The actors playing Ruth Bannerman (Marcus' wife) and Stephen Bannerman are replaced halfway through Series 1 (by episode 9) with different actors. Too bad, as it changes the feel of the series.
Anyone know why Amanda Mealing (Ruth Bannerman) and Stephen Moyer (Stephen Bannerman) were replaced?
I agree with you, but I also think that the writing of those characters changed drastically in series 2. Ruth's b1tchiness was softened down quite a lot. And this isn't just a different actress. They didn't give her nearly the b1tchy lines she had in series 1.
And Stephen was altered a lot too. They changed his character from being an over-emotional, cynical, shell-shocked whinger to someone trying to help his friends and do a good job running the nightclub, but not get his hands dirty with the "tarts" side of the business. His story arc was really short-changed in series 2.
I agree the characters were changed up a lot, but the change up wasn't a smooth transition. I went from episode 8 to 9 and felt lost. Although I preferred the original Ruth's character to the replacement Ruth (she doesn't seem as good a match for Marcus), but the original Stephen (Moyer) did act like a spoiled whinger (as you said).
shareI got the impression that those two actors just didn't sign back up for the second series (episodes 9-18). Don't know how much time lapsed between them, but if it was long enough, maybe they figured that the audience wouldn't miss them. I watched it all at once, and really did miss them...especially the old Stephen who was much more fun to look at (sort of a British Paul Rudd). I wasn't quite sure why Kate was so all gung-ho for the new guy.
shareI agree. The replacement performers weren't nearly as good, plus the roles were really changed after series one and became much less interesting.
shareWhich is why the series didn't run for a 3rd season. You can see the fluctuations in script and characters all over the place. Still, it's an okay show.
shareEven during s1 it wasn't very good. but s2 was pretty bad.
Still, I think it could have been interesting to see what they did in a third series with Esme as the new owner.
I liked it for what it was. The characters were a little all over the place in terms of their behavior, but I thought it was well executed.
share... hey, this was a net gain for me! I never knew the term "head transplant" til I read the reviews about the actor switch. ;)
shareThey weren't changed mid-way through Series One. They were changed at the start of Series 2. Series One is nine episodes long. Series Two comprises the remaining 10 episodes. I can only assume that the actors who played the original Stephan and the original Ruth were not available for the second series.
I personally feel that there were many, many bad changes made in the second series. Not only were the casting changes not for the better, but even the characters who were played by the same actors seemed different. Marcus in particular was softened beyond recognition. He was totally cool and Mephistophian in the first series, but is all over the place in the second.
Overall the show has a distinct drop in the quality of the writing between series one and series two. Which would explain why there was no series 3.
Here it is - almost a year after yr post Curtis-8 - and I can confirm that the change happened with episode 9. I immediately noticed both actors were different people. Be nice to know what really happened. The guy who played Stephen Bannerman originally looks very familiar so maybe he moved on.
He probably looks familiar because he's one of the main characters in True Blood, so he's in the media a lot nowadays. That's a long time after The Grand though of course.
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Okay, I thought I was crazy. LOL this thing did take a nose dive at what seemed like mid point. I watched this on Netflix and it has it labeled as season 1 with 17 episodes. That's why it seems like it was the middle of the series.
"What happens to a dream deferred?"
I just finished the amazing ep 8 and had my WTH moment within seconds of ep 9. From the looks of these comments, I think I'll quit while I'm a head and stop watching. The last episode I saw was just too good to ruin. Thanks for the head's up everyone!
shareThis thread has been dead for quite a while. I have been watching The Grand over the past week and am up to season 2, episode 5. There were 8 episodes in season 1 and the cast changes were made at the start of Season 2 (episode 1).
The changes were Stephen Bannerman and Ruth Bannerman. The new Ruth looks younger. The new Stephen is just OK but just not as good IMHO as the Season 1 Stephen.
I'm confused about why John and Sarah left the Grand to Marcus to run. I realize it was precipitated by Sarah sleeping with Marcus, but I still don't understand it. Perhaps it will become clearer as I watch the rest of Season 2.
It is a little bit fizzy, imo. I think they left because they needed a fresh start.
It wasn't just that she had slept with him, but that they realized it had all been a ploy to get the hotel away from John. Sarah believed that Marcus was infatuated with her and that he'd wanted her all those years; learning that she was tricked just so he could take over the hotel sickened her.
it was pretty lame.
I just finished watching S2 last night. There may have been a real reason for the changes in ownership, but I can't help but think that the John and Sarah characters were becoming too dull. The ending was implausible with Marcus selling the hotel. I wondered if he had even owned it. Did John and Sarah sell to him?
I found the new Ruth Bannerman in S2 just awful. I got tired of watching her, not only for her buying a baby.
The ending was implausible with Marcus selling the hotel. I wondered if he had even owned it. Did John and Sarah sell to him?
Don't know what happened but the first Ruth, was phenomenal. Her face conveyed a flood of emotions. The second Ruth seemed to have a face full of botox locked into one expression.
As far as Steven Bannerman, well, the first one (that wonderful bloodsucking star of TRUE BLOOD) was someone who made sense as a love interest for the feisty Kate and seemed an even match to Clive as someone to capture Kate's heart. The second Steven looked like a pimply faced loser being jerked around by Uncle Marcus.
Truly disappointing. Even from the first few minutes of the episode where the actors are changed I could tell it just felt different and not in a good way. And seriously not be a romantic but we had all that build up with Kate and Stephen and they just change the actor and we get nothing with them and no closure. They had the dance but come on! And yeah Ruth didn't have that snarky attitude which I loved. I have to say there are shows where they have changed the actors but I still continued to watch because it didn't change the dynamic as much but man it just took me out of it. It's just not the same..I was so looking forward to seeing more and what would happen with those characters but with the same quality that I was used to.
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