Customer Reviews

Bonekickers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bonekickers is a modern day British drama series about a team of archaeologists. Bonekickers is from the creator of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. It stars Julie Graham, Hugh Bonneville, Adrian Lester, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

The series is sort of a combination of the British sci-fi series, Torchwood, and the American crime drama, CSI. It's set in the city of Bath in England and combines modern forensic science (like CSI) with mysteries from the past and has a touch of sci-fi in it as well.

Bonekickers ran for one series in 2008 and was not renewed for a second series. There were a total of six episodes, all of which are contained in this three-DVD package. DVD special features include behind-the-scenes segments for each episode.

Dr. Gillian Magwilde (Julie Graham) is the leader of the archaeology team. Professor Gregory "Dolly" Parton and Dr. Ben Ergha (Adrian Lester) work on the team with her and Vivian Davis (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is an intern. Each episode is capable of standing on its own although you'll get a better feeling for the characters as a whole if you watch the entire season.

The archaeological finds that are unearthed are always a bit of a mystery. They don't tend to be found where they're supposed to be and that's part of the interest in the series. For example, the first episode is about a blood-stained piece of wood believed to be from the cross that Jesus was crucified on. It was found in a cave in England and nicely meshes with the legend of the Knights Templar.

The starting point of some of their archaeological finds is probably not historically accurate. It's questionable whether or not a piece of bloodstained cross would actually be found in Bath or whether or not 18th-century manacled slaves would be found in a ship off the coast of England. The mystery behind the location of the artifacts is part of the draw of the stories.

There are flashbacks in history throughout each episode that add a bit more mystery to the investigations. Dr. Gillian Magwilde (Julie Graham) has occasional psychic flashbacks as well that give the series a bit of a sci-fi twist.

Given the subject matter of historic battles and mysteries, there is some violence in the series although it's very well done and not overly graphic. Professor Gregory "Dolly" Parton (Hugh Bonneville) has a tendency to make comments with sexual connotations which portray him as a slightly dirty old man and there is the very occasional shot containing partial nudity.

All in all, the series is highly entertaining and historically interesting. It's an enjoyable blend of history, science, and drama with just enough action to keep your attention. Given the very occasional nudity, I'm not sure I'd recommend it for younger children but the series would easily appeal to the PG-13 market. The series is not rated at the time of my review but does contain the warning "Contains violence and graphic scenes" so use your own best judgment.

BONE-TICKLING GOOD if viewed as entertainment for ADULTS not concerned with complete factual information. It has a bit of fantasy, a lot of action (violence & graphic), and suspense aplenty. Not being an archaeologist nor a European history expert, the plots of the episodes were convincing enough to carry the story. This short-lived 6-episode series "BONEKICKERS" is acted well enough to make it a worthwhile DVD keeper. Scenes from contemporary Bath, England, are visually romantic.

The Wessex Univ Archaeological Dept. team has a major relic to uncover and then to discover the current-day ramifications of the artifact. Both the past and the present is a mystery every time, much to the delight of the mystery-loving viewer. A linking thread is a continuing plot relating to Gillian's mother, Karen, obsessed to madness over her sword quest and journal, of which has been absorbed into the life of Gilly, aka Dr. Magwilde, protagonist of the series played by Julie Graham (beautifully so). Prof. Gregory Parton (Hugh Bonneville) has plenty of funny dialogue about Gilly's chest, and not a chest found buried in the ground. Dr. Ben Ergha (Adrian Lester) a young black archaeologist of the department makes up the university staff. Well, except for the less-than-competent dept. head Daniel Mastiff (Michael Maloney). A very young black intern, Viv (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), arrives on the scene. She's unwelcome by Gilly, due to Viv's inexperience or beauty or anyone's guess. Quite soon into the episodes, they all feel like family to the viewer.

