Holly Dc Being a complete Aidan Turner fan , My review might be slightly biased. It was a strangely addictive series. From the very first episode I was hooked. Whether it was the witty characters or the entangled love affairs , it was both entertaining and at times a little heart-breaking. But I really must compliment Mr.Turner on his performance. Indeed it was a shallow and egotistical character but he still manages to retain a certain charm that draws you in. No matter how many terrible things he does. The reason I marked it 7 out of 10 was because of two things. Even though I enjoyed the story line it was very predictable , but at the same time intriguing. Secondly the messy sex scene were at times unappealing. The show was trying to convey the lust driven Rossetti indeed , but in my opinion they over did it slightly. Some scene were not necessary. In saying that some showed great intimacy and love. In conclusion , I enjoyed the season immensely. And retains my respect as it is both clever and dramatic.

kellyraemathews Make for a giddy ride. Yes, it's entertaining, except when it is bogged down in angst and drawn out dialog. And the series might have a future for a night of great tongue lashing barbs with friends through each scene of excruciating MST3K "romantic" acting. Anyone can make fun of this series, but art least it's bringing the Pre-Raphs to life, and that's the fun of it. I'd even go so far as to say some of the supposedly sexy scenes are highly laughable and may make anyone brought up in America with cable in the 80s possibly even bust into a belly laugh. The sexuality here in Desperate romantics could have been more along the sensual and provocative lines of that filmed in say Lady Chatterly's Lover, or the Mists of Avalon, & etc; but with its romping is more like some exploitation film from the 70s or 80s about the Pre-Raphaelites. Even Rome and Game of Thrones, are successful though gratuitous and ridiculous in their own fashion, but at least they rarely make you question their veracity the way this series can. Anyone who enjoys Pre- Raphaelite artwork and knows about the passionate ways the Pre-Raphaelites lived and how they were the most popular painters of their day, knows a great deal was missed out on that would have made this so much better that has nothing to do with effete-art snobbery and everything to do with telling a darn good story, which was already there, and which great story of the ages is alarmingly lacking. I'm fine with that, because it means a great movie can still be in the works with more 'brightstar' & the piano type of Jane Campion director approach. The actor playing Dante has a lot of work ahead of him, and we shall see how it goes after the Hobbit. The costumes are beautiful.

angelofvic It takes a lot of hack-work to make a mess out of the incredibly intriguing and colorful story of the Pre-Raphaelite painters in Victorian England, but boy they managed it here. This is a juvenile, tedious, badly acted and worse-written mess. Evidently to make up for the lack of intelligent script or acting, the BBC threw in as much sex and nudity as possible.There's no effort to even remotely approach the truth, and we never really see the paintings, which should be the star of the whole series. Everyone agrees that the best thing about the show is the costumes, but that doesn't make for intelligent viewing. I couldn't make it past 45 minutes of the series without getting incredibly bored.I'm really disappointed lately with the hack-work -- which relies completely on visuals and titillation for its appeal -- that is coming out of the BBC in their period pieces these days. Take me back 5, 10, 15 or more years ago when the BBC was at the height of its period-piece glory. Now it's like everything else -- all show and titillation and lowbrow appeal, no intelligence or thought.

pianys So far I have only seen the first three episodes, but I must say I am hooked big time. I love a good costume drama, especially one based on real life historical people. This one tells the tale of the Pre-Rafaelite Brotherhood, a group of young, talented and influential artists, active in London around 1850. As with most historical dramas, you can argue that the story has been modernized to appeal to what an audience today wants to see, rather than depict a true documentation of actual facts, but I have no problem with that whatsoever. I want my dramas hot, juicy and plot and character driven; as I want my documentaries dry and fact based. As it happens, this show has kept me busy online for several hours, finding out more about these artists and their paintings. So my verdict is: hot, steamy and educational.