Wasn't keen at first, but it really grew on me.
Ambassadors Page 3
Caught up with this just recently.
Love all their previous work, but not only did this fall between two stools - the stools were in different pubs.
Quote: Lazzard @ 7th November 2013, 4:32 PM GMTCaught up with this just recently.
Love all their previous work, but not only did this fall between two stools - the stools were in different pubs.
'Stools' just about describes it.
Liked it. Not roll-about funny but the 'Vetter' was excellent and as said by others Webb seemed a lot more comfortable than Mitchell. However it certainly is far more preferable to the utter trash that is Khan and Man Down where the humour is so juvenile at times it beggers belief. This has been written to a much higher standard.
It kind of petered out at the end...after all that (not particularly exciting) build up with the blackmail, threats, uprising, passing of documents, sneaking through a checkpoint and potential diplomatic fall out and then it just was alright in the end. Everything was fine. Except an empty bar was smashed up and someone's elderly mum died.
I think there was enough in those hour-long eps to make three really fantastic sitcom episodes and it's such a shame they wasted that material on that plodding shambles
I also was starting to feel quite uncomfortable with the 'aren't foreigners stupid, tacky and weird' vibe that the show seemed to have. I think it crossed over the line from clash-of-cultures to Borat fairly quickly.
Quote: Harridan @ 7th November 2013, 10:46 PM GMTI also was starting to feel quite uncomfortable with the 'aren't foreigners stupid, tacky and weird' vibe that the show seemed to have.
If you have ever met any diplomats you will recognise those as fairly authentic attitudes.
I meant the attitude of the show rather than of the characters
The show sees through the eyes of its protagonists, who are diplomats. Besides there is a lot in central Asian republics that stands satirising.
Sorry, I don't buy that at all.
What? That there are central Asian republics with ludicrously narcissistic and shamelessly corrupt and nepotistic regimes?
Other than the unappealing local cooking and the bored and lazy secret police, both of which I doubt are entirely inauthentic, I am not sure what else you have in mind.
Most of the satire seems directed at the unethical attitudes of Western Governments, our morally compromised diplomats, and indeed our own ludicrous royal family.
Absurdity is where you find it, and just because you find it in a foreign land that does not make it immune from satire.
You do make a good point, but I think we have a habit of belittling other nations in a very colonial way. I think it would have been fine if there had been a balancing component to demonstrate that there was a disconnect between the British characters' impression of the place and the people, and what is was actually like.
I saw a little bit of this and it didn't seem too bad. May catch up on iPlayer. Certainly looked better than the f**king Magicians.
Incredibly pedestrian - only high point was prince mark.
You say pedestrian like it's a bad thing. Screw the car, get some exercise!
Quote: Aaron @ 3rd November 2013, 1:17 PM GMTI've been genuinely surprised by the reaction to this series. For me, it's the single funniest comedy drama in memory. And the most enjoyable.
Mentioning no titles, the term 'comedy drama' seems to have become a fallback, catch-all term for simple light-narrative series, that are actually neither particularly dramatic nor comedic. Just nice stories with an occasional bit of humour or plot suspense. Ambassadors, I feel, has been far more true to the name of the genre.
I agree with you. This is the "perfect" entertainment with a bit of everything in it.
WHEN IS THE NEXT EPISODE, Just can't wait!