The writer actually suggests an "Indiana Jones" comparison, but this is better in the way historical and contemporary worlds merge. There's enough Gothic, war, Celtic, and Medieval violence to keep the young kids away. In the end, a connection to all of the episodes becomes evident, with a clashing conclusion. Remember it is as fictional as The Da Vinci Code, regardless of what was written in that book's opening page. But it's convincing enough, only the experts will notice the difference. Me? No! I simply enjoyed it all. Every episode has a "dig", each a chamber. Entertaining DVD to "DIG INTO."

YES, distributor Acorn Media has provided SUBTITLES.
Original TV airing was in 2008.
To much bonus to list, but you have the chance to select behind the scenes footage and interviews for selected phases of production with every episode. Quite interesting "making-of" stuff.

Episodes:
1 Army of God: A battle including Knights Templar. Were they carrying a precious cargo? A Christian relic? Includes a graphic broadsword beheading (not for children). Crusades come to 21st Century. A favorite line: "For the love of Jehovah, may we go to the pub?"
2 Warriors: Bones are recovered on a beach, bodies with no hands. Shackles also are found suggesting slaves. It's only the beginning of a complex mystery encompassing 2 centuries, multiple continents.
3 The Eternal Fire: Celtic 1st century relics are found under baths in the city, Bath. Celtic fires appear related to Roman fires as well as the lives of the 2 civilizations. Archaeologist science meets imagination.
4 The Cradle of Civilisation (spelling is correct): Babylonian artifacts appear for sale on the black market in Bath. Gillian's Iraqi ex-lover is looking to recover a tablet with prophecy (Babylonia's 10 commandments). Gillian wants to help.
5 The Lines of War: WWI tank is found in France with 6 body remains. But why also is there Joan of Arc clues? Much more than expected is discovered here.
6 Follow the Gleam: Gillian & Viv work on a new relationship. An Arthurian discovery (the Round Table?) is made in an area known as Camelot. Is it finally a break in Dr. Magwilde's quest for Excalibur? Archaeology turns vicious. Will Gilly end like her mother?

Good BBC drama presented in a unique form. My recommendation: "Let's dig!"
Tennyson recommendation: "The quest is everything."

If the title of my review suggests that Bonekickers is slightly shallow entertainment, and I'm not saying it is, that shouldn't be taken as any kind of knock against the show. Bonekickers is unashamedly lightweight fun, brought to life by some very fine actors (especially Adrian Lester and Hugh Bonneville) and devised by some very fine TV writers. Those writers, Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh, were also two of the creators of the classic Life on Mars. While I wouldn't put Bonekickers up on that same pedastal, it's a class act and thoroughly enjoyable.

Some have pointed out that the history on display in Bonekickers may not be 100% accurate, as if that somehow makes the show sub-standard. I'll leave it to the history majors to weigh in on that. For me, the idea that Bonekickers plays fast and loose with historical facts (and I'm sure it does) doesn't bother me any more than knowing that Life on Mars is almost certainly not a thoroughly accurate depiction of 1973 police procedures. Quite the contrary, like any good TV show from Doctor Who to The West Wing, Bonekickers exists on its own terms, and for six hours of escapist entertainment that's more than enough..

Somehow I find it comforting that American TV is not alone in being mind-numbingly idiotic and ignorant. Exhibit A: "Bonekickers."

This British TV show is quite simply one of the stupidest shows I've ever seen that didn't involve the words "reality TV." Allegedly about a band of archaeologists, it rapidly decays into a steaming, soupy mess of bad melodrama, cliches, bad history and logical errors that would reduce even Indiana Jones and Lara Croft to hysterical sobbing.

The skeleton of a Crusader is found in a Bath suburb (no, I don't know how nobody found him!), and for some reason it shocks everybody that a Middle-Eastern coin was found there. Next to a Crusader. Who was in the Middle East. The face that this is a "mystery" shows you a lot about the series.

So Dr. Gillian Magwilde (Julie Graham) and her associates Dr. Ben Ergha (Adrian Lester), Professor "Dolly" Parton (Hugh Bonneville), and noob Viv Davis (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) are brought in to investigate. They find a chunk of wood that may have been part of Christ's cross (or not). But of course, they're being targeted by a TV fundamentalist and a pair of crazy "Templars."

