Vaguely disappointed by The Ruby in the Smoke, which I just finished watching. The acting’s quite good, and there are some really nice moments, but it just doesn’t hang together very well. There are moments of rushed exposition, when we discover how things actually happened, often straining credulity and happening much too quick. The commenter who called it “a bit frantic” wasn’t at all wrong.
Still, it was interesting to see the future Doctor Who, Matt Smith, in action for the first time. He’s actually not at all bad — nor is Billie Piper. The IMDB user comments are much less kind about the sequel, but this way okay. Not remarkable, but okay.
The book it’s based on (by Philip Pullman) is quite good, for Victorianesque YA mystery fiction.