Really enjoyed that... Was far too short a series though. Characters you could really care for. Quite frankly, I'd like to see Regan and his Mrs have their own show. I'd also like to know who was in on it at the police station... And who the mystery lady was...
50 Reviews
Quirky and funny
rphshell11 August 2020
Off beat and wonderfully costumed
tlsmith-8435322 May 2020
A solid quirky black comedy
marcresto21 March 2021
Pleasant Enough But....
jfilangeri22 May 2020
Dead Still is reasonably well acted with an interesting premise that holds the attention, especially for a photography buff.
Unfortunately, the show is loaded with anachronisms, especially as regards the female lead. To make her more politically correct, the reality of the role of women in 1880 is twisted out of existence. She smokes - no big deal. In public? Not a chance. She attends parties - no big deal. Unaccompanied? And chats with an dances with people to whom she has never been formally introduced? Not if she comes from a decent family.
To force modern mores down the throats of historical characters as happens constantly in Dead Still is the bane of historical fiction .
Unfortunately, the show is loaded with anachronisms, especially as regards the female lead. To make her more politically correct, the reality of the role of women in 1880 is twisted out of existence. She smokes - no big deal. In public? Not a chance. She attends parties - no big deal. Unaccompanied? And chats with an dances with people to whom she has never been formally introduced? Not if she comes from a decent family.
To force modern mores down the throats of historical characters as happens constantly in Dead Still is the bane of historical fiction .
Droll and well acted.
bay-7700817 June 2020
I loved it. The main character says little but the actor still makes him interesting and likable, for me anyway. The niece adds a refreshing point of view to the show. This may not be for everybody, and yes, some of the instances may be anachronistic, but all in all it's quirky and amusingly grim.
Didn't Die of Boredom
Spearkarrier26 August 2020
The era's macabre photographs have always been interesting to me, so of course I was right on board with watching this show. It had is fun moment, and I was never bored. That's a complement, btw. It's easy to bore me.
When you create a character that evokes some sort of emotion on the character (and not the actor) you've done a good job. Even better if the audience wants more of your character.
That being said, the female lead I could have done a LOT without. She's idotic - not just naive - and at times seems a historical parody of Harley Quinn. You almost think she's intelligent until she does something utterly stupid. Is she supposed to be a brave Victorian woman, an echo of Lola Montez maybe? How insulting to Lola if so.
Please end her existence in this show. LOL.
When you create a character that evokes some sort of emotion on the character (and not the actor) you've done a good job. Even better if the audience wants more of your character.
That being said, the female lead I could have done a LOT without. She's idotic - not just naive - and at times seems a historical parody of Harley Quinn. You almost think she's intelligent until she does something utterly stupid. Is she supposed to be a brave Victorian woman, an echo of Lola Montez maybe? How insulting to Lola if so.
Please end her existence in this show. LOL.
Very enjoyable
rhodabike21 May 2020
Dead Still could have been better
charbonniercharline23 September 2020
This series is quite good thanks to the main character, the decor and costumes but it could have been better, even with it's unique story the plot is so slow that it didn't kept me interested enough to not do something else whilste watching it and to watch a second series if there is one. Also I find the niece (Nancy) very annoying.
Costumes, sets, great. (Very) mildly funny. Story/ies atrocious.
joachimokeefe30 January 2021
Dublin in the 1880s, and a memorial photographer (ie of corpses and their families) is drawn into a police investigation of some sort. I say 'of some sort' because it isn't clear what, even into the third episode, 15 minutes of which is all I could manage to watch without wanting to rip my own head off after the first two.
'Manage' to watch mainly because of the aforementioned costumes, sets (digital or not), and funny - well, droll - bits. The cast are OK, playing it for laughs - well, drollery - because the storylines are simply terrible. The sort of thing you'd expect schoolkids to come up with, given the premise.
I was engaged by the vague sense of '1880's as contemporary', but not by the characters, not by the story, and occasionally the music seemed completely random. Yet another fancy-dress melodrama.
'Manage' to watch mainly because of the aforementioned costumes, sets (digital or not), and funny - well, droll - bits. The cast are OK, playing it for laughs - well, drollery - because the storylines are simply terrible. The sort of thing you'd expect schoolkids to come up with, given the premise.
I was engaged by the vague sense of '1880's as contemporary', but not by the characters, not by the story, and occasionally the music seemed completely random. Yet another fancy-dress melodrama.
