Noughts and Crosses the TV show, episode one
Way back in 2001 I was poking around in the school library and I found a book called Noughts and Crosses, and then I did the DUMBEST. THING. EVER. I opened it at the last page. I was thirteen and not very smart okay? If you’ve read the book you’ll know what happens on that last page. So… I knew. I knew before I began reading the story properly what horrible thing would happen. And now… I get to experience it all again! Maybe they’ve changed it? I hope they haven’t changed it, man, that ending is one of the punchyouintheface-est of all time. And it oughta be.
Anyway!
I wasn’t sure back when this series was announced what I thought about it being set in the modern day (at the start of the book Sephy and Callum are just children and there isn’t any of the 2020 technology you see in the show, owing to it being written in the 00s) but I think it was absolutely the right way to go.
So… I liked that they got the “blanker” in there from the start and made it clear what it meant. It was so painful when Sephy said it, maybe even more painful than in the book. (Actually… hmm, maybe not. God, that moment.) And the use of “boy,” slid in there from the cops, subtle but ohh so effective.
Jude is the best casting appearance-wise from my point of view, he looks exactly how I pictured him. But, speaking of the McGregor family, no Lynette? :( Unless her death will come up in conversation later? But some of her role seems to have been taken by Danny, the kid at the beginning, in a sense.
I knew Shaun Dingwall’s character was a wrong ‘un! Shaun Dingwall always seems to play those kinds of roles. I knew EXACTLY what awful thing he was going to do as soon as he stepped into the hospital room. He’s an amalgamation of at least two characters from the book I think. I hope he gets his just desserts.
My gosh the chemistry between Masali Baduza and Jack Rowan is OFF THE CHARTS. They could not have cast those two better. I loved Sephy so much. I mean she was great in the book as well, but I really liked and connected with her even more in this. Oh man. I wish such awful things weren’t gonna happen to her. :(
Minerva seems to be the younger sister in this version? I swear she was older in the book but in this one she comes off as the younger one. On the other hand that does fit her characterization from the novel, and the relationship between her and Sephy…
Sephy and Minerva and their mother also got to wear some STUNNING costumes, as did everyone else, but OH MY GOSH Sephy’s red dress LOOK AT IT.
(thank god for promo pictures because shots off the iPlayer never look any good)
Oh hey a Romeo and Juliet balcony scene was in there! I know there was a balcony scene in the books ya see, and I think I remember Malorie Blackman saying it was there because of Romeo and Juliet, that other famous love story about tragedy and poor communication.
And the plaster scene was in there! Good, cos that’s kinda… I guess maybe even the most important scene in the book, since the “Only plasters for white skin” problem was what helped inspire Malorie Blackman to write the book in the first place. Hey Tesco does plasters in all colours now! Maybe things are moving, just very slowly.
Finally… I know people on Twitter are being awful about this show and everyone involved in it right now, I’ve already seen it, and I really don’t wanna see it again. Not even gonna click on the hashtag, I’ve decided. People can just live in their own little bubbles of clueless awfulness, nothing will get them out.
For that and many other reasons I hope this show does really, really well.
