Charlie (RTE1 Charlie Haughey Drama)

Pdoghue

NIMAN wrote: »

TVL looked a great actor in LH, and he looks awful in this.

I tend to agree - PJM in my memory had much more charisma and gravitas than TVL's portrayal here, even though in fairness Mara was beholdent to Haughey (remember Scrap Saturday)

duridian

Maryanne40 wrote: »

Ah guys... Stop moaning...I'm enjoying it. (Maybe you had to be around at the time!)

Had been around for a good while when this was happening. Doesn't make this any more tolerable for me anyway.

BabysCoffee

Could have been a lot better

The acting and script is poor

Couldn't see it getting much better???

amdublin

Well I am enjoying it even though Nidgey is exposed as a rubbish actor who can only do Nidgey.

small town girl

The Bould Rabbit wrote: »

Plot hole - Gaffe.

News of the Stardust broke overnight on the radio.

Haughey would have been woken up with it or told before he went to bed.

It would have been old news by the time RTÉ television covered it as they didn't go on air till late morning back then.

I'm ok with small plot holes to facilitate creative license, not ok with the one dimensional secondary characters

Paleface

Nice of them to get Hans Zimmer to do the soundtrack.

bennyl10

Actually really enjoyed it tonight, bit.of overacting at the beginning, but felt it gained a lot back..

Could have varied the cast a bit from.LH, but looking forward to next week anyway!

grey_so_what

I haven't seen anything that is amazing or "earth-shattering" so far.....

***We'll see***.....:) xxx night night lads....

SpodoKamodo

The music is overplayed and overly dramatic. Very annoying. Charlie looks out window BOOOOOM. Nidge scabs another cigarette BOOOOOM

Pdoghue

I think it's fairly good overall.

Have to say, Aiden Gillen is doing a good job playing Charlie.

RayM

I thought it had improved a lot by the end. Although that might have only been my mind adjusting to the brutal script and dodgy acting.

Cap1

It's like watching gift grub.

amdublin

amdublin wrote: »

Well I am enjoying it even though Nidgey is exposed as a rubbish actor who can only do Nidgey.

You have seen him in the grand total of 2 shows and have deducted that he is a rubbish actor on that basis?

derb12

Ok so I have to ask
Who was the tall guy who was introduced to Charlie on the roof of his house at the party he hosted, later said he wanted deregulation and stood to raise a toast at the dinner party following the meeting with thatcher in London?

Baggy Trousers

I don't remember Operation Treadstone in the Haughey era?

calex71

amdublin wrote: »

Well I am enjoying it even though Nidgey is exposed as a rubbish actor who can only do Nidgey.

Ah I give him a pass on this I blame the people who cast him and the rest . Too high profile a gig too soon after LH , that ended what 7 or 8 weeks ago ???? Should not have used him and many of the others , Gillen ok as he's been away from LH a fair while and doesn't still look like John Boy in this.

No saying TVL is a good actor , his performance in this is hard to take seriously but hten how much of that is him and how much is direction I ask

Pdoghue

derb12 wrote: »

Ok so I have to ask
Who was the tall guy who was introduced to Charlie on the roof of his house at the party he hosted, later said he wanted deregulation and stood to raise a toast at the dinner party following the meeting with thatcher in London?

Yea, I'm not sure who this is either..

duridian

The Bould Rabbit wrote: »

Plot hole - Gaffe.

News of the Stardust broke overnight on the radio.

Haughey would have been woken up with it or told before he went to bed.

It would have been old news by the time RTÉ television covered it as they didn't go on air till late morning back then.

Haughey was on the TV before half nine that morning on RTE1. it was a Saturday morning, I remember it clearly being on instead of Aonghus McAnally and Mary "make n do" Fitzgerald's show "Anything Goes" that morning. Not terribly late really.

amdublin

Deleted User wrote: »

You have seen him in the grand total of 2 shows and have deducted that he is a rubbish actor on that basis?

Yep!

They're the two roles he's best known for.

He hasn't really been in much y'know...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Vaughan-Lawlor

encore1

No context, no background, no thrill. I was genuinely looking forward to this but I have to say it was a complete let down.
If they hadve even put a rolling history up on screen before it started so that people who aren't politically inclined could "catch up" then it would've made for a very interesting and insightful hour, but it didn't and I think that was a huge mistake on the production cos I think a lot of people were looking forward to an insight rather than an empty history lesson

Laurel_Patente

It got better as it went on in fairness and Gillen did a fine job as Haughey, really captured his sliminess and arrogance. The guys playing George Colley and Sean Doherty were good too.

There was far too much obvious exposition and the Love Hate dentist guy playing Lenihan is cast terribly. I think it will improve as the weeks go on though. I don't see why they don't have actors playing Fitzgerald and Thatcher instead of crap voiceovers.

brianregan09

It's really just most people have Nidge on there mind and not TVL the actor , Half the people that watch Love Hate probably expect him to talk like Nidge in real life

landmarkjohn

derb12 wrote: »

Ok so I have to ask
Who was the tall guy who was introduced to Charlie on the roof of his house at the party he hosted, later said he wanted deregulation and stood to raise a toast at the dinner party following the meeting with thatcher in London?

I guessing at Dermot Desmond

weadick

The eircom 'sketches' at the ad break are really annoying and (aside from the fact that they are making a joke of something that's pretty fcking serious) add to the gift grubness of it.

The music is overblown and the acting fairly ropey at times but I still enjoyed it. Hopefully it will improve next week...

jos28

A lot done, more to do.
Disappointing so far. Gillen's Haughey is passable, I'm not buying Nidge as Mara but the LH dentist is playing a damn good Lenihan. Poor script is really letting it down. My biggest criticism is that Charlie's charisma is not coming across. I'm no fan of CJH but having met him a couple of times there is no doubting his charisma. He had the ability to make you feel that you were the only person in the room (whether you wanted to be there or not)

The Bould Rabbit

As political dramas go, I've seen worse. Granada's (I think it was) handling of Thatcher's final days was dire.

valoren

Sittingpretty wrote: »

Also the constant music makes it feel like The 80's Irish Bourne Ultimatum.

Half expecting Gillen to walk in wearing a batman costume such is the rip off of Hans Zimmers Dark Knight music.

born2bwild

I thought it was good. I've never seen an episode of Love Hate so I don't really see Nidge in him but that guy's acting is the weak point I think.

Pdoghue

landmarkjohn wrote: »

I guessing at Dermot Desmond

Good guess.. could be.. but someone who was at a DFA gathering in London after the first Thatcher meeting? Would Desmond have had that access back then?

I would have guessed Bertie or McCreevey, but the actor seems to be too slick and well-spoken for either of them.

FloatingVoter

Gillen is a plank as per usual. Not helped by a script that has him delivering blocks of text rather than actual dialogue.
What TVL is doing playing someone who wandered in from a Kenneth Williams tribute act is beyond me. Basing the character on a character from Scrap Saturday is a bit of a mistake. The real Mara ia alive and well and not available for karaoke.
Brian Lenihan Snr. was never an idiot. He might occasionally have put his foot in it but that was all.
Sean Doherty is portrayed as a gombeen (he was) which will probably come into more focus next week.
True enough, the last half was less dire than the first. They should have decided if they wanted a drama or a comedy and not tried both.