The Witcher: Blood Origin, the brand-new spin-off based on the wider Witcher books and serving as a prequel to the mainline series, has managed to earn the worst Rotten Tomatoes score ever. Yikes.
Launching on Christmas Day, the new mini-series takes place more than a thousand years before the Netflix show, the games and original books.
The expanded lore of the popular dark and gory fantasy world is vast and fiendishly studied by die-hards, so a show diving into that should be a no-brainer, right?
Well, sadly, through a combination of seemingly genuine bad reviews and people simply being outraged that the main Witcher series no longer features its star, it looks like the new show is being heavily review-bombed.
Despite being currently sat at 33% and 10%, its audience score dropped at low as 8%. (Credit: Rotten Tomatoes)
In case you were unaware of some of the latest blockbuster shenanigans happening in Hollywood over the last few weeks, Geralt of Rivia himself, Henry Cavill, recently stepped away from the show to reportedly prioritise on training for his return as Superman.
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However, shortly after, it was announced by new DC Studios chairmen James Gunn and Peter Safran that they were dropping the 39-year-old actor as they hoped to pursue a new star to take on the role — you know, the same one he’d just stepped away from his reported £350,000-an-episode deal to focus on.
Yes, we know he’s a millionaire, but die-hard Henry stans obviously felt terrible for him, leaving one dream job for another beloved franchise that essentially helped put both himself and modern DC movies on the map, only to find out that he was no longer needed.
Furthermore, fans are now speculating that Cavill quit The Witcher after two highly-successful and well-paying seasons following disputes with the showrunners. A relative on-set expert as a genuine lover of the books and the games, Cavill is said to have struggled to “see eye to eye with the producers”.
Speaking to Hollywood Reporter, the Man of Steel and Mission: Impossible – Fallout star said “the toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books”, even going on to add that “some of the writers were not [interested] or actively disliked the books and games, even actively mocking the source material.”
If this is to be believed then it’s no wonder that showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, who is also overseeing the Blood Origin spin-off, seems to have annoyed not onlythosewho love Henry Cavill but now Witcher fans in general.
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While plenty of the Rotten Tomatoes reviews limit themselves to calling out those involved in the production for their ‘incompetence’ and ‘lack of respect’, the online consensus beyond the popular review aggregator seems to be that the writing simply isn’t up to snuff.
i wanted to at least give it a shot and i just… i know i've seen worse shows in my life but i can't think of many right now that are worse
The CGI looks hideous & cheap. Writing & dialogue is a mess. Acting isn't very good with Michelle Yeoh's talents wasted. The story is rushed into four hours. Netflix completely changed the origin of The Witchers.
This show is yet another slap in the face to longtime fans.
2022 really has been a race to the bottom when it comes to entertainment, especially the fantasy genre. First Rings of Power, then Willow, now Witcher: Blood Origin – each of them more terrible than the last.
As always, it’s worth watching and forming your own opinion before letting other people’s takes colour your own impressions but it’s fair to say it isn’t looking good for the future of the franchise’s TV adaptations.
Whether the negativity is being largely driven by review-bombing by the Henry Cavill faithful or not, it looks unlikely that there’ll be a resolution as Liam Hemsworth has already been named as the replacement for the main character, Geralt.
Moreover, since Cavill left/was dropped from both projects, he is once again being tipped to play an equally iconic pop culture protagonist in particular. Have a guess…
Legendary Bury Black Pudding reveals secrets – including powdered blood
Daisy Jackson
Bury Black Pudding is one of Greater Manchester’s most famous and excellent exports, creating a breakfast staple that puts the borough on the culinary map.
This familiar sight on a full English breakfast has been being made using a traditional time-honoured recipe for generations.
And while this delicious blood sausage might not be to everyone’s tastes, Bury Black Pudding is the king of them all.
It’s the leading brand in the UK, with a gold medal-winning recipe dating back more than 100 years, and has a whole variety of flavours including chilli, gluten free, vegetarian and white pudding varieties.
