2016 RTE Drama: Rebellion - no spoilers please (mod warning in post #1)

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

The success of the series, public acclaim, viewing figures, critics response, the praise for the all star cast, and social media approval all suggest a second series is a sure thing.

I really don't know whether you're joking or not. But for the sake of balance, the commissioning of a second series is very much still up in the air and some reports have suggested it's unlikely. Viewing figures were ok but not impressive. Critical response has been poor. Social media approval fairly minimal. While some performances have been praised, just as many have been criticised.

The reception of the series overseas will have a bearing on recommissioning. As will RTE's budgets and plans for next year, I'm sure. To say it's a sure thing is ludicrous, unless you're Jane Gogan?

maudgonner wrote: »

I really don't know whether you're joking or not. But for the sake of balance, the commissioning of a second series is very much still up in the air and some reports have suggested it's unlikely. Viewing figures were ok but not impressive. Critical response has been poor. Social media approval fairly minimal. While some performances have been praised, just as many have been criticised.

The reception of the series overseas will have a bearing on recommissioning. As will RTE's budgets and plans for next year, I'm sure. To say it's a sure thing is ludicrous, unless you're Jane Gogan?

The one article (in the Herald) saying it was unlikely to return seemed to be entirely speculative and not based on anything solid. Given that filming on Series 2 wouldn't start until next year, you couldn't say with certainty that it will return. It should be very interesting to see how it's received in the US and if it can be sold to other countries on the back of that.

brooke 2

Strazdas wrote: »

I thought that was one of the strongest scenes in the whole of Rebellion and I'll hazard a guess that most people in Ireland were unaware that such an incident had happened. I don't think we've ever heard anything about Rising leaders being ill treated or humiliated, only that they were tried and executed.

Another snippet about Mrs Lee-Wilson is that she became a well known paediatrician and a devout Catholic later in life.

Yes, I found the scene quite shocking. Even more so, when I realised it
was actually true.

Strazdas wrote: »

The one article (in the Herald) saying it was unlikely to return seemed to be entirely speculative and not based on anything solid. Given that filming on Series 2 wouldn't start until next year, you couldn't say with certainty that it will return. It should be very interesting to see how it's received in the US and if it can be sold to other countries on the back of that.

Exactly. So claiming that a second series is a sure thing is silly. If nothing else, Rebellion was part-funded by the BAI. Unless they've decided to go ahead without that funding for a second series they will have to apply for it again. The BAI don't just hand out cheques - there's a well-defined application procedure that requires a lot of paperwork and prep. The next round of funding won't be granted until July.

And it wasn't just one article in the Herald that cast doubt on a second series. Jane Gogan was quoted in the Independent: "We haven't confirmed anything about that yet but we're certainly going into a whole period where we'd very much like to tell that story, through to the foundation of the state." Nothing is confirmed.

I wouldn't mind seeing a second series commissioned, I'd rather they spend their budget on that than a lot of the other rubbish they make. But it's misleading to suggest that it's in the bag.

From what I could see on the BAI website they only have about 500k towards the production. Assuming that a second series wouldn't cost quite as much, if the need to use very specific historic locations is removed, then it's entirely possible they could make another series without the BAI's involvement.

That said it still seems unlikely we'll know anything for definite anytime soon.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

From what I could see on the BAI website they only have about 500k towards the production. Assuming that a second series wouldn't cost quite as much, if the need to use very specific historic locations is removed, then it's entirely possible they could make another series without the BAI's involvement.

That said it still seems unlikely we'll know anything for definite anytime soon.

I would say it's very likely to return but there's no need for them to announce anything for 12 months at least. The next bit of news should be how it's received in the US and if other countries will pick it up (plenty of time for that....countries sometimes wait for 6-12 months or more before buying in a foreign series).

Strazdas wrote: »

The one article (in the Herald) saying it was unlikely to return seemed to be entirely speculative and not based on anything solid. Given that filming on Series 2 wouldn't start until next year, you couldn't say with certainty that it will return. It should be very interesting to see how it's received in the US and if it can be sold to other countries on the back of that.

Agreed about the selling to other countries. The commissioning of a second series would depend on how well it was received in these other countries. It will be interesting to see if it is sold and how well it goes down.

There is a massive ready made viewership in the States, UK and Australia given the Irish populations in those countries.

I have a feeling it will be shown around about Easter time in some other countries.

Watch this space in other words.

P. Breathnach

Shurimgreat wrote: »

...
I have a feeling it will be shown around about Easter time in some other countries....

I think it will sell outside Ireland, but I suspect it will not be sold for prime time viewing - it's not quite good enough.

I don't think that overseas purchasers will give much thought to showing it at Easter. They are less likely to think in terms of anniversaries than are people in Ireland.

