The Living and the Dead

It is beautiful. Just beautiful Gothic story, served by impecable acting, inspired atmosphere, great care for details, haunting theme. A couple, a farm,possesed children and shadows of past, old stories, the effort to save the other and himself and beautiful love story. Short, just impressive.

It's 1894 Somerset, England. Pioneering Victorian psychologist Nathan Appleby with his wife Charlotte return home to visit his sick mother. When she dies, Nathan inherits the estate's farm. Charlotte tries to inject new thinking into the farm work but she is opposed by the locals. One night, Nathan finds local girl Harriet in a trance and waist-deep in the lake. He sees it as a psychological disturbance and the locals' fears as superstitions but dark forces may be abound.

This is an interesting BBC show. It's 6 episodes. It is obviously planning to continue but got canceled after the first series. I really like the old rural Britain society and the conflict between modern science and old superstitions. The show transitions into the modern world in the last episode and it's a little jarring. It almost feels like a different show. The book of light is a fun term but I don't really like the modern story of that last episode. It may work better if the modern day story is presented right from the beginning of the show.

I'm very sad to hear that there will not be any more seasons. It really was wonderfully done.

The Living and the Dead is a very evocative celebration of rural England. It is powerful because, rather than present a life of twee corn-dollies and doilies, it presents the real struggles of life on the land, and what the agricultural year used to mean to people: i.e. everything. The haunting come across as an expression of this place in time and I think, despite other reviews, are truly original in that they are rooted in deep story. The central characters are mostly real and deep - especially Gideon and Nathan Appleby. I find Charlotte's character a little cookie cutter at times - she is the straightforward one. The acting by Morgan is really rather stop-you-in-your- tracks, but I must also acknowledge that I am a red blooded female with an appreciation for tortured souls in a waistcoat. The twists, and complexities of plot, the imagery of the thing and - most of all I think- the questions it raises about the nature of time, make this compelling TV viewing. Many are super keen for more.

I personally found this captivating and well worth watching.

The setting is a lovely location with history oozing thru the storyline. the characters are solid, 3d and fully believable. the directing and background make you believe the story and accept the circumstances.

it drags you into the plot and makes you want to know what ever happens next.

I cannot recommend this enough.

Unlike another critic I felt that the music enhanced the plot and added to the air of mystery.

It all becomes explained in the last episode and suddenly it all makes sense.

well worth watching.