Many viewers were captivated by the BBC’s new rendition of Charles Dickens’ famous novel Great Expectations, which received wonderful reviews from critics.
However, several viewers who tuned in to witness the show, which stars Olivia Colman as jilted bride Miss Havisham, were dissatisfied, stating that they couldn’t see anything on screen.
By definition, Great Expectations is a grim narrative… However, it looks that it was a little too gloomy for some people’s tastes. Literally.
Following the drama’s premiere on Sunday March 26, with it due to air on a weekly basis, one person tweeted: ‘Why does it all have to be filmed so dark!? I can barely see anything!’
‘Oh yay another @bbc show shot in the dark,’ someone else remarked, while another admitted that they’d ‘given up’ on watching it because they were ‘unable to see in the dark’.
One individual referenced the historical period during which the book was first published, stating: ‘Yes, I know they didn’t have electricity in Victorian times. But don’t make period dramas so dark we can’t see what’s happening.’
Meanwhile, another described it as ‘another pitch black drama’, as they questioned: ‘Why are we destined never to see what’s going on?’
Great Expectations isn’t the only TV show to be nitpicked over its choice of lighting as of late, with House of the Dragon recently facing the same criticism during its first season.
In response, the US television network HBO stated that the ‘dimmed lighting’ in a scene from episode seven was “an intentional creative decision.”
Game of Thrones, the epic fantasy drama’s forerunner, suffered the same wrath during critical events such as the Battle of Winterfell in its eighth and final season.
A Twitter user wrote in a post at the time: ‘Don’t worry if you’re not watching #GoT. You’re not missing much. It’s not like any of us can see anything because the screen is so dark.’
‘I keep hitting pause and rewinding. It’s so dark and so much is happening so quickly. LOL,’ someone else stated.
Great Expectations continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.