Over the past few years I found myself enjoying TV series more than films and this is another example of that trend for me. Strong cast, good production values . I think is owes a just a bit to 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. If you like that then you would love this.
We gave the first three episodes a try, but they failed to inspire, so we've not pursued the rest.
It's a real shame - the cast is fantastic, and the concept is good. There are a lot of good actors in here, doing a brilliant job with what they're given. However, the writers try very hard to throw in every possible victorian novel/legend/etc, and it ends up just a bit overdone, and it takes itself far, far too seriously. Had it had some flashes of (intentional) humour, it could have been a different experience. Even the lashings of "shocking" gore, language, sex and nudity just gave it all a faint air of deperation.
There are a couple of potentially interesting plotlines starting to develop by the end of episode 3, but we really couldn't be bothered...
Although it takes a little while to get going, once all the elements start coming together it moves a fair pace. It cleverly brings some new characters with literary classical characters like Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. The real star is Eva Green who steals every scene she is in and although there are lots of sex and violence, there is nothing that anybody would find offensive. It definitely left me wanting to see the later series.