Viewers have compared new BBC drama Boat Story to the works of Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers.
Created by Jack and Harry Williams (The Tourist), the thriller series follows Janet (Daisy Haggard) and Samuel (Paterson Joseph) who stumble upon a boat filled with cocaine. The pair decide to sell the drugs and split the profits between them, only to find themselves entangled with the police and a gangster known as ‘The Tailor’ (Tcheky Karyo).
- READ MORE: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood review: Tarantino’s most satisfying work in decades
Other cast members include Joanna Scanlan, Craig Fairbrass and Phil Daniels.
After the first episode aired on BBC One on Sunday (November 19), with the full series available on BBC iPlayer, some viewers compared the show’s tone, and violence, to Tarantino’s work.
“Thought Boat Story was really good but be warned you need a strong stomach! Bit Tarantinoesque! Good cast as well,” one viewer wrote on X.
Another added: “#boatstory tonight on @BBCOne was so good. Very Coen Bros and Tarantinoesque. Loved it.”
Others praised the series generally, adding: “#BoatStory is the best drama BBC have made since well, forever. I’ve just finished the series on iPlayer and I’m floored. So unique, clever, dramatic, brutal, devastating, hilarious and so full of wit and original concepts. It’s a rare diamond and it must win all the things.”
You can check out more reactions below.
#BoatStory is the best drama BBC have made since well, forever. I’ve just finished the series on iPlayer and I’m floored.
So unique, clever, dramatic, brutal, devastating, hilarious and so full of wit and original concepts. It’s a rare diamond and it must win all the things. pic.twitter.com/ZInYbiFmE2
— R O S S K O @ Finger Guns . n e t 👉👉 (@RosskoKeniston) November 20, 2023
Thought #BoatStory was really good but be warned you need a strong stomach!Bit Tarantinoesque!Good cast aswell.👍🏻
— Stuart’JP’Osmond (@StuartOsmond) November 19, 2023
#boatstory tonight on @BBCOne was so good. Very Coen Bros and Tarantinoesque. Loved it.
— Steve Gray @[email protected] (@doughtagnan) November 19, 2023
Yo! Are y’all watching @BBC drama, #BoatStory? Great cast and creators, but, call me old fashioned, I can’t be doing with the horrible Tarantino style gun violence. I know it’s all part of the comedy schtick, but I don’t find it remotely funny. I’m probably in the minority! 🤷
— Janice Forsyth 🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@JaniceForsyth) November 20, 2023
Binged #BoatStory yesterday. I had no intention of watching it all at once, but it’s bloody brilliant.
One thing I would say is that the conversation between @craigfairbrass and @EthanDLawrence on the bench could have been an entire episode on its own.
Weird but in a good way!!— Simon (@SimonHolliday13) November 20, 2023
SUPERB! Beautifully crafted!! Must save two episodes for later 👏👏👏👏 #BoatStory https://t.co/BShCeaz0Vd
— Sharon Elliott (@WorkRestYoga) November 20, 2023
Tarantino is currently working on his tenth, and apparently final, feature film, The Movie Critic. Speaking to Deadline earlier this year about the project, the director said it would be based on a real-life critic who worked for a porno magazine.
“He wrote about mainstream movies and he was the second-string critic,” the director said. “I think he was a very good critic. He was cynical as hell. His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle might be if he were a film critic.”
While the cast hasn’t been officially announced, Paul Walter Hauser, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson are all reportedly attached to star.
