BBC's Watership Down remake traumatises a new generation
With everyone in the festive spirit and craving a bit of feel-good family telly, now's the perfect time for... Watership Down?
Based on the book by Richard Adams, the original 1978 animated film already has a reputation for seeming like a child-friendly tale about talking rabbits, yet actually being a nightmarish exploration of existential despair and mass slaughter.
The new version stars X-Men's James McAvoy as Hazel, who comes into conflict with Star Wars' John Boyega's Bigwig over control of the clan.
The two-part mini series begins with Hazel's brother Fiver (Nicholas Hoult) having a terrifying vision of the destruction of the rabbits' home – and let's just say that things go downhill from there, and not all of the rabbits make it to the end.
Some viewers more used to the heart-warming glitterfest of Strictly Come Dancing on their Saturday nights thought Watership Down was an unusual piece of festive TV scheduling:
Saturday nights without strictly are just the worst. And what kind of psychopath thought Watership down would be a suitable replacement? Way to traumatise the kids in time for Christmas!
- Laura Piper (@Mattypriorfan) December 22, 2018
This new version of #WatershipDown still has its edge. "Go now, or we'll kill the lot of you." Yep. Still not for kids.
- ❄️ Andrew S🎄 Crines ☃️ (@AndrewCrines) December 22, 2018
In a hours time, this will be everyone that is watching #WatershipDown pic.twitter.com/cf83ilD7Py
- Nadia Watson 🎄 (@NadiaWatsonxo) December 22, 2018
And it wasn't just children at risk of being traumatised by the animated mini-series...
Not sure if it’s a good idea letting this little fella watch Watership Down with me... #WatershipDown #watershipdown pic.twitter.com/BjnXqPnWmx
- Andy Allen (@andytamworth) December 22, 2018
But while many viewers were worried about letting their kids watch the new Watership Down, others were rubbing their hands together at the thought of passing the rabbit-related emotional scars onto a new generation:
This new version of #WatershipDown better have the scenes to traumatise kids like the original did me years ago. 😂😂 Don't go easy on them!!
- ❄Frosty the sugar Bear*.｡☆｡★☃ (@sparklybearsy) December 22, 2018
The new Watership Down is on. I wonder if this will traumatise a new generation of kids...
...hope so.- Alex Sievewright (@AlexSievewright) December 22, 2018
And it wasn't just the dark themes of Watership Down that some viewers took issue with.
The quality of the animation was also a common cause for complaint on Twitter, particularly because the rabbits actually looked a lot more like hares.
Watership Down will conclude on Sunday, December 23. Netflix will distribute the series elsewhere in the world.
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