Recently, Bury Black Pudding revealed some of its secrets, allowing the BBC unprecedented access into its factory in Bury for an episode of Inside the Factory.
The series, hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey, went beneath the surface of this heritage brand, from production all the way through to packaging.
Viewers have been stunned to learn what goes into Bury Black Pudding, and it really isn’t as much of a bloody mess as your imagination might’ve led you to believe.
In fact, most of the ingredients are cereals – only 5% of it is blood.
And the blood in the blood sausage? It’s powdered.
Bury Black Pudding on BBC’s Inside the Factory. Credit: BBC
In the episode, production director Richard Morris (who has worked for Bury Black Pudding his whole life, following in his grandfather’s footsteps), said: “There’s no big tubs of blood.
“To actually transport it, it needs to be dry. And there’s also no bacteria in it, so we can use this over a 12 month period.”
Inside every delicious slice you’ll also find oatmeal, pearl barley, rusk, onions and pork fat.
Another surprising thing is the sheer size and volume of the black puddings before they’re portioned and packaged for our homes.
A 600kg batch will make about 3,000 black puddings, with the mixture added to a vacuum filler before being pumped under high pressure into recyclable plastic casings.
Hundreds of these tubes are cooked into a steam oven for an hour and 20 minutes, then sliced into the black pudding we recognise in an ultrasonic slicer.
3,000 sticks a day, five days a week, are sliced up for the shelves into around 120,000 slices.
Speaking of the opportunity to appear on Inside the Factory, brand and marketing manager Matthew McDermid said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the heritage and passion that goes into making our black pudding.
“We are incredibly proud of our history and our role in bringing this traditional product to consumers, we can’t wait for the nation to see how the UK’s leading brand of black pudding is made.”
Manchester streaming platform StreamGM unveils four-part creative industry careers podcast
Thomas Melia
A new four-partpodcast by StreamGM featuring some of Greater Manchester’s top creatives has launched with the aim of powering creative careers.
Produced by Rebecca Swarray, a.k.a. ‘RebeccaNeverBecky’ – the founder of the Manchester events and arts collective – this podcast is designed to “ignite and elevate creative careers in music.”
Swarray deep dives into the current Manc music scene and beyond with the help of fellow insiders who vary upon each episode.
There are four parts in this latest series and there’s lots to cover, especially in an industry that’s ever-changing and ever-challenging.
Some of the guests and speakers you can expect to listen to on ‘ICAM’ (In Conversations and Masterclasses)Credit: StreamGM/The Manc Group
Listeners can expect to learn all about ‘Women Behind The Music’ as part of the In Conversations and Masterclasses series with Sophie Bee, Sara Garvey and Kat Brown.
The next episode delves into another key music industry area, ‘Promoters, Venues And Events’, which is broken down by Baz Plug One, Strutty, Tashadean Wood and Liv McCafferty.
‘Artist Development And Management’ features Karen Boardman, Karen Gabay, Damian Morgan, and Via Culpan deep in discussion.
The final episode in this four-part series is ‘Videography And Photography In The Creative Industries’, which sees Johan Reitan, Alice Kanako and Ahmani Vidal talking all things visual.
These four features will be an incredible resource for any creative talents as it put together by professionals for upcoming professionals of any age from any background, race, gender and walk of life.
After all, that’s what is all about, right?
Abbreviated to ‘ICAM’, the podcast is certainly one to check out, with for aspiring artist managers, producers, photographers, promoters—anyone driven to make their mark in music and events.
These podcast sessions understand industry challenges, explore career journeys, creative influences, crisis management and lots more creative field concerns.
You can find the first episode in full down below:
The first episode of the new limited StreamGM podcast.
This run of shows is the second instalment by StreamGM: Greater Manchester’s phenomenal streaming platform dedicated to all things music, nightlife and culture.
Whether you’re a budding creative arts talent or just curious to find out insights into this wonderful innovative industry, you can listen to all the episodes from the series directly on StreamGM HERE.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester music news, another very special event is kicking off very soon:
Danny Jones -
28th December 2022 
