This isn’t going to be a good one, I’m afraid. I’d really hoped it would be, considering that The Feathered Serpent stars one of the past incarnations of the Doctor from Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton. Unfortunately, though the acting is solid from most, there’s a lot left to be desired from the rest of The Feathered Serpent, both creatively and technically.
The storyline is a bore in its execution; by the time the first episode rolls credits, only the barest of expositions has been established. We don’t know motives, we’re not even given a sense of the characters we’re watching. All we’re really seeing is dastardly Aztecs doing dastardly things, with no reason for us to care. The story does improve once it gets its legs, but by then it’s really too late — the viewer just really doesn’t care anymore.
But what’s worse is the production design of the whole thing. The series was originally broadcast in the late 1970s, and the level of effort put into the realism is almost just as bad. Everyone on the show is wearing a wig. In fact, there isn’t a person on the show who doesn’t look like a white guy with a spray tan. That’s not exactly good for a show about Aztecs, is it?
All in all, The Feathered Serpent isn’t a show I’d recommend. Wikipedia says it was intended for children, but I can’t imagine any of today’s youngsters sitting down in anticipation for this show. I couldn’t even get through an episode without stifling a yawn, so how could any kids be expected to?
The Feathered Serpent hits shelves on May 17. Order it on Amazon.
