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Post by pim on Nov 1, 2017 9:10:40 GMT 10
Are you watching it? I've already binge-watched it on Netflix but, relax, I'm not going to introduce any spoilers. My advice, for what it's worth, is to enjoy it as a type of chick flick entertainment rather than as a historical period piece. You may/may not have picked up the occasional reference to hanging, drawing and quartering. This is bullshit. The last person hung, drawn and quartered in England was in 1782. For treason. Victoria's reign began in 1837. She was Queen Elizabeth 2's great great grandmother. The past isn't that long ago.
Oh, and one more thing: whoever selected the music for Victoria deserves to be hung, drawn and quartered. It should be Handel for her earlier reign and Elgar for her latter reign. Whatever they've selected, it's appalling.
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Post by KTJ on Nov 1, 2017 9:41:01 GMT 10
I missed the first episode of the first season, so didn't bother watching it on broadcast television, however it became available to purchase online directly from the UK production company two weeks after the first episode was shown in NZ, so I bought it and it was delivered by courier from the UK four days later. It was multi-zone, so I didn't even need to worry putting it in one of the players which will play any zone, and I binge-watched the entire season over a period of four nights. As a result, I got to see it all before the season had even fully shown in NZ.
I watched the second season on television as it was shown, episode by episode, and the final episode was shown on Sunday evening. However, it is so good that I'm going to purchase the DVD of the second (and any subsequent) seasons, so I can dig it out and watch it again in its entirety at some point in the future when I'm retired and have a lot of spare time on my hands.
And yeah, I know it's lightweight entertainment, but I have loved it so far.
And as for hanging, drawing and quartering, somebody was sentenced to that very punishment in New Zealand in the 1880s, but the prison authorities decided that mere hanging was enough. I guess they were too squeamish to go the “whole hog” and create a huge mess to clean up afterwards. The poor unfortunate soul was actually a Maori man who was associated with Te Kooti and who was convicted of murdering a preacher at his church during a church service at Opotiki (the preacher in question was regarded by Maori as being a government spy); however in recent years, considerable doubt has been expressed by various learned legal minds as to whether or not he was actually the guilty party. He was hanged in Napier Gaol (yep, they used that old spelling and it is cast into the prison wall) and buried within the prison grounds. These days, the old Napier Gaol is a backpackers hostel; and is a very popular place to stay at amongst young people from overseas. And the graves of the three unfortunates hanged at Napier Gaol during the years of its existence as a jail are still there within the grounds, which I suppose is part of the ghoulish attraction for staying there. The rooms are the old cells, complete with bars on the windows.
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Post by pim on Nov 1, 2017 10:40:21 GMT 10
I trust it's haunted. Not worth it if it isn't.
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