think they ever quite decided what they were aiming for with the character of Malachi, either. The show really did hit its peak in early season two. Dealing with all the absences and scheduling conflicts must have been a logistical nightmare, but the need to write out Christina Cole, especially, brought out the best in it: what an outrageously gutsy move it was to have Ella be the one who killed Cassie. I liked what they ended up doing with Jo, too; another story seemingly cobbled together out of necessity, while Anna Wilson-Jones had her baby. I'd love to know what might have been, if things had worked out differently. What I'd give for a tell-all, behind-the-scenes book of the sort we will never, ever get...
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Post by fenris on Dec 5, 2013 21:12:43 GMT
Charity Wakefield played a character called 'Lucy' in a first season episode of Hex. Hex bit-parter Charity Wakefield has one of the leading roles in the movie Day Of The Flowers, which has been on limited release in UK cinemas since last Friday (29th November 2013). Other main cast-members include Eva Birthistle (a regular in both Sky's Strike Back: Project Dawn and the final season of Waking The Dead) and Bryan Dick (who starred alongside Christina Cole in ITV's comedy-drama Sold). Here's the trailer and the movie's official synopsis; From BAFTA award-winning director John Roberts comes a timeless comedy drama about two young, strong willed Scottish sisters travelling with their late father's ashes to Cuba, the site of many intriguing family legends. Arriving in Havana, the two women promptly lose the ashes and go through a series of misadventures- both romantic and dangerous- to try to retrieve them, making some surprising discoveries along the way about the family ties that hold them together.
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Post by fenris on Feb 19, 2014 17:43:08 GMT
Hex bit-parter Charity Wakefield's big break was being cast as Marianne Dashwood in the BBC's 2008 mini-series of Sense & Sensibility. The 2008 adaptation of Sense & Sensibility is being repeated on the Drama channel, starting this coming Sunday (23rd February 2014) at 19:00.
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Post by fenris on May 2, 2014 15:50:06 GMT
Charity Wakefield plays 'Lucy', the character Cassie rescues from some randomly possessed nightclub hottie in the first few scenes of Episode #1.3/Life Goes On. She's only in a couple of shots if I remember rightly and has no lines (apart from screaming). Charity Wakefield may only have had a brief, non-speaking part in a single episode, but it doesn't matter - she's a Hex girl. The Daily Mail's showbusiness columnist Baz Bamigboye has news of her latest role; Charity Wakefield is brushing up on her court etiquette as she prepares to portray the other Boleyn sister in the television adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels, about how Henry VIII’s urges caused bloodshed and upheaval in Tudor England. The actress will play Mary Boleyn, described as a ‘vivacious blonde’, who was wooed and bedded by the king before he took up with her younger, ruthlessly ambitious sibling Anne, who will be played by Claire Foy in the six-part drama based on Mantel’s Man Booker-prize winning historical books Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, to be broadcast next year. Charity joins a growing ensemble led by Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis as the much-married monarch.
The Boleyn women were the key part of their father’s plan to secure political influence. The great Cardinal Wolsey, in a waspish aside to Cromwell, snorted that Mary’s ‘been passed around most of the French court’. Jonathan Pryce will be wearing the Cardinal’s red brocade and I can hear him now, having much sport with such a line. Sherlock star Mark Gatiss will play Stephen Gardiner, Henry’s top civil servant. Anton Lesser will play Thomas More, and Joanne Whalley will play Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife, set aside in favour of Anne Boleyn. Even though Mary went from king’s concubine to coaching her sister in the art of keeping Henry happy in bed, she at least kept her head.
Charity, who is an accomplished photographer and budding film-maker, joins the Wolf Hall company from the set of the film Day Of The Flowers. She also starred as Marianne Dashwood in the BBC production of Sense And Sensibility and worked with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper on the film Serena.
