Bedlam (2011–2013) User Reviews

Easy watching. Good for a light supernatural fix

[danbayliss · 7/10 · 8 March 2011]

Jed (Theo James) sees ghosts and how they died. Put him and an attractive cast in an old mental asylum that is now converted into luxury apartments and you get an enjoyable easy going, light hearted glossy horror. The location is spooky and ideal for the setting.

The series and the twists pick up as it progresses. If I were to pick any flaw, it would be to ask how all these people can afford such nice apartments decorated so well? I am eagerly awaiting the 6th episode as it's really all coming together and everything looks to kick off.

Don't expect anything new, but unlike other reviews I doubt you will hate it or feel you wasted time watching.

Fun premise, underwhelming delivery

[Stovepipe99 · 6/10 · 25 July 2018]

First of all, I think it's good to know going in that season 1 and season 2 are different beasts. The first season follows Jed, a man who sees ghosts and returns to his family's asylum-turned-apartment building after being summoned by an unknown entity. While there he tries to understand his deeper connection to the place. Season 2 follows Ellie, a paramedic who has started seeing ghosts and goes to the asylum/apartments to seek out Jed (her access to medical files means she knows that he also saw ghosts).

The premise itself is good, and I was interested in both the "episode of the week" parts (ie always figuring out which former mental patient was haunting someone and why), and the long-form story (about Jed and Ellie and their connection to the asylum). But both aspects of the series let me down quite a bit. There are some creepy images here and there, but the resolutions are often not very satisfying. We are repeatedly shown mental patients who haunt the asylum because they were horribly abused, and usually their stories end with really superficial solutions, like returning a possession to a grave.

As other reviews have mentioned, there are several mysteries that are simply never solved or just dropped from the narrative and it's quite frustrating. Characters we care about--MAIN CHARACTERS--leave or die off-screen, as if the actors just simply didn't come back to work and another character explains what happened to them or where they are.

I don't mind shows that aren't awesome, but this one doesn't even have an episode that I could name as a stand-out or even totally good episode. On the whole they tend to range from boring to middling. On the plus side, there are only 12 episodes in the entire show, and I liked Theo James and Lacey Turner enough as the leads that I stayed relatively engaged. Hugo Speer (as the probably evil uncle Warren) is good, but given almost nothing to do except pop up now and then to be menacing.

I can't really recommend this one, nor can I say it should be avoided. It's just . . . eh. If you like ghosty/paranormal stuff, this is good enough for a Friday night binge watch.

Meh

[nicci1972 · 5/10 · 10 December 2020]

While season one was a bit disjointed and like others mentioned had plots that were never answered, resolved or even continued for that matter (why was Kate so devious, where did Jed get his powers) - a few of the unanswered questions were touched upon in season two. But season 2 had it's loose and hanging plots as well (What was the purpose of Kiera, and how did Molly end up in Thailand when they Portrayed her as being kidnapped) - even though they wrapped it pretty nice. Most reviews on this site are spot on. It's interesting enough, had mad potential and a letdown all at the same time. The choice is yours.

Cliché but entertaining

[cmolin-1 · 7/10 · 26 March 2011]

I think the show is really worth watching. It's short, condensed, well balanced between the self-conclusive episodes and the main plot. Nothing new, slightly flat characters, but a whole lot of entertainment.

That said, it's interesting how much derivative the show is. The locations, the iconography of the ghosts, the dynamics between ghost and characters... everything seems to convey a sense of deja-vu. And it's surprising how much this show tries NOT to be British while still remaining it; the reference is more or less the recent American horror (and, indirectly, the Japanese new wave) but many things in the production (good lookin', sexy actors; cinematography; editing, ecc...) just seem to try and be in that trend, maybe to be "easy". On the other side, a kind of British aftertaste still remains and the writing (characters issue aside) is really good.

It has it's flaws, but still works better and better each episode, till the great, though a bit "tecnical", final cliffhanger.

Flawed yet terrific

[Michael_Takes · 8/10 · 26 April 2011]

Ignore the flaws - this show is terrific.

Cast is terrific, even if the characters motivations and history are almost non existent. Theo James is brilliant as the main character, a person who not only sees ghosts but how they die. Charlotte salt is also a standout but her character lacks a back story to explain why she is the way she is.

The setting is terrific - an old asylum, renovated as a high level apartment building. Oh, and it is haunted! Each episode is well directed, music is spot on for frights, and the writing is excellent. Each episode delves into the history of the asylum with the lives of the new tenants triggering off the ghosts.

While I am a huge fan of British TV an American season length would enable more character depth. 6 episodes are just not enough!

Promising?

