My goodness what a lot of negative reviews this show has generated though I can't understand why. Seldom have I seen such a fun programme. Yes, fun. This was funny, sexy, violent, bonkers and emotionally truthful in a way that other series fail to achieve.
To think that this was aiming for any kind of historical accuracy is mad. It was made as an entertainment riffing on possible historical events. The use of modern language, initially jarring, ends up working to its advantage. There's no more reason to dislike modern usage than there is to dislike cod medieval or cod turn of the millennia language. Any language choice is going to be inauthentic so you might as well go for modern vernacular which has the side effect of milking the dialogue for humour. Using Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man for the theme tune is as inspired as using Nick Cave for the theme tune of Peaky Blinders.
You might also like to note the satirical reference to other well-known franchises and the use of Shakespearian minor characters. The two centurions sampling the "stash" of the witch doctor was comedy gold.
Yes, how we all hunger for the certainty of the old days when you knew where you were. When Loved It or Hated It reviews could be searched on and all TV programmes followed the same rules and were as bland as each other. Now all we have left is "helpful" so please regard this review as a provocative Loved It review. No, seriously, I really loved this series and can't wait for the next and I hope I've been really unhelpful in my review.