The gang also investigates a bunch of African slaves betrayed by George Washington, which is of interest to a transparent Obama stand-in; the death site of Boudica in Bath (what?); a WWI tank prototype filled with bodies from different countries, a Babylonian artifact, a CGI snake and an illegal antiquity-seller; and the search for Excalibur despite a bunch of white-masked... somebodies.

The best thing you can say about "Bonekickers" is that it makes for a wonderful drinking game. It becomes almost hilarious as it goes on, because it's so completely divorced from reality. This is the only series I've ever seen where not only does a crazy hallucinating woman talking to a ditch count as "archaeology," but she regularly BREAKS and DISCARDS ancient artifacts.

That's right: Dr. Magwilde is depicted as a brilliant archaeologist and historian, but she actually comes across as a crazy woman who killed the REAL Dr. Magwilde and assumed her identity. And Julie Graham's over-dramatic, tooth-baring acting doesn't help either.

But the insane main character isn't the biggest problem. Oh no. It's fairly obvious that the writers were just flinging whatever sounded cool into the scripts, whether it made sense or not. They also apparently didn't have access to google or wikipedia, since they make basic errors in history (Joan of Arc did not leave a skeleton!) and logic (why is there a powerful TV fundamentalist in ENGLAND?). And they throw in a lot of soap opera twists, such as a character discovering that an associate IS HER SISTER.

And because this series wasn't idiotic enough, they inject it with large amounts of sociopolitical poopery. Christianity is depicted as being full of insane half-witted murderers, Islam is depicted as being naive innocent victims of evil Christianity, Obama is openly worshipped, and American Southerners are depicted as being slavery-loving bigots. Oh, and George Washington is depicted as a weak-willed wuss... as opposed to the warrior nicknamed "Devourer of Villages."

I wish I could say that at least the supporting cast was okay, but they're not. Mbatha-Raw is as wooden as Christ's cross, and Lester looks almost apologetic for starring in this. Bonneville is the only halfway enjoyable character, and he plays a drunk misogynist.

"Bonekickers" is a series best enjoyed when you're hanging out with a bunch of friends and a bottle of alcohol. At least then you can sit around and make fun of it.

I had hopes for this series but was let down. I was willing to accept ridiculous plots in exchange for good acting and some archaeology. The plots were indeed ridiculous and the acting was fine. But their depiction of how archaeology is done disappointed. People picking up artifacts and carrying them off before mapping them in. No grid lines marking off units. No photography of artifacts in situ. And when they find the piece of cedar from the Holy Land infused with blood, nobody mentions that crucifixion was a common form of execution in that place, at that time? C'mon. I'll suspend a lot of disbelief and forgive a lot in the bargain, but this series really pushed me to the limit.

The bbc can come up with some great series like survivors which also featured the excellent julie Graham in the lead role. This one however is somewhat about acheology but mostly the archeology is just a backdrop for making up stories featuring historical figures like Boudica and others. Ok , that's what lots of shows like this do however but this one often reflects the views of the writers which can be jarring especially in the first episode. They go on and on about the crusades but refuse to acknowledge the fact that the muslims had invaded europe starting out in the 800's and continued to do so long before the crusades ever took place. In other words the past is full of injustice and it's from both sides. The bbc has always been gutless about making any constructive shows about the radical part of Islam. And while we know there are radical christians and most of us abhore them, although their numbers are very small these days, the bbc can't ever come to grips with any bad muslims (in the bbc world all muslims are good) or deal with radical islam unleashed in mosques right in the uk preaching death to everyone is the west. The bbc needs to make a show in which good muslims try to stop the psycho wahabist type of islam, now that would be a great show. Anyways the shows acting is fine and this series only lasted one series so you get all the episodes here.
It's a decent show but like alot of filmland few historical facts abound here in this series. That's not a major complaint though because facts often don't get in the way of filmland do they?.