[C.J.-4 · 7 February 2011]

The series is set in a large apartment block (apparently a work in progress) located in the old Bedlam mental hospital. The reactions from our small audience were very mixed - between finding it very addictive to others (including myself) who found it to be a badly written piece of entertainment. The actors are all very competent and give their best but the characters are not well developed and so much more could have been achieved by making this first episode a two-parter with a more involved story and a rich tapestry of background for the building and its inhabitants. Hopefully, as the series progresses, it will find its feet.

Season 2 was awful

[kim928 · 6/10 · 23 February 2022]

I actually liked season 1. Yea there were some flaws but the characters were much more likable than those in season 2. Season 2 did provide some answers. But overall it was awful.

Slow burn to flame out

[rjgrund-123-603438 · 5/10 · 7 November 2020]

What the heck? Create a main character (Theo James) to care about and then don't resolve his story. He made the stories worth watching. Just drop his story into thin air? Second season is an entirely different story and characters. Why? What was the point? You will feel betrayed by the story at the end. Save your energy.

Stylish, light. sexy and creepy!

[johnEvegas · 8/10 · 30 April 2011]

I REALLY liked this show simply based on the cool subject matter. The setting is GREAT and can lead to many creepy stories to be told. In reality it would be SOOO COOL to have a flat in a place like that, as long as the spirits have not targeted you any particular week.

I read reviews about bad acting and maybe it is because I am not a Brit I cannot pick up on it as much, acting is in the little details and I am not sure what they are supposed to sound like so I must miss it. I think the acting is just fine. The actors are also attractive and that is not always commonplace on Brit TV. Maybe the acting bar can be lowered because they are pretty people.

I see A LOT of potential for future seasons and even though I read the article about the low ratings I see will have season 2 and I am excited.

6 1/2

[Headturner1 · 6/10 · 3 March 2020]

I watched for Theo James. He didn't disappoint. When it first started I had to look at the date it came out again. Looks and feels more like something from the 80's-90's. That said it was decent I watched all episodes in one sitting. As one reviewer said it is more soap opera like than big budget film quality. And : SPOILER season 2 has basically a whole new cast. However I did watch 1 episode and it looks higher budget and creepier. I don't know if I'll finish because I'm still recovering from Theo not being in it.

Too many clichés

[schembrichristopher · 1/10 · 5 March 2017]

This has got to be one of the worst ghost-themed TV series of recent years. I truly struggled to get to the end of series one. The script is terrible. REALLY terrible. There are subplots that go nowhere and it's one cliché after another; flickering lights in basements, little girls appearing down long corridors, doors opening and closing by themselves, white skinned ghosts with black contact lenses ... honestly, they were one step away from having ghosts floating around in white sheets with the eyes cut out. Basically, the story is about a group of flatmates living in a new luxury apartment block that had been a mental asylum. The apartment block is haunted by former patients and each week a new ghost terrorizes the residents. The property is owned by a man and his daughter (Warren and Kate) whose family have owned the building for generations. They've called it "Bedlam Heights" ... eye roll here. The Kate's cousin Jed turns up, having just been let out of a mental hospital himself, and moves in to the new apartment building. Jed sees ghosts. The only creepy thing in this series is that the two cousins have the hots for each other. I don't think I'll waste my time with season two.

First episode impressions

[aoifeoleary91 · 8/10 · 8 February 2011]

The much advertised first episode of Bedlam aired on Monday. While it is a good premise for a show, the idea of a creepy mental asylum is an exhausted location in TV and film (Kingdom Hotel, Shutter Island, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, even Supernatural had an episode based on a haunted asylum).

The first episode ' Cohabitants' centers around Kate, an estate agent working with the sale of Bedlam Heights, a mental asylum being renovated into apartments. The character of Kate sort of rubbed me the wrong way, she came across as cold and uncaring to me. Kate lives in Bedlam Heights with her flatmates, Ryan and Molly. Her cousin, Jed, turns up to 'Save Kate' after he receives numerous text messages from an undisclosed source.

The characters are not very deep and the acting is a tiny bit stilted, I hope there will be more time given in future episodes to learn more about their histories, as it seemed we were only given a crash course into their past. There was subplot, involving Ryan's brother who had died a year ago but not much else was mentioned about Ryan's life.

I don't see how they'll stretch a whole season out of it, the plot has a lot of clichés and it was quite slow moving in parts.It is defiantly influenced by the horrors and thrillers that have gone before it. Having said that, Will Young put in a surprisingly strong performance and the action scenes were quite well done. For a British show with a low budget, it's a breath of fresh air for Monday night viewing. I'll be very interested to see how the show and its characters progress and I will be tuning in next week.

