The Brontes

I'll have to give it another go on catch up. I gave up after twenty minutes.

Did you not like it, Merlotgran?

Not the best thing but very good - DH gave in and went off to read his book!

As usual with the BBC the sound was poor and muffled, had to keep rewinding and using sub-titles.

It's not my hearing - I have to turn Laura Kuenssberg and Gary Lineker's adverts right down!

I thought I was going to like it but I think I'm in the wrong frame of mind tonight. Probably tired and I was irritated by the poor sound quality.

I know the feeling. The only problem I have with these dramas is the way they play loud music when actors are speaking. What's the point? It's the speech we want to hear. I put the captions on and turn the volume down and that helps. I hope you enjoy it. I was interested in the lives of these sisters who produced such wonderful literature. Three of them in one family! Incredible. I have loved all their books. It was good to learn more about their lives.

I enjoyed it, and will watch again. I've never liked the Brontës' writing much, but I'm really interested in the social history of the time. Apparently Patrick changed the name from Brunty!

I think history has had a tendency to romanticise the Brontës and I was pleased to find bleakness and despair in the programme. There were shades of Happy Valley too! Apparently James Norton had a cameo but I missed that.

I DO wish, though, that Wainwright had given us just a little taste of what the local dialogue was like....i found the speech just a bit..modern?

Jalima I agree about the sound, it does not affect me as I have the sub-titles on all the time, but once again my poor husband said he could not hear - the sub-titles are too small for him to see. He is really fed up with dark pictures and mumbled speech. Not over enthusiastic about this particular piece at the moment.

I switched off after an hour. I just couldn't get into it. I already knew a lot about the lives of the Brontes, maybe that affected how I was viewing?

I did like the sets and scenes, especially the Old White Lion hotel at the top of the hill, a bit different now!

I gave it about 20-30 minutes then switched off. DH was born and brought up in Haworth and we expected to see some familiar scenery but we were disappointed. I love period dramas but found this quite boring.

I enjoyed it and have to admit that I knew very little about the background of the sisters prior to the programme. I have already searched for more information on them and I am planning to visit their home. I have to agree about the sound. I have no hearing problems but I struggled to pick up some sections of the dialogue. Maybe sub titles are the way forward. Hope BBC reads our comments!

I don't really know why I stuck with it,but I did,no not very good,was looking forward to it ,but was disappointed.

I was quite impressed with it and thought it was an improvement on those depictions of the Bronte sisters as genteel and speaking with a plum in their mouths. It is extraordinary to think how young they died: roughly 29, 30 and 39. The Radio Times said that the average life expectancy in Haworth at the time was 19. Let us never grumble again about the NHS and about vaccination programmes! - sewers also played their part I guess.

gettingonabit yes, the dialogue was disappointing - far too many modern turns of phrase which sat awkwardly in a period drama.

And far too much time spent on Branwell; they could have had snippets of their books being read by each sister as they wrote them.

All in all not the best thing on tv over Christmas for my liking.

I loved it but agree about the sound, mumbled and music too loud. Thank goodness for subtitles. I thought it gave a good portrayal of how hard life was in those days, especially for women. Also how useless Branwell was. I knew quite a bit but learned a lot about their relationships with each other and how they got their work published.

There were one or two modern phrases which jarred a bit and in the scene where father said how proud he was they were at the tea table with mismatched china. Trendy now but they would have had a complete tea set in a clergyman's home; mismatched would have been for paupers in those days. Very good costumes though.

They all succumbed to TB didn't they? Perhaps a legacy from that dreadful school they were sent to.

I wondered about the fact that Branwell thumbed a lift - I have googled to see when this became accepted and thought maybe this was an anachronism. Can't find any info on it.

I didn't watch, husband did, must ask him what he thought.
I once had a friend who lived near Haworth, and we went for a walk on Haworth Moor on New Year's Day - it was so bleak!

We happened to be in Haworth on a filming day. It was interesting but also annoying because most of the main street was roped off and a couple of the staff (not actors) seemed to think they owned the entire area, rudely telling people where they could and couldn't stand then changing their minds and pushing people with barriers rather than just asking them to move.

A local told us to go up Penistone Hill to see the village set. It was amazing. The centre of Haworth built of wood and cladding. They'd build the house, church, part of the graveyard, the school and several other buildings with frontages and scaffolding at the back for cameras etc.

We meant to watch the programme to see if we could tell which bits were the village and which bits were the stage set but forgot lol.

I read this thread before watching so was braced for mumbling and music obscuring the dialogue. However, I found that they didn't actually mumble but large sections of dialogue between the sisters was literally whispered for no particular reason. The director must have told them to do it that way. All very atmospheric but ultimately pointless!
Very sad situation for them all. Women were really in a difficult position if unmarried and obviously couldn't rely on family as in the Bronte's case.

I rather enjoyed it, but agree with those who say it was "Branwell heavy". I suppose there might not have been much substance to it without his melodramatics, though. The sound quality wasn't wonderful and DH had to have the subtitles on. The settings were very good. What short, rather sad lives they led though, escaping only through their writing. I didn't realise that Charlotte was pregnant when she died, some say of complications associated with the pregnancy, others of a pulmonary disease which could have been cured, but she chose instead to hasten her own end by refusing treatment. Strange if true.

Gettingonabit ,he changed the name to make it more upmarket when they moved from Northern Ireland where he was minister of Rathfriland Church ,I learned of this while researching my other halfs family tree,he was their minister and married and christened many in the family

I will definitely give it another try but will watch it on my laptop with headphones because DH didn't like it at all.

OK but it seemed to be more about Bramwell than the sisters. I admit I know nothing about them really although years ago I struggled through Villette. I wasn't aware they wrote under other names.

I think they could have found three actresses who actually had a tiny amount of family resemblance to each other!