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I think it will sell outside Ireland, but I suspect it will not be sold for prime time viewing - it's not quite good enough.

I don't think that overseas purchasers will give much thought to showing it at Easter. They are less likely to think in terms of anniversaries than are people in Ireland.

Plus the Anniversary isn't even at Easter, really, it's at the end of April. Easter is in March this year.

I read somewhere that Sundance were involved early on and bought rights before Christmas. Any word since?

Shurimgreat wrote: »

I read somewhere that Sundance were involved early on and bought rights before Christmas. Any word since?

Sundance were involved in the production of it, their logo appears at the end of the credits. They're showing it at some point in the next few months.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Sundance were involved in the production of it, their logo appears at the end of the credits. They're showing it at some point in the next few months.

They're showing it over three nights starting April 24th, the actual anniversary.

http://www.sundance.tv/series/rebellion

maudgonner wrote: »

They're showing it over three nights starting April 24th, the actual anniversary.

http://www.sundance.tv/series/rebellion

Interesting to see how they break it up over 3 nights.

Episode 2 could benefit from being viewed right after or right before one of the other episodes.

As the last episode was a little longer I'd imagine they'll go 1+2, 3+4 and then 5 on it's own.

I forgot about Easter being in March this year. But its nice they are showing it on the 100th Anniversary to the day. I think it will get good viewing figures and I think the reviews will be more measured than here in Ireland. There certainly won't be complaints about the TV licence fee, RTE canteen, blah blah.

PeterTheEighth

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

As the last episode was a little longer I'd imagine they'll go 1+2, 3+4 and then 5 on it's own.

I personally think that they should have made it either in to a single movie or a two part special. The thing seemed to go on forever the way that it was done. Cut some of the peripheral characters, drop the whole social commentary about class and religion, and just focus on the events. And save some of that 16 million that they wasted on making it into a mini series.

PeterTheEighth wrote: »

I personally think that they should have made it either in to a single movie or a two part special. The thing seemed to go on forever the way that it was done. Cut some of the peripheral characters, drop the whole social commentary about class and religion, and just focus on the events. And save some of that 16 million that they wasted on making it into a mini series.

6m not 16.

maudgonner wrote: »

6m not 16.

Don't bring your facts into this, maudgonner!

Shurimgreat wrote: »

I forgot about Easter being in March this year. But its nice they are showing it on the 100th Anniversary to the day. I think it will get good viewing figures and I think the reviews will be more measured than here in Ireland. There certainly won't be complaints about the TV licence fee, RTE canteen, blah blah.

It will be very interesting to hear what US TV critics and viewers make of it as an actual production. Funnily enough, the chorus of disapproval in Ireland seemed to only start with Episode 2, suggesting critics had a problem with the depiction of the actual Rising rather than the basic premise and set up of the show.

Just in relation to some of the historicity and accuracy of Rebellion, its worth pointing out that many acclaimed films and TV series have suffered from similar.

Take a look at Lincoln (nominated for 12 Oscars) as an example.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/goofs

If anything some of them will make you smile.

It is fair to criticise any program for errors, but its also fair to recognise that most period films and TV series suffer from the same problems.

PeterTheEighth

maudgonner wrote: »

6m not 16.

Okay, I had the other figure in my head for some reason. Still a lot of money. I shall correct the record.

Shurimgreat wrote: »

Just in relation to some of the historicity and accuracy of Rebellion, its worth pointing out that many acclaimed films and TV series have suffered from similar.

Take a look at Lincoln (nominated for 12 Oscars) as an example.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/goofs

If anything some of them will make you smile.

It is fair to criticise any program for errors, but its also fair to recognise that most period films and TV series suffer from the same problems.

From what I recall, Michael Collins had quite a few historical errors (a car bomb at Dublin Castle for example when no such things existed) and examples of taking artistic licence and creating scenes that never actually happened

Braveheart got more wrong than it did right.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Braveheart got more wrong than it did right.

The conclusion I'd draw from all this is that 1916 is still a very touchy subject in Ireland. A lot of the attacks on Rebellion on Twitter seemed to focus in on the historical aspects, not so much on the actors, scripts, plot development etc.

kabakuyu

Thank god its over, thought it was very poor.Hopefully it will drift into obscurity,not RTE's finest hour.

kabakuyu wrote: »

Thank god its over, thought it was very poor.Hopefully it will drift into obscurity,not RTE's finest hour.

You make it sound like someone tied you to a chair and forced you to watch it.

MilesMorales1

I thought it was really quite enjoyable.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

You make it sound like someone tied you to a chair and forced you to watch it.

This is a good point. Why did some people watch it to the very last minute of the last episode before deciding they didn't like it. Its really bizarre.