Notes for the Youtube Episode Jan 23

 I wrote a blog on the old SFX website on the Tenth Kingdom that I mention in the latest ep of Whittle Waffle on the Youtube. I can not find it but I am a horrific hoarder and found the original copy. Yes I am that person. This is the very brief blog I wrote about it :

 Ten Years Of The 10^th Kingdom

 

Recently I re-watched the entire 7 hour extravaganza that is The 10^th Kingdom.  Shockingly – to me anyway this programme is coming up to being 10 years old, how did that happen?  This programme – for those that haven’t seen it, is a wonderful story set in the 9 Kingdoms of fairytale. Snow White, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood were real people who lived in this alternate world. A young woman and her father accidently get sucked into this magical place through a magic mirror and go on an amazing adventure trying to find their way back home, and end up finding so much more.

 

How does it hold up after ten years? Pretty blimmin well actually, the effects still look pretty good, the scenery is still jaw droppingly amazing. It’s quite a lot cheesier then I remember but that isn’t that much of problem and is in a way charming. It’s funnier then I remembered and slightly more OTT. The cast is wonderful, Scott Cohen as the Big Bad Wolf steals the entire show, slightly creepy at first, incredibly adorable and conflicted and the fact that he is very easy to look at all add up to a wonderful performance. There are a multitude of guest stars, including Dianne Wiest (whom is a big personal favourite for me, I love that lady), Warwick Davies, Rutger Hauer, Robert Hardy and Jimmy Nail. The lead character Virginia is played beautifully by Kimberly Williams-Paisley. I found that I enjoyed this just as much second time around and ten years later!

 

The 10^th Kingdom had so much going for it, an amazing ensemble cast, wonderful effects and scenery, humour, a poignant core, a fabulous scene with Trolls singing Saturday Night Fever, so I really can’t understand why the ratings were so poor.  Right at the end we are told this is story is chapter one in the book of The 10^th Kingdom, and I actually felt so sad that it wasn’t – it was the entire story, not quite the Happy Ever After I am sure the creators were hoping for and a big shame for us too.

 [end]

So here we are ten years at least after that. I enjoyed it more this time then I seemed to this time around. Meet me back here in the year 2033 and we will see what I think then! :-D