Filming has already started on Wolf Hall on locations in the UK. The series is directed by Peter Kosminsky and jointly produced by BBC TV, Company Pictures and US-based Playground Entertainment. Saskia Reeves will play Johane, Cromwell’s sister-in-law. The two become close when Cromwell’s wife dies. Ed Speleers, best known as Jimmy Kent the footman on ITV’s Downton Abbey, plays Edward Seymour. Thomas Brodie-Sangster will play Cromwell’s ward Rafe, who becomes friendly towards Helen Barre — a part taken by Florence Bell. Jack Lowden, who won an Olivier award for his part in Richard Eyre’s scorching version of Ibsen’s Ghosts, will play exotic poet Thomas Wyatt.Source
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Post by fenris on Aug 20, 2014 16:44:20 GMT
Charity Wakefield may only have had a brief, non-speaking part in a single episode, but it doesn't matter - she's a Hex girl. Charity Wakefield is the female lead in upcoming horror/thriller movie Scar Tissue, which Amazon is currently stating will be released on Region 2 DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on 12th January 2015. Here's the official synopsis; When Luke wakes up and finds a mutilated corpse in his bathroom, his life changes for ever. Stalked by a terrifying psychopathic serial killer, he has to place his trust in the hands of a smart but volatile female cop, Sam Cross. The secret they uncover shatters Luke s life and brings Sam face to face with demons from her tragic childhood.
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Post by fenris on Dec 8, 2014 0:31:29 GMT
Charity Wakefield is the female lead in upcoming horror/thriller movie Scar Tissue, which Amazon is currently stating will be released on Region 2 DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on 12th January 2015. Trailer for Scar Tissue.
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Post by fenris on Dec 26, 2014 23:39:23 GMT
Charity Wakefield may only have had a brief, non-speaking part in a single episode, but it doesn't matter - she's a Hex girl. Charity Wakefield can be seen in the Gothic horror/thriller movie The Raven (she plays Edgar Allan Poe's housemaid), which is receiving it's UK network television premiere on Channel 4 in the early hours of the morning on Sunday 28th December 2014, at 01:10 (!).
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Post by fenris on Jan 30, 2015 10:31:59 GMT
Charity Wakefield may only have had a brief, non-speaking part in a single episode, but it doesn't matter - she's a Hex girl. The Daily Mail's showbusiness columnist Baz Bamigboye has news of her latest role; Charity Wakefield will play Mary Boleyn, described as a ‘vivacious blonde’, who was wooed and bedded by Tudor king Henry VIII before he took up with her younger, ruthlessly ambitious sibling Anne, who will be played by Claire Foy in the six-part drama based on Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker-prize winning historical books Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. Filming has already started on Wolf Hall on locations in the UK. The series is jointly produced by BBC TV, Company Pictures and US-based Playground Entertainment.The six-part, much-hyped, ' give us the awards now' period epic Wolf Hall is currently being shown on BBC2 every Wednesday at 21:00.
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Post by fenris on Nov 26, 2016 7:57:20 GMT
Charity Wakefield may only have had a brief, non-speaking part in a single episode, but it doesn't matter - she's a Hex girl. It's been confirmed that Charity Wakefield is joining the likes of Michelle Ryan and Kylie as one of the Doctor's one-time-only companions, as she's appearing as the Timelord's sidekick in this year's feature length Doctor Who Christmas special, 'The Return of Doctor Mysterio'. Charity is also a regular cast member (and leading female character) in the American crime/adventure/conspiracy television series The Player, currently being shown Fridays on Spike (Freeview channel 31) at 21:00.
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Post by fenris on Jan 2, 2017 21:44:46 GMT
According to the IMDB, Charity Wakefield's brief bit-part in Hex was her first on-screen appearance, and along with Michael Fassbender, Jemima Rooper, Zoe Tapper, Joseph Morgan and Christina Cole, she's definitely been one of the show's success stories. Charity has a role in ITV's new high-profile period drama The Halcyon, which starts tonight at 21:00 and continues each Monday. She's playing a socialite called (appropriately enough) Charity Lambert.
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Post by fenris on Oct 30, 2017 17:33:30 GMT
Hex girl Charity Wakefield is currently appearing in comedy drama series Bounty Hunters (Wednesdays on Sky One at 22:00) playing the sister of the male lead character played by Jack Whitehall. Charity is also the female lead (alongside Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens) in sci-fi movie Kill Switch, released on Region 2 DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK today (30th October 2017).
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Post by fenris on Aug 26, 2018 11:18:39 GMT
Hex girl Charity Wakefield is currently appearing in Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's play Emilia at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London. The play is about the life of Emilia Bassano, born in 1569, the daughter of a royal court musician, a published poet (very unusual for a woman at that time) and also believed to be Shakespeare's muse and the mysterious 'Dark Lady' of his sonnets. It's an all female production, with actresses also playing the male roles. Accordingly, Charity is playing the key role of Shakespeare himself.
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