tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post5916879031888903423..comments2024-03-24T06:32:13.194+13:00Comments on Crime Watch: Screen versions of favourite book-born detectives: good or bad?Kiwicraighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11687089028299093360noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-63007104714991069382010-02-26T03:32:44.839+13:002010-02-26T03:32:44.839+13:00Which is worse having a much admired series you ha...Which is worse having a much admired series you have read spoiled by a poor TV adaptation, or watching the TV series first and then finding the books have totally different characters? <br />I haven't read Elizabeth George, but have no doubt that the character of Havers is so badly treated in the TV series she would have left the police and gone to work as a PI. <br />The superb ones, John Thaw, David Suchet and Warren Clarke all fitted my image of the characters perfectly, not surprisingly in Poirot's case as Suchet had done so much research. But George Baker was not my idea of Reg Wexford, and whoever cast John Hannah as Rebus had never read any of the books. <br />But the recent BBC Kenneth Branagh/Wallander series made the case for those authors who are reluctant to turn their creations over to TV or movie makers.Uriah Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02046023583067265187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-39979911821624829342010-02-25T17:03:36.187+13:002010-02-25T17:03:36.187+13:00What a great post Craig.
I try to remain non-plus...What a great post Craig.<br /><br />I try to remain non-plussed by screen adaptations - it's a different medium and all that. Though I have been known to have a rant or two about how utterly wrong the TV series got Barbara Havers in the recent-ish adaptations of Elizabeth George's Lynley and Havers books. I've deliberately avoided adaptations of some favourite books (though I can't think of a crime fiction one that fits in this category).<br /><br />There are a couple of book series that are forever ruined for me though because I saw the TV version first. I saw TV Jack Frost before I ever read any of the books and also saw John Nettles as Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders before I read one of Caroline Grahame's books. In both cases I had far too clear a picture of the protagonist in my head to be able to cope with the quite different depiction in the books (both characters are darker in print than their TV alter-egos). I've only ever managed to read one book of either series.Bernadettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641617609801125707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-3614784274548343882010-02-25T16:44:53.649+13:002010-02-25T16:44:53.649+13:00Craig - Thanks for such interesting "food for...Craig - Thanks for such interesting "food for thought." I have to admit to being somewhat of a purist when it comes to adaptations of books for screen. They can be very enjoyable - truly. But I have to admit I don't care for it when the makers of the movie take too much liberty with the book. For instance the 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie's <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> was different in many ways from the novel, and in ways that weren't necessary, at least in my opinion, to make the screen story better. Admittedly, I didn't care much for Albert Finney as Poirot, but besides that, some of the characters had been un-necessarily changed. Perhaps because I'm an old stick-in-the-mud, I really like it best when films stick as close as possible to the book. It'll be interesting to see what ITV does with Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com