Secret Smile

Shadow Leader

Shadow Leader

At the Start
Joined
Nov 9, 2003
Messages
9,884
I see that ITV have serialised Nicci French's Secret Smile & it shows tomorrow evening. The book was fantastic - very freaky. The fantastic David Tennant plays the resident creep/pyscho & is an ideal type for the role; whoever cast him did a brilliant job. I'd recommend watching this as if it is anywhere as good as the book it will be very, very good - I just hope they've done a good job of it.

As an aside, Nicci French is one of my favourite authors - her novels are very, very original, very clever & horribly creepy. She's an author to follow; her first book in particular, The Memory Game, was superb. She's written around 8 books now I think - all of which are brilliant.
 
Quite enoyed part one, Shads.

Tennant well cast and excellent as the evil little prick, not so sure about the casting of the sisters, might have been better the other way around.

Everyone except "Mirrie" seemed easily taken in by the manipulative little bastard. I do hope he gets a suitable come-uppance.
 
Yes, it was good - and that was a brilliant bit of casting sticking in David Tennant as Brendan. It followed the book quite well; except that Troy didn't jump off a roof, Miranda found him hanging in the front room.

A book/programme like this just goes to show how frightening this sort of situation can be and how easily these conmen are believed. Of course, Miranda wasn't taken in - she dumped him because he was such a psycho; nicking a set of spare keys to her house the morning after then letting himself in & reading her diary pretty much demonstrated to her what a nutter he was. The family are falling for his lies as 1) he is such a charmer & 2) he initially sowed the seeds very well by telling the sister that Miranda was "devastated" when he dumped her & could take their new relationship badly. So naturally, everyone was expecting her to be jealous from the outset and being such a smooth conman (& pyscho, obsessive stalker!!) & making little comments designed to rile her he is manipulating the situation to make it look like she is the jealous one - she gets so uptight & riled whilst he stays ultra-cool so everyone assumes it is her with the obsession, not him.

Tonight's conclusion (I assume it is tonight!!) should be very good - things move very fast in the second half of the book, after Troy dies.
 
Don't spoil it for some of us, Dom, by telling us one of the key characters snuffs it... h:)

It's a bit Mills & Boon, but nice escapist stuff for a change from the rather worthy documentaries I've been absorbed watching recently. Thought 'Rome' was pretty good this week, too. Poor old Kenneth 'Pompey' Cranham got his head sliced off on Egyptian shores, just after landing, thanks to the usual treachery of loyal friends. Who'd have been a Roman, huh? You never knew whether you'd get a knife in the back or a spear in the front, if you managed to swerve the poisoned wine or the asp in the bed. Nice...
 
Uh, Kri - if you'd seen it last night you'd have known he died - he pegged it in last night's episode......

Maybe I've lost it a bit, but since when has a taut pyschological thriller been Mills & Boon?! Last thing I'd heard they were all fairytale love stories with quite a bit of sex thrown in!
 
Well done ITV. 9 1/2 out of 10. A very good adaptation of the novel; well made, accurate & closely stuck to the storylines of the book. It was a pleasure to see a dramatisation done so well & not missing out/changing large chunks of the story - the only couple of bits that stood out to me as being incorrect were the manner of Troy's death & Brendan's nationality - he was Irish I'm sure, not Scottish. I'm going to have to dig out the book again I reckon - I enjoyed that very much.
 
It was okay, Shadz. Very sloppy police work and the interview techniques were hopeless - if you overlook the technical faults, it was still far poorer than 'Jagged Edge', which really was a 'taut, psychological thriller', as you put it. To be honest, this was such a rambling psychological thriller that I must've fallen asleep during the part where Troy died! :lol:

I used 'Mills & Boon' in the potboiler sense - actually, they're a lot more up-to-date now, I hear, and there's plenty of rumpy-pumpy as well as mad obsessions, betrayals, jealousies, rages, bad behaviour, and the occasional mysterious death. Just like real life, then.
 
I rather liked 'Carry on Cleo' (although you've mixed up two continents there, O Geographically-Challenged One), so 'Rome' suits me fine. Sometimes, all one wants is a little escapism, and Ray Stevenson semi-clothed. If I wanted historical facts, I'd pick up Gibbons.

Shadz: actually, SS wasn't THAT bad! :D :D
 
Well, I hope the book finished better than the TV programme, I didn't like the way they tried to explain what happened when "Mirrie" was supposedly murdered.

And 22 years wasn't good enough for the little shit, unless he was banged up with another manipulative sadistic bastard weighing about 22 stone! :rolleyes:
 
I think they did quite a good job of tying up the loose ends, Colin - and yes, in the book it did transpire that Miranda was alive & had stitched up the slimy little git well & proper!

James - Rome is excellent, I'm loving it so far!
 
Back
Top