Harumble!

I don't watch a lot of TV. DVDs, yes, when I've got a lot of knitting or spinning to do but not much TV. It's not some kind of principled stance, I just don't find much of interest. But The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff has been on my must-watch list since I snuck a look at a copy of the Radio Times a few weeks back. 

I should start by saying that I am crazy about Bleak Expectations, I love both the amazingly surreal world and the jokes. That said, I know it's a bit of a marmite programme. In the unscientific focus group of my team at work, Bleak Expectations causes something of a split. We all hate Count Arthur Strong, we all love Warhorses of Letters but Bleak Expectations divides us. From my solidly "pro" position, I can't help thinking that the "anti" people either haven't given it enough time or haven't spent enough time listening to Dickens dramatisations. Okay, you don't need to know the stories in detail but you have to have a feel - and perhaps an appreciation - for the atmosphere.

So when it comes to The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, I was a little wary. When it comes down to it, I'd much rather be listening to another series of Bleak Expectations than watching a TV mutation but I wanted to give it a fair chance, untainted by my radio bias. After all, I didn't get Bleak Expectations the first time I heard it.

My first impressions were rather weird: I didn't imagine that my main thought for the first 20 minutes was going to be "There's a lot of stuff". It left me feeling like I'd probably caught/got only half of what was going on. I don't know if that's just because my brain can't deal with the idea that Bleak Expectations might have scenery or because I know that the street posters that were everywhere in the initial scenes must contain some very odd stuff. Also, the slightly weird CGI settings were a little off-putting (but clearly very necessary, how else are you going to put a shop into a debtors prison?).

It's hard (and foolish) to judge something by one episode but I can't help thinking that there are some things missing, something like Harry Biscuit and his inventions. Not only because they make me laugh but because all those swans let you know exactly what you're in for from this insane, super-logical world. Also, Harry is brilliant.

I can't for the life of me work out what I'd think of The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff if I wasn't already so much in love with Bleak Expectations. I think perhaps that the things that initially put me off the radio series are naturally still be there in the TV: there's something about the dialogue and the utterly surreal little Dickensian world that takes substantial getting used to. But there are a lot of Bleak Expectations fans out there and, if we can only get over the fact that it's not Bleak Expectations, then The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff has a natural fanbase ready to mobilise. The news that there will be another series of Bleak Expectations next year is certainly all the reassurance I need to allow me to see the TV series as something in its own right rather than a replacement for something I wildly enjoy. And so I say "Harumble!".

And an entirely unconnected second harumble: Carl Prekopp in the Archers. That'll teach me to get behind on the omnibus.