A promising new series
dottyh-2594520 May 2020
I was looking forward to Dead Still and after the first two episodes am not disappointed. Suspenseful and droll at the same time. Going to be interesting to see the development of the plot and the characters, as well as their interactions and relationships.
Might I suggest to anyone having problems with the accents to turn on closed captioning. I never watch series from the UK or Australia without CC!
Might I suggest to anyone having problems with the accents to turn on closed captioning. I never watch series from the UK or Australia without CC!
Different occupation for main characters (at least)
Pegasus-1019 December 2020
A promising story-line that got more annoying as the six episodes unfolded. I found the niece Nancy to be especially annoying and wasn't too sure the constant use of the F-word was something you really heard during that time period. The mystery is a little too drawn out and the fact that you are never shown the villain's face sort of telegraphs that it's one of the characters you've already met, so not that big a surprise. As in some outlandish plots, the whole thing could have been wrapped up if only some characters hadn't lied to or misled the police. Plus, the "Yankee" character was added for, what reason? An interesting look at Ireland in that day and the profession of photographing the dead, but all in all not that engrossing.
Michael Smiley holds your attention. Otherwise boring and slow.
rochfordsimon21 May 2020
Interesting main character with a unique profession for the time. But not strong enough to hold a series together. To be honest I watched the first episode and that will be all.
Well shot and the period settings are great. But you need a good story and characters to hold the viewer.
Well shot and the period settings are great. But you need a good story and characters to hold the viewer.
Too many dumb moves
lrjoneslaw30 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
First of all the show is nothing like the way it is described. The police didn't drag the photographer into anything. He asked if the photographer would help him and that was the end of it. It led to nowhere the main plot. The lead detective was an idiot but wasn't intended to appear that way. He took one person into custody and later found him dead in his cell. He believed he had been murdered. He later got a fuller picture of what was going on and knew that there was an organization looking to kill an American he had just arrested. But what does he do to protect him? He puts him in the same cell by himself and without a guard. So, there was no surprise to anyone with a brain that he was a dead man. Everyone, except the lead detective. A woman is kidnapped on the street within hearing and eyesight. He was oblivious. And he needs to work out his theories with his wife who seems to understand more than her husband.
The male lead starts out as someone you can like but as the series goes on, he becomes somewhat of a villain in my opinion. And his thought process is off too. An organization is killing people to get a book that had been stolen. The male lead accidentally possesses the book they want. Instead of turning it over to the police he tells someone to destroy it. This makes no sense. Why would anyone in the organization believe him when he says it is destroyed? If they did believe him, they would be pissed that he destroyed it. So, they would still want him dead. If he turned over to the police, the organization would learn that the police have it and would be less likely to go after him.
It was kinda a dumb series.
The male lead starts out as someone you can like but as the series goes on, he becomes somewhat of a villain in my opinion. And his thought process is off too. An organization is killing people to get a book that had been stolen. The male lead accidentally possesses the book they want. Instead of turning it over to the police he tells someone to destroy it. This makes no sense. Why would anyone in the organization believe him when he says it is destroyed? If they did believe him, they would be pissed that he destroyed it. So, they would still want him dead. If he turned over to the police, the organization would learn that the police have it and would be less likely to go after him.
It was kinda a dumb series.
Not Sure What It Wants To Be
AJ_Blanc1 May 2023
Came across this show a bit on a whim looking for something funny one evening. While the characters were ok, particularly Michael Smiley's, and the cinematography was relatively well done, I was left wondering where the show was meant to be heading.
Dead Still isn't a comedy, despite being listed on Acorn's comedy section; it isn't a murder mystery, even though somebody dies in every episode; and it's not a drama. So what is it? The write-up piqued my interest: a photographer who made a business in taking tasteful photos of the recently deceased, for posterity reasons. There's a lot that can be done with that concept, but unfortunately that's not what the show is actually about.
It also doesn't help that although the show takes place in the Victorian Era, there's far too much modernization to keep the immersion consistent. For example, I doubt there were perfectly rolled cigarettes that clearly came off a production line and lit by butane pocket lighters in the 1870s. Many of the streets were obviously paved with some leaves thrown onto it, and sorry, but the character of Nancy just doesn't work. I like the actress, Eileen O'Higgens, just fine, but her dialog is just atrocious saying things like 'as if' and she acts like a college student of about twenty years ago. If she was written with some nuance and less screen time she would've been far more palatable IMHO.
