Vronni George

I have to agree with other remarks. I think Jay seems awkward and being very restrained and respectful with David Jason who seems to be sarcastic and snide and constantly putting him down! It detracts from the subject of the programme which is making repairs. Jay should tell David to get knotted and stick to the Repair Shop, maybe taking on a few challenges himself. David time to retire!

I was really looking forward to seeing Beecham House. I loved Jewel in the Crown and Far Pavilions and was hoping for another stirring Indian drama. I ignored my misgivings with the first episode, hoping it was just teething problems. By the second and third episodes I was cringing at the stereotypes, the dreadful acting, the way-too-pristine and beautiful stylised sets, the weak plot lines and weaker script and got to the point where I could not face another episode! A handsome leading man doing a compulsory bare-chest scene and the usually excellent Marc Warren cannot detract from this awful series. Thank goodness Poldark is on again soon!

The puppets are brilliant as always but the scripts are not funny and anywhere as witty and on the mark as they used to be.

I am a big fan of the book and think the characters and plots are so powerful. I remember the first tv series. It was better in some ways than this new one. Firstly, it didn’t seem to have this current trendy fashion of time-jumping, even when it just makes for confusion and does nothing to enhance the story. Anyone not familiar with the book would have wondered at seeing Frannie pregnant with Stu long before it happened. Secondly, certain scenes were far scarier in the first series ... Larry’s escape from the city through the tunnel, Stu’s escape from the medical facility, for some reason these have been changed and are far less potent. I could not see the point of some changes if they do not add or improve on the story. Thirdly, Flagg comes across as having a horribly warped sense of humour in the book and Alexander Skarsgard looks too serious and less viciously amused and flippant. Despite some of the special effects... the dead bodies are truly gruesome ... all you see of Flagg is him rising in the air and his eyes turning red. When he changes during his sex scene with Nadine, he looks far less scary than Harold’s corpse. He just look burnt all over rather than evilly satanic. As attractive as he is, I don’t see him as right for that role but think a younger version of Jack Nicholson would have been better. His brother was terrifyingly creepy in another Stephen King creation, the remake of the film It. I do think some of the other actors are great in their roles. Harold, Tom and Stu are wonderful. Whoopi Goldberg makes for a convincing Mother Abagail but sorry, overall this sadly hasn’t wowed me as I hoped it would.

Gripping film with strong realistic scenes but spoilt by irritatingly relentless music score.