Just entertaining enough

[brenthood00-951-475255 · 6/10 · 12 June 2021]

This show was ok but could have been much better. I was a little upset half the characters you get invested into get written off the show after season 1 but it was something to watch and easy to binge the whole thing in a few nights. It was just entertaining enough to follow through but I probably won't ever watch it again.

Doesn't live up to the expectations...

[GreenArrow · 3/10 · 22 February 2011]

I was really looking forward to watching what Bedlam had to offer after the beautifully shot trailer. A dark, twisted drama set in an Asylum with ghosts all over the place - just my cup of tea!

Unfortunately, after watching the second episode I made up my mind (I gave it another chance after a poor first episode), and I am not watching it again... it's like watching Scooby Doo with less scares!

Terrible acting (I don't have anything against Will Young, but he should go back to singing...), inefficient jump scenes, technology driven ghosts, scary skid marks (seriously?), unnecessary bare chest men... the only bit that's mildly interesting is the two seconds flashbacks you get per episode showing you something that happened in the Asylum. That's it. Two seconds.

Needless to say, after watching the second episode (yes, I didn't even make it to the third one) - I am not watching this again. I'll probably watch the brilliant trailer over and over again now, which is surely that amazing because no one speaks! Disappointing.

Superb Creepy Drama

[munchkins2861 · 10/10 · 11 March 2011]

Amazing, really enjoy sit on edge seat. Cant wait till next episode we be devastated when finishes please say series 2 in making! Characters are brilliant and story lines are really good. Love Jed. Will Young really is good in this, better actor than thought he would be. Was very sceptical when see previews but was really pleased i recorded and can watch whenever i want. Fully intend to buy when on DVD. I love creepy dramas without being goorey and this is my type of program, me and husband sit and watch this together without fail. Writer deserve credit for brilliant twists and really working with characters so every week you find out something new about them and history. a+++

Too much drama, not enough Trauma!!!

[cskalski · 5/10 · 31 October 2011]

Sorry. I hope they either make it more scary, or cancel it.

It is a young peoples soap opera, just like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place.

it is just so....well, not scary. There isn't enough creepy stuff, but if there were more, everyone with a brain would just move out.

Please cancel this show. Do it softly, and file it with Outcasts and Defying Gravity.

Do these directors and producers know about Event Horizon, or Battlestar Galactica? They need to watch them carefully before making any more "scary" soap opera's or good Sci-Fi drama's.

Thanks!

Chris

I love this show

[annmarietearle · 10/10 · 18 March 2011]

I just finished watching Bedlam series 1 (6 episodes) and oh my God I am so hooked, WHAT A FANTASTIC SHOW, CANNOT WAIT FOR SERIES 2. It's good old fashioned entertainment and I'm sure I cannot be the only one who thinks so. My recommendation is to watch it for yourself and make up your own mind up, please do not listen or be influenced by what others think or write about this show or you may miss a rare treat. I was enthralled by the last episode of series 1 (ep 6) and I was on the edge of my seat as I thought I would find out the big secret but the show ended without the big reveal and now I want to see the next series straight away.It's great to see a good ole spooky programme on TV instead of the usual rubbish.

oh dear a new depth has been found

[robinstorer · 1/10 · 11 February 2011]

this has to be one of the worst scripted and acted programmes, its worse than anything even itv2 have managed to put out. unfortunately will young is probably the most well known person in it and fair enough his acting takes second place to his singing as a day job, but his acting in anything is pretty lame by anyones standards, there is no element of belief in his acting other than the usual will young "look at me I'm will young" i guess one of the twists must be about the behaviour of his character as i cannot see how any female would want to be involved with the character.i feel sorry for Hugo spiers , a genuinely good actor, but hope the money was good.the actress who plays Kate is painfully bad.the production values are terrible.

Second series much better than the first

[rocknrelics · 10/10 · 13 September 2019]

The first series was very 'teen horror' and had some really annoying actors in it (step forward Will Young particularly..) and whilst watchable, wasn't anything special.

Cue huge cast changes for series 2, and witness a massive step up in terms of quality, the difference is chalk and cheese.