While it looked good and had a unique concept, I will forget about this show shortly after ending this review; I had to search around Michael Smiley's work just to remember the title. If you're looking for a laugh, as I was, look elsewhere. Cheers.
Dead Still isn't a comedy, despite being listed on Acorn's comedy section; it isn't a murder mystery, even though somebody dies in every episode; and it's not a drama. So what is it? The write-up piqued my interest: a photographer who made a business in taking tasteful photos of the recently deceased, for posterity reasons. There's a lot that can be done with that concept, but unfortunately that's not what the show is actually about.
It also doesn't help that although the show takes place in the Victorian Era, there's far too much modernization to keep the immersion consistent. For example, I doubt there were perfectly rolled cigarettes that clearly came off a production line and lit by butane pocket lighters in the 1870s. Many of the streets were obviously paved with some leaves thrown onto it, and sorry, but the character of Nancy just doesn't work. I like the actress, Eileen O'Higgens, just fine, but her dialog is just atrocious saying things like 'as if' and she acts like a college student of about twenty years ago. If she was written with some nuance and less screen time she would've been far more palatable IMHO.
While it looked good and had a unique concept, I will forget about this show shortly after ending this review; I had to search around Michael Smiley's work just to remember the title. If you're looking for a laugh, as I was, look elsewhere. Cheers.
Original and Fantastic
klandaverde26 May 2020
I love this show!! I find the show to be riveting and I have thoroughly enjoyed devouring each episode. While certainly macabre, it is done is such a way that it nearly "normalizes" what is being watched. The characters are rich and a pleasure to watch unfold. There are a substantial amount of "F bombs," but anyone who knows much about Irish culture realizes that colorful language is just par for the course and not viewed in the same manner as maybe an American household would view it. The humor is high level, dark and dry. I truly appreciate the sublty of it. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Unique and interesting!
karenokeefe-0016717 May 2020
After just one episode, I am already looking forward to more. The lead figure is a mortician-turned-photographer and his subjects are deceased. I hope that his occupation remains prominent in the storyline, for he faces more challenges than the stereotypical mortician and his interactions with the family members are sometimes darkly humorous. The only negative to this new series is the heavy accents; many times I miss parts of the conversation because I just can't understand what they are saying. Even so, I am anxiously waiting for next week's episode!
Painfully slow and dull.
darkshadows-5887826 May 2020
When I heard about this show, I was really hoping for great things. The first episode was decent, the 2nd one was just OK and the third one just shown was just plain dreadful. The niece is an annoying unnecessary character that does nothing to further the already slow moving plot. The first episode dealt with something being stolen and the 3rd episode, same thing. Couldn't the writer come up with something else so as not to dip into the same plot device twice in the first 3 episodes. The coach driver has marbles in his mouth and is near impossible to understand, so he adds nothing to the show. I think the dialogue is slow and tedious and the plots, weak as they are, just inch along. I turned it off during the middle of the 3rd episode. I did not want to waste anymore of my time on this. Shame really, I had such high hopes for this show. Next.
Spooky and great fun
j_mackintoshq10 June 2020
Plot loses its way before it's developed.
parfster201018 January 2022
Not sure if they wanted this to be a comedy drama or a thriller but it really doesn't hit either mark that really well. Michael Smiley is good in the main character and I could quite easily watch something with the character that he has developed for this, if the writing was at the same level he was.
Unlike Any Other Series
michele-savino-atl8 October 2020
DEAD STILL is so solid in every way. Concept, acting, dark comedy - slapstick like here and there. I typically do not "Period Pieces," but it only added to the intrigue. Michael Smiley is incredible. Strong performances by all.
Looking forward to Season 2.
Entertained
sarahh-538774 February 2021
Lay off the F-word
CitizenCairParavel26 May 2020
Wonderfully macabre!!
alysiadurlak-7734319 June 2020
I just finished all 6 episodes in one day and it's such a superb, new style of murder mystery that has been sorely lacking in TV entertainment! It's a humorous breath of fresh air and greatly talented actors! And the twist at the end that I NEVER saw coming! Seriously hope they don't cancel this, and crossing my fingers for more to come!!
Didn't care for this
debejere23 May 2020
I wanted to like this series. Season one episode one I struggled. Season one episode two I gave up. Besides being so slow and dreary it seriously needed umpf. If you like slow, dreary comedy, and at times completely stupidity, you will enjoy this series. Not my cup of tea.
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