Bonekickers (2008) is a short-lived BBC television series about a team of archeologists from a fictional university in England, that become involved in the investigation of a number of high profile cases. The adventures attempt to incorporate historically significant elements, often with a connection to religion, into stories that supposedly have world changing relevance today. In this, the series strives to emulate The Da Vinci Code, which is little tough to do once, let alone multiple times. Quite unbelievably, the archeologists are repeatedly underground in some long hidden cavern, making some great discovery.

The team from Wessex University is led by Dr. Gillian Magwilde (Julie Graham), and includes Ben Ergha (Adrian Lester), Gregory Parton (Hugh Bonneville), and intern Viv Davis (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Magwilde comes across as tough, confident, and confrontational. The very even tempered Ben, was romantically involved with Gillian in college, and is probably the one she counts on most. Mastiff is a colorful figure, with a distinctive choice of dress. He's brilliant, but occasionally prone to dramatics and inappropriate language. These three know each other well, and the Viv is the newcomer who tries to fit in. The group functions fairly well, but under Magwilde's leadership, they just don't seem to jell. Magwilde seems to have issues getting along with everyone, and is also dealing with her sick mother, who was also a famous archeologist. Ben and Viv are the most normal, and seem the most likeable, but this is probably not a group that most will fall in love with. There is a story arc, involving a secret relationship, that while obviously important to the writers, just doesn't seem necessary.

While the series Relic Hunter (1999-2002) tried to apply the Indiana Jones mold to a TV series, the Bonekickers team doesn't have any action hero types, so they don't do much fighting or engage in physically challenging tasks. Like the legal profession, movies and television have glamorized the field of Archeology far beyond reality, and Bonekickers continues the tradition, with overdramatic plots where the historical fate of civilization is often hanging in the balance. The series basically takes itself too seriously, with a pretentious attitude to whatever the particular situation is, usually without having the goods to back up the premise. Routine discoveries, often lead to overdramatic conclusions. Things are way too simple, where a simple fact, turn of a phrase, or a line from a literature, can serve as a clue to connect the dots of a mystery that has been long unsolved.

With all that said, the series is still kind of interesting in part because of the curiosity to see if the big build up, will actually lead to a solution that makes sense or is historically significant. An archeologist may have a different opinion, but the stories are mostly a disappointment, as the group seems to destroy as many artifacts as they preserve. Critical reception in England was generally not very favorable, and the series ended.

In `Army Of God" the opening episode, the team discover a piece of wood that may have been part of Christ's crucifix. This eventually leads to what may have been the marker of Christ's final resting place, in a secret underground chamber. The episode `The Lines Of War' features the discovery of a buried World War I tank. The tale seems to be headed in one direction, but ends up in a really weird place involving the remains of Joan of Arc. Swords and the cross are highly significant in the series, and Gillian Magwilde discovers the famous Excalibur, hidden in a pool, in the series finale `Follow the Gleam'. One of the more violent episodes, it ends with an odd family reunion, and the unfortunate loss of another priceless artifact.

With decent production values, Bonekickers is a mildly entertaining television series, that features various picturesque and historical locations, and has some decent cinematography. Although it tries hard to capture a spirit of adventure, it doesn't really achieve it, as the series seems to fall short in character development and story quality departments. The DVD set contains all six episodes in the complete series, on three DVD's, with a run time just short of six hours. There are some nice extras for each episode that cover matters related to the production. If you are interested in this series, you might want to try and get it used, or wait for a price drop.

I don't know why this show didn't continue...I loved the plots and characters. Wish there were more episodes. Most of the time it is impossible to guess the endings as they are so well designed to trick the viewer.

I won't give you a long review as there are already many of those. I'll just say this was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Who cares about historical accuracy or believable plots ? If you are looking for some "Indiana Jones" type escapism ......this is for you. I loved it........and I want more.

Loved it. Great acting, great writing, excellent costumes, special effects spot on. VERY creative. I hope there is more to come.