Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I_saw_it_happen This show went for four seasons. The first season is quite enjoyable. The second is still pretty good, although it wears thin by the end of the season. By the fourth season, the show has become something so distant from it's beginnings that it's not even comparable, and in my opinion is barely watchable. Thus, there's plenty in the first season to draw you in... but it's probably not worth the extended stay, so to speak.On the show's strengths --- the first season is well acted, has some amusing minor bits with a range of often unusual and often well-nuanced characters, and establishes the Hotel staff as impeccably sophisticated, and committed to remaining morally ambivalent so as to provide the best service for their clientele --- and this is what makes the show compelling; the glitz and the glamor of the Hotel is well-established with excellent sets, and everything in the first season speaks to the connection between class sophistication and discretion; what makes the show really exceed a lot of other shows which take a peek at the luxurious life of the upper class is that the sophistication/discretion theme is shown in it's worst and best lights, and the show as a whole attends a certain 'moral ambivalence' which makes it rather thought-provoking. The audience is shown exactly how much of 'class' is built on artifice, but it also makes the life of luxury look genuinely seductive.While the writing begins to get notably weaker towards the end of season 2, it's not until Max Beesly's character (Charlie) leaves the show that it gets positively wretched and loses all lustre.Unfortunately, by the fourth season, the show has lost all tact and elegance; it becomes a show about the blue-collar sensibilities of a sitcom staff amid unreasonably mean-spirited guests who are consistently trying to 'discredit' the Hotel. The writing gets so bad that the shows really aren't comparable. The writers no longer make the luxurious life seem tempting, but rather a filthy indulgence to be seen as a character flaw in the rich. The show also becomes more an attempt at comedy than drama. And sadly, the comedy feels horribly out-of-place; it's a slapstick, rather overacted kind of humor which might work well enough in a show about a wacky motel full of transients --- but it seems oblivious to the foundations of dry wit and subtlety that make the first season work so well. The characters all become caricatures.All in all, rather a disappointment. Begins as enticing, but ends up being quite commonplace.

swivelhips What is going on at the BBC? In the past couple of weeks we've seen the launch of Hope Springs, Personal Affairs and now a new series of Hotel Babylon and not one of them has got the slightest thing going for them. To call them lightweight is an understatement - I'm sure some of the actors must be tied to stage weights to stop them floating off into the atmosphere. From script to performance all three shows are dire and are an insult to any reasonably intelligent audience. The direction on the latter of the three shows mentioned is gimmicky in the extreme, an attempt, I would imagine, to take one's mind off the poor quality of the material. There was a time when the BBC was synonymous with great television. Nowadays, shows of quality are the exception rather than the rule. The BBC have had the licence fee to themselves for far too long. Maybe they'll up their game a bit now that it looks like they may have to share it with the other main broadcasters.

royall02 I would have to say this show is brilliant! Finally they put a show on TV that is worth watching. Its funny, dramatic, sexy and intriguing! The characters all mesh together well and the actors are top class. I would love to work in a 5 star hotel like this in real life just to see if what goes on behind guests backs is true! It does the book its based on justice and much much more. Hopefully its on the television for a few more years to come as I'm sure they have plenty of juicy stories and gossip to tell. Thumbs up I definitely recommend watching if it you want some great entertainment and I assure you, you will be hooked after 5 minutes!

SmallYeti I have to acknowledge that the BBC played it smart when scheduling this series. It's not too taxing on the brain and perfect for a Thursday night when you're tired from a week at work and ready to ease into the weekend.The series is set in a five star hotel, revolving mainly around the staff that work there and the more unusual problems they face with some of their customers.The most interesting character in the series must be Dexter Fletcher's Concierge, Tony. There is definitely something very watchable about the way he's acted and he is undoubtedly the man in the middle of most of the action, due to his job meaning he can pretty much obtain or fix anything or any situation - he's usually a man in demand.The main central character is Max Beesley's Charlie, the Deputy Manager. Most of the stories are told through his perspective and, like Tony, he seems to play a central role in most of the stories.Tamzin Outhwaite is the General Manager and seems to be a little underused. Her character comes across as quiet hard initially, although throughout the series viewers are given glimpses that she is kinder than initially thought and it is in these moments she becomes more interesting and three dimensional.Natalie Jackson Mendoza as Jackie is completely under used. She is seems to have promise as a character and enough charisma to carry a better role but seems to be there merely so that Charlie can have a love/lust interest. It would be nicer to see her with a more rounded role.Emma Pierson as Anna, the Head Receptionist is a stereotypical, hard nosed, nasty piece of work. The role is massively one dimensional, although entertaining to watch and probably better for it - it wouldn't be any fun if the viewer discovered she had a terrible upbringing/hard life/problems that made her be so mean - it's just more fun to think she doesn't care less and she's enjoying her life! Finally there is Gino the Barman and Ben, the Head Receptionist. Gino features slightly more than Ben and holds his own in a part that is probably the right size for the role. Ben the Head Receptionist hardly appears at all and it would be more fun to see him interacting with Anna as they could be a funny pairing - he has more promise than he is being given the opportunity to show.Every week the staff at the hotel have to go to extraordinary lengths to keep all guests happy - this can be from arranging hookers and parties to attempting to prevent suicide bids, all done discreetly so as to avoid bad publicity or obtain good reviews, whilst relieving guests of as much money as they possibly can get away with.Having not worked in a five star hotel I cannot definitively state how accurate the goings on are - I did use to work in top class restaurants when at Uni however and from my experience in those it is probably more accurate than people realise! Basically this is a good, stylised piece of TV. It won't make you think, it (probably) won't be up for any Baftas, it won't change the world but it will more than likely entertain if you want to just sit down, switch your brain off and watch something fun for an hour or so.