BBC The Jetty viewers call for change to 'hard to follow' Jenna Coleman drama: 'Confused!'

BBC's The Jetty viewers deemed the drama 'hard to follow' as they called for clarity over jumping timelines

BBC
Olivia Gantzer

By Olivia Gantzer


Published: 16/07/2024

- 22:07

It came as Monday's debut episode left fans unimpressed with the new BBC drama

BBC One aired its second episode of The Jetty on Tuesday after its series debut left fans unimpressed at the start of the week.

Unfortunately, Tuesday saw a similar response, with those tuned in calling for the drama to make the confusing flashback parts clearer as timelines jumped around.


A BBC synopsis for the drama reads: "When a fire tears through a property in a scenic Lancashire lake town, Detective Ember Manning (Jenna Coleman) must work out how it connects to a podcast journalist investigating a missing person cold case, and an illicit relationship between a man in his twenties and two underage girls.

"But as Ember gets close to the truth, it threatens to destroy her life – forcing her to re-evaluate everything she thought she knew about her past, present and the town she’s always called home.

"As much a coming-of-age story as a detective thriller, The Jetty asks big questions about sexual morality, identity and memory, in the places that Me Too has left behind."

Despite the intriguing premise, many have blasted the drama over apparent sound issues, with Tuesday's episode seeing complaints over the series' format.

Detective Ember Manning (Jenna Coleman) and Hitch (Archie Renaux)

BBC viewers weren't impressed by the second instalment of The Jetty

BBC

The instalment eventually hinted half the drama was split into different time periods when it became clear that rebellious teenager Amy (played by Bo Bragason) is the girl who had disappeared decades before, who present day Ember is looking into.

However, the same format ran on the previous episode but fans only worked out the connection towards the end of the newest instalment, leading some to blast the "hard to follow" flow of the programme.

It didn't take long for such complaints to flood X, with one writing: "#TheJetty flashbacks need to time stamped if you’re padding out a program with them and can’t be bothered providing a quality soundtrack."

"Enjoying the jetty to a certain extent, but is anyone else having trouble working out flash backs to the present #TheJetty," a second asked.

Hannah (Ruby Stokes), Jules (Miya Ocego) and Chloe (Nina Barker-Francis)

BBC's The Jetty left BBC fans complaining on social media

BBC

"Is this jumping back and forth in time? I hadn't realized that #TheJetty," a third questioned.

Another complained: "Is it the in thing to make things boring and hard to follow? #thejetty #bbc."

"Really wanted to love The Jetty, but we couldn't sufficiently immerse ourselves in the story or characters. Anyone else struggle?" someone else added.

"On ep2 of #TheJetty & only just realised they're showing the 2 diff timelines. No wonder I was getting confused, thinking it was all happening present time," someone else echoed.

Amy (Bo Bragason)

BBC's The Jetty aired its second instalment on Tuesday evening

BBC

Some were enjoying the drama though, with another sharing: "The Jetty is good and I love Jenna Coleman in anything."

Coleman recently shared her own thoughts on the drama as she reflected on an aspect she "loved".

She explained of her character Ember: "Her relationship with her side-kick Hitch, played by Archie Renaux, is really fun.

"I loved filming those scenes with him. She’s quite challenging of Hitch and calls him out all the time, so there’s this constant banter and back-and-forth between them."

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