So a solid 8 on the basis of series 2 alone.

weak uninspired ghosts and unsolved mysteries put this in freefall

[olearym-104-860584 · 5/10 · 8 June 2012]

I believe in ghosts, demons and all thing in the supernatural, we all know mental houses are prime targets for ghosts so when this series was announced i got excited to see what the show was going to do... it blew.

i mean its generic, bland, dull and it doesn't think outside the box for its hunting's. and the series ending annoyed me and others as the questions it had set up weren't solved or explained and the ghosts don't get interesting back stories.

if your doing a show on a haunted mental home, try to home in on the mental illness side of things and this show makes a poor attempt at that. mostly as its set in modern times and the story centres round a family business trying to turn the place into a residential home (ya know cause people love living in places were the previous tenant smeared poo on the walls)well they plan covering up what the building was originally for but they don't do it very well. and enter our main character.

our main character is your typical guy who sees dead people. he just wants to help them move on to the next life. then he gets a call to go to bedlam and off he flies from confused, upset ghosts to ghosts who try to kill him or someone every episode. good question why was it just one ghost attacked someone every episode and i mean just one? hell the pilot showed that place to be crawling with paranormal activity and just one ghost attacks every so often. people should be coming out in body bags and broken noses, laziest bunch of ghosts i ever saw. adding insult to injury the ghost don't have any back story to them. at all. its just they died and they want to kill someone for reasons never explained. these were mental patents, they might have even been sane and locked in against their will. what was their condition? how did it show in them? how were they treated? why do they want to kill someone as ghosts? WE DON'T KNOW!!! its never explained. coming neatly into my next problem, the mystery.

the mystery of the series. this seems to be the 'in thing' right now with doctor who with mysteries like bad wolf. the series has a mystery about missing girls and the main characters sister which somehow relate to the Mental house. the way this should work is with bit by bit giving clues to the mystery hinting at what it might be. Doctor who executed this brilliantly with relaunching the show. Bedlam gives us the mystery in the pilot and then abandons it all together. the missing girls are never mentioned again and the sister no one mentions again. hell suddenly it get booted for a mystery of whats behind a wall. focus on one mystery you stupid writers don't set one up then abandon it for something you might think cool. hell the punishment for this is that we arnt given closure to the series. none of the questions were answered, we're none the wiser for the mysteries it gave it. well worth investing my Monday nights.

series 2 just begun and its stupider than the last. most of the original cast are gone, the new girl a complete moron and the new characters seem more like stereotypes than fleshed out characters. hell it carries the mystery from last series but im not holding my breath solving it.

as you can tell this was a major let down for me and i suggest leaving this show alone

Bedlam is Really Good

[stephenpatterson76 · 10/10 · 23 April 2011]

When I first saw this show advertised, i never gave it a second thought. Then all my friends were talking about it and saying that I would really enjoy it. I always watched Living and enjoyed similar shows such as Ghost Whisperer and Medium. I decided i would give it a go. After i watched the first episode, I was hooked.

It has a really good plot line, I think Theo James and Charlote Salt are amazing in it, their acting is flawless. It is still unclear as to whether or not the show will continue as all first 6 episodes have been shown. I really hope it gets another season as i thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be buying it on DVD.

Not worth watching

[RicardoOchoa · 3/10 · 20 October 2012]

I would say "lame". Production flaws make it lame. I'm a ghosts and ghouls and suspense/thriller fan and unfortunately this series are not quite right on target for being a "can't wait to see what's next" program. Maybe these series were planned just for teenagers...

I would say "lame". Production flaws make it lame. I'm a ghosts and ghouls and suspense/thriller fan and unfortunately this series are not quite right on target for being a "can't wait to see what's next" program. Maybe these series were planned just for teenagers...

I would say "lame". Production flaws make it lame. I'm a ghosts and ghouls and suspense/thriller fan and unfortunately this series are not quite right on target for being a "can't wait to see what's next" program. Maybe these series were planned just for teenagers...

Great Show..on the end of my seat the whole time

[mightym0729 · 10/10 · 1 March 2014]

I watched this show on Hulu Plus. I wish there was a third season. I found all the characters intriguing. The series left me wanting more. I watched all the episodes in two days. I felt emotion at the death of the characters because of how well each character's personality was expressed. I think maybe the timing of this show was off because everyone is looking for the supernatural shows now. Maybe this show was ahead of its time...

I think that this show could have new characters each season because of where the show was set up, and never get boring. I hope you reconsider a third episode.I think that if you continued this show now you would have a strong audience.

Like Herding Cats!

[jacgvn-38197 · 1/10 · 28 June 2019]

Characters were all over the place...one runs off another random character appears, very disjointed and what is with the renovations they're taking forever...they keep running into that same draped plastic sheeting! Who are all these nuckleheads in the second season? Acting was terrible, partly due to poor script and lack of direction.

Unexpectedly good

[Britsahil123 · 9/10 · 10 February 2021]

Watched season 1 only not expecting much from a low-budget old British TV show but was pleasantly surprised! The stories are quite gripping, Theo James is fantastic as is the rest of the starry cast. It certainly would be much better with big production values of sky made it now! Not many horror TV shows worth a watch but this was definitely good!