Treasure Island sparkled with promise but I was short-changed by the dud ending
Long John Silver's parrot was green, right? Or is that just in my head? No, here it is: "Silver's green parrot, Captain Flint". He was green in Robert Louis Stevenson's head as well. So why, in Treasure Island (Sky1), is he red? And a little bit yellow, and a little bit blue, but mostly red.
What does it matter, the colour of a parrot? Well, possibly it doesn't ? perhaps there were no green birds available, or they couldn't act so well; you could even argue that it would be racist to insist on a green one. But it's also symptomatic of Sky's adaptation. It's lavish, colourful, ambitious and very expensive. It looks fabulous, and swashbuckles along nicely. There are big stars wherever you look ? Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood, Philip Glenister and Rupert Penry-Jones. Donald Sutherland plays Captain Flint, the pirate captain. And Captain Flint, the (green) parrot, is played by a scarlet macaw.
I'm not sure about Izzard as LJS ? he's very watchable but simply too nice. Wood as Ben Gunn? Too hobbity for a rough sailor. And the macaw? It's hard to say ? he doesn't say anything, not even "pieces of eight". And that could well be because scarlet macaws aren't known for mimicry or their ability to talk. Bad casting ? it's all about the look and the name over how suited to the part they are.
It's also about change for the worse. No, of course the colour of the parrot doesn't really matter. But what they've done to the end really does. It's not as if this is a totally new and original take on RLS, such as, say, Steven Moffat on Sir ACD (though that's an idea, Treasure Island but with modern Somali pirates, I like that). Apart from the clunky cutting from the Caribbean to what Jim's mum and Mrs Silver are up to back in England, this is pretty faithful to the original. But then, at the end, Jim suddenly has a moral epiphany, realises that treasure isn't such a good thing after all, and throws it all over the side of the Hispaniola. And, apart from Squire Trelawney, who goes down with it, the others ? including Silver ? let him do it. They're saying: yeah, so it's what's driven us across the Atlantic, driven us to kill and to risk being killed, for page after page (and for nearly four hours of television), and suddenly we're not interested because, you know what, it's more bother than it's worth, and suddenly we're all better, non-materialistic people ? No, I'm sorry, that's ridiculous. As is Jim's releasing of Silver. In the book, he escapes, with a sack of coins, worth three or four hundred guineas ? of course he does, he's a frigging pirate.
Not just a couple of Hollywood stars then, but a sugary soppy Hollywood ending too. With a moral message. They've changed it, not just unnecessarily but unquestionably for the worse, and that's a travesty. Robert Louis Stevenson, Captain Flint, Davy Jones, will be turning in their graves/lockers.
The prequel is the new sequel, have you noticed? There have been loads recently ? for Only Fools and Horses, All Creatures Great and Small, and ? well, loads of other things. Now, Endeavour (ITV1). Post-Morse has been pretty much bled dry with Lewis, so now we're going back to before, and a young detective on his first posting in Oxford in the mid-60s.
The story is a bit loopy ? orgies involving schoolgirls and high-ranking politicians, a Pygmalion-style bet, sisters who turn out to be mothers, suicides that turn out to be murders, all bathed in Puccini. It probably feels more Lewis than Morse. But Shaun Evans is beguiling in the title role ? certainly he has more presence and charisma than Kevin Whately. And there are lots of nice little nods to the future ? the car, the beer, the women, the music.
Whodunnit then? Ah, the soprano herself, driven by jealousy and passion. And then she dunnerself too, after singing her aria; that works, with the whole Madame Butterfly thing going on.
? This article was amended on 3 January 2012. In the original, Abigail Thaw was miscredited in the role of the soprano. This reference has been removed.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/02/treasure-island-endeavour-tv-review
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