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

I am very likely to give up on some of them. If they seem too complicated after the first 15 minutes i frequently give up to . I thought it was an age thing. Concentration is not so good now.

I find it confusing when characters look the same as well

I don’t normally find plots too complicated to follow, but sound quality can vary between programme providers, whether terrestrial or streamed.

I've struggled through Part 1 of The Rig, mainly because I like Thingummy who was in Line of Duty. I'll persevere but I'm not convinced I've quite got it yet.

Maybe what we need is something like "Young Adult fiction" only for older, slower adults😃 Seriously, they are made complicated to make it more fun. You wouldnt want it all spelled out for you, but basing the answer on something you couldnt possibly have picked up on is frustrating

LauraMeredith

We have been having a lot of trouble with mumbled drama. The other day I found a setting on our smart TV for ''clear voice'' and it is unbelievable what a difference it has made. No more fiddling with the remote to increase/ decrease the volume. We are both actually understanding what is going on at last.

Well that's worth repeating for anyone with a Smart TV. Find the 'clear voice' button and see the difference. Very helpful, Laura.

I don't have a Smart TV myself but my hearing aid is connected directly to the TV so I mostly don't have a problem. I must admit the sound was very poor on Shadowlands (Anthony Hopkins) as there were very loud bits and very quiet bits when they were whispering on her death bed. Maybe because it was made for the cinema? I don't know.

Silent Witness is ridiculous, not complicated, just ridiculous. Forensic Scientists doing the police work, chasing criminals etc. Tosh.

I can highly recommend turning subtitles on for everything. I used to think they were only for the hard of hearing (which I am) but both my sons in their 20s use subtitles.
It means you never miss anything.
I loved slow horses but I can see it's not for everyone, I'm a big fan of anything spy related.

Tried watching a few episodes of The English and it was going backwards and forwards in different time frames and I was completely lost. Found the same with books too especially as I now read them all on Kindle as I have no more room for more books. Kindle makes it even more difficult to flip back through pages to find out who's who or what's happening. Reassuring to know others feel the same!

And WHY do they reveal plot points by one character getting a tiny text message, and showing it to the other?

Yes! And the way Nicky stumbles into danger is used far too much!

One reason we often like the BBC4 foreign dramas on Saturday nights, is the subtitles - none of that ‘realistic dialogue’ aka mumbling.

Funnily enough I hardly ever have trouble hearing dialogue in ancient re-runs of Taggart, Dalziel and Pascoe, etc. - and very recently, Cracker. Presumably actors then were still being taught to speak clearly and e-nunc-i-ate, which it’s perfectly possible to do without it sounding unnatural.

We also use credits especially if the actors mumble and have strange accents ..We sometimes search the den of geek for episode by episode summaries which may help.others on here . We find it clarifies the names of characters especially. But did agree with PamQS -having to pause and rewind for the tiny texts ! Still laughing at that !

I rarely watch dramas or films for all of the above reasons. My hearing aids also don't seem to cope well with the dialogue, and sub titles, if they are available, are sometimes out of sync, which is extremely irritating.
I think that my elderly brain doesn't cope well with many plots. When reading a novel I keep a pad and pen handy, and write down the characters, and their relationships to each other. Otherwise I find myself getting completely lost.

I enjoyed The Rig and I hope they do a follow up as we were left somewhat hanging in mid air. I am a scifi fan and much of that genre is, by its very nature, complex and obscure.

I just watched a brilliant Netflix series on the Bernard Madoff Ponzi Scheme. I love things about the law, crime, financial and political dealings with a bit of corruption thrown in.

biglouis
Have you seen The Billion Dollar Code?
The true story of how Google stole Google earth from a team of young Germans who did build it.
I thought the script on The Rig was very badly written.

Another brilliant film is Dopesick. The story of the Sackler family who got Americans addicted to opioids. Brilliant.

We all like different TV and films - as it should be - I love crime dramas and reading same , but don’t like ‘gangs, drugs, or Mafia types - often the more complicated the better just as long as the ‘denouement’ is good not a let down as they often are, but I’m with a LOT of you on various points. although my hearing is good I watch everything with subtitles as the filming and accents are often appalling. finding a plot complicated depends on our enjoying the Tv/Film from the beginning, I think. My Ex was a principal Lecturer at a Uni - I had to explain what was going on in almost every TV/ film half the time = so NO it’s nothing to do with being intelligent. I think that I have watched so much and read so much in the fictional ‘crime’ genre that I find I often know the end way before it happens, so the ones I prefer are the ones that make me watch harder and think more. Having said that I also love a ‘cosy crime’ ! I do also agree that some programmes make things unnecessarily complicated to try to lengthen a flimsy plot…

Ailidh

I've struggled through Part 1 of The Rig, mainly because I like Thingummy who was in Line of Duty. I'll persevere but I'm not convinced I've quite got it yet.

I’ve just binged this as it’s only 6 episodes. Watch with subtitles as I did. Stick with it it’s good. It wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste but I liked it.
I like Martin Compston from line of duty too and that’s the reason I started watching.

If anyone wants something fairly easy to watch they have just had the pilot episode and the next one of Inspector George Gently on Drama (UKTV Play for catchup). If you haven't seen it I recommend. Set in 1964 it has great characters, Gently (Martin Shaw) and Bacchus (Lee Ingleby). I love the fact you can hear every word Lee Ingleby says even with a northern accent, because he speaks so clearly!

Chestnut

If anyone wants something fairly easy to watch they have just had the pilot episode and the next one of Inspector George Gently on Drama (UKTV Play for catchup). If you haven't seen it I recommend. Set in 1964 it has great characters, Gently (Martin Shaw) and Bacchus (Lee Ingleby). I love the fact you can hear every word Lee Ingleby says even with a northern accent, because he speaks so clearly!

Chestnut. I love George Gently too , great acting from both main characters. And you can hear every word. And. Added bonus Martin Shaw is very easy on the eye.!! I love him as Judge John Deed. Another drama with excellent writing and audible speech

Love any of the Scandi dramas,either on Netflix or Channel 4.The use of subtitles, negates the necessity to try and catch all that is being said.

We have just watched 1883 and 1923 which are both prequels to Yellowstone.

The mumbling was terrible. I only heard about 50% of what they were saying. There were a lot of cowboys who would have made great ventriloquists. They barely moved their mouths when they were talking. Probably chewing on tobacco for authenticity. My DH won't have subtitles on as he finds them distracting.

In 1923 there are two young female characters who are almost identical in looks etc. I could hear Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford though. Probably because they are decent actors.

I think the best dramas stick to a limited number of chgaracters and not too many irrelevant "twists" that turn out to be totally unrelated.

knspol

Tried watching a few episodes of The English and it was going backwards and forwards in different time frames and I was completely lost. Found the same with books too especially as I now read them all on Kindle as I have no more room for more books. Kindle makes it even more difficult to flip back through pages to find out who's who or what's happening. Reassuring to know others feel the same!

**

Surely Kindle makes it easier. If a name is mentioned in a book that you're sure you've seen before, but can't remember the context, you can search for that name, read the previous paragraph where it came up, search again and go back to the point where you left off reading. You can't do that with a book!

Me, sobbing quietly at the end of the film Bladerunner.
Husband,”Why are you crying?”
Me, “ Because it’s the most perfect allegory for the human condition.”
Husband, shaking my arm and asking in a loud stage whisper,” Jackie, Jackie, what’s an allegory?”
I add that he is an engineer.