Am I a bit thick or are some TV dramas incredibly complex?

I often look up things on the internet that explain to me what’s been happening.

The same with books with too many characters Sago

I'm reading and thinking "Who is George? Who was Ray?"
When they're a minor character amongst many others who then suddenly appears at a critical moment, it can be confusing.
However, the search facility on the Kindle helps.

The BBC is the worst for muffled speech and dark scenes. I use subtitles but we can't see what's happening through the murk.

I agree we have to keep explaining the plot and the characters to each other e.g. 'Was that his mother?''No his girfriend' 'he doesn't have a girlfriend he's gay's and so forth all through it. I had to watch The Night Manager three times....I did keep going to sleep.

I give up on them. If I can’t knit and scroll on my tablet at the same time, that’s it. I love the British tv but I think that is more likely to be more complicated than the American stuff. Usually it is better but sometimes they just get carried away by their own cleverness.

Usually it is better but sometimes they just get carried away by their own cleverness.
Yes! They know what's going on but no-one else does 😀

You try watching Line of Duty in the wrong order! I started with Series 3 and followed it but realised some things were unexplained. So then watched Series 1 and 2. By the time Series 4 came on I had to watch Series 3 again as I had got myself lost! The whole plot had become scrambled in my head and as anyone who has watched it will know the plot is complicated even in the right order.

I think I’m better with Scandi noir stuff. Probably because I have to read the dialogue which is also simplified. Mind you I have to have subtitles up for everything.

Oh for the days of Crossroads!

Slow Horses is brilliant, you do have to watch for a bit to get what is going on but I’ve loved it. If you just want simple plots then stick to Midsummer Murders.

Yes, we loved Slow Horses but had to press pause button to discuss what was happening. We use subtitles for most of the series that we watch.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mumbling, darkness and characters hard to tell apart….just give up and find something else to watch!

My biggest complaint is that dramas often have two characters who look very similar, particularly with women. It's easy to get confused between them, especially the first couple of times they ate seen. Aggravated by the fact that so many things are filmed in ver low, semi dark, lightning.

Germanshepherdsmum

If there are several episodes I record them so I can watch over two or three evenings, otherwise I have no hope of remembering what happened last time.

Same here 😂

Scottiebear

My biggest complaint is that dramas often have two characters who look very similar, particularly with women. It's easy to get confused between them, especially the first couple of times they ate seen. Aggravated by the fact that so many things are filmed in ver low, semi dark, lightning.

You’re right there! Casting staff seem to like women who look alike, have similar builds and the same hairstyles, mega confusing.

The latest annoyance is characters receiving text messages that are relevant and we viewers are expected to read them. With my poor eyesight this an impossibility. The episode of the Welsh drama ‘ The Light in the Hall’ (I think that is its title) thatI watched this week had several incidents of this. Also in this series there are three middle aged men with grey hair and beards that I constantly muddle up.

So glad it is not just me. I agree with all the issues raised. I give up quite quickly. We watch a lot of repeats of old things we enjoyed instead.

Yes, I need the characters to look very unlike one another and have to press pause to read texts and letters. There is no hope.

The latest Jack Ryan is very good and I've enjoyed the first series of Slow Horses. Not sure if it counts as TV drama but the Longmire series on Amazon was very enjoyable and we were both sad when it finished. Just started watching Suburra on Netflix, a lot of Italian spivs seem to look alike, I'm not sure if I'll stick with it, DH has given up already.

Phew! What a relief! There's a hell of a lot of stuff I can't get my head round - thought I was losing it (although my 43 year old son also struggles at times!) Falling asleep in the middle doesn't help. Subtitles do. Also husband and I often replay and help each other out. Same with radio - thank goodness for Iplayer, I often play things three times. It's the names. Often the voices sound the same and you wonder who it is speaking. But I do wonder if younger people are actually as interested in narrative and character in quite the same depth as our generation and let details go over their heads while they wait for the next car chase. When questioning my 28 year old son I suspect that may be the case!

I thought McMafia was brilliant. It was based on fact and written as a book many years before the drama. Happy Valley tonight.. yippee

There are many which are overly complicated and with appallingly poor mumbled dialogue. NB my hearing is good.

All of the above plus what gets me is that sometimes after the plot being so complicated and up in the air keeping us all on tenterhooks throughout then the ending lets it down. It’s as if the writers are so intent on keeping us interested so we don’t get bored and switch off that they haven’t really thought about the ending and chuck anything together to finish off.

In addition to unexplained switching of time frames, why do so many dramas have dream or fantasy sequences? I regard this as unnecessary padding and lazy scriptwriting - very irritating, and it always has me reaching for the off button!

I think they go for complications and complexity with the idea that these make the plot interesting and intriguing - and actually they are not clever at all. Better writers use complexity but not as a substitute for good plotting. Recently saw 'The Light in the Hall' - full of twists and turns and no way the viewer could have picked up clues to work out what had really happened and - worst of all! - it relied on amnesia to make the plot work. Contrast this with 'Happy Valley"!