Memorable, crazy movie

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Let's not forget that Rob Grant is only HALF of the team that brought us Red Dwarf - Doug Naylor was the other writer who penned much of the series. So, when wondering "how could the guy that wrote Red Dwarf have come up with such a bad show like Dark Ages," you have to consider that perhaps his solo work suffers from the lack of collaboration. Personally, I think the sharp downward spiral that Red Dwarf suffered after Naylor's departure showed us what an important part of the equation he was. "Dark Ages" shows us what Grant is capable of on his own. I have not seen this series yet, but was looking for information on it before I gave it a try. Learning that Rob Grant wrote it on his own is enough to make me give it a pass. By the way, if you're a Red Dwarf fan and have never read Doug Naylor's Red Dwarf novel, "Last Human," you really owe it to yourself to track down a copy. I think it proves beyond any doubt that Naylor was the more talented of the two.

Given that Rob Grant wrote "Red Dwarf" one of the best comedies ever from the BBC that went into series after series "Dark Ages" is a pretty poor offering.Sent in 999AD around a motley crew of Saxons it is all largely unfunny - the elements are OK, but a terrible script with unfunny characters drive this into the ground.There are only so many jokes about 1999 and current events that can be translated to the Dark Ages. It is hard to say why this fails - partly because Phil Jupiter and Alastair McGowan are both just not good enough actors to carry this? It is all overacted, constantly. I came across this on DVD and gave it a shot - have to be honest and say it is not great. At all. In the least. Nada.