Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

The BBC made me really happy again. I haven't read the book (but I’m going to), so I couldn't compare the result to its source, but I'm absolutely thrilled by what I saw. The story is obviously based on stories from old England, very different from the J.R.R. Tolkien's world. The elves are glorious in both, but here they are extremely dangerous and sneaky, which is fine by me because I like Terry Pratchett and Andrzej Sapkowski better. Marc Warren was an excellent choice for the role of the Elf King, as he was extremely convincing, just like Eddie Marsan as Mr. Norrell. For some reason I was apprehensive about this series, but I got hooked from the very first episode and I really enjoyed it. (15/09/2017)

I don't know what exactly I expected to see, but the first episode definitely pleased me. I really didn't expect such a mix of mystery, intelligent humor, and drama, complemented by an interestingly gloomy atmosphere, and that's why I was even more thrilled. Bertie Carvel fits perfectly into the role of Mr. Norrell, and I was delighted by Marc Warren, who was excellent as Mr. Time-in-a-bottle in Father Piglet. (12/09/2017)

And the second episode was very good, it just didn't have that element of surprise anymore. I have to admit that I enjoy the scenes with the King of Elves/Goblins the most, or whoever it actually is, and the reality feels a bit disturbing to me. The storyline with Marc Warren strongly reminds me of Terry Pratchett's books about witches fighting against the kingdom of elves, and I like that. (12/09/2017)

This time I had a great time from beginning to end. The Elf King was going crazy, Mr. Strange resorted to old magic in Belgium (and it was worth it), and the events surrounding Arabella were well-developed and Mr. Childermass was surprised. A high-quality episode. (14/09/2017)

I simply had to like the sixth part. Jonathan Strange almost took my breath away, at one point considering going into the wilderness only to appear in Venice in the next scene. That would be quite a hermitage:) Otherwise, the episode brought me enough action in "The Land behind the Mirror", a great mouse diet, and lots of intrigue. (14/09/2017)

"I was afraid that the final episode would bring a rushed happy ending, but it turned out that I was worrying unnecessarily. The seventh episode was well-crafted, nothing was rushed, and most importantly, it didn't come with an overtly happy ending that would surely happen in American production, with crowds of happy people clapping in the streets. Thankfully, the series is British, so I got what I wanted without anyone forcing gallons of pathos and false happiness on me." (15/09/2017)