Reviews

Like a bad football game, one of the reasons you watch to the end is to see the final score. So I watched it to the end. My over-riding feeling was, what a terrible waste of resources. Aside from a bit of a nosy round some posh houses there is nothing to redeem this series. The characters are cardboard, much of the action comprises watching cars driving, cars following each other, car doors opening, car doors closing - whole scenes centre around vehicles accompanied by comically OTT 'dramatic tension while driving' soundtrack. The drama is disjointed, either through bad cutting or bad writing, and while obviously to watch this kind of series demands a willingness to suspend disbelief, actual contortions are required to accept the plot. One truly hilarious moment in a weepy scene, where Michelle Keegan does a repulsive but admiral re-inhalation of tear-snot from her upper lip. High point of the action.

Cannot fault. This starts off with (for me, it's my age) a very 70s vibe of tough but broken cops, long suffering wives etc but builds very quickly into something much more nuanced and complex. I was especially pleased by the depth and subtlety of the relationships - between the protagonist and his wife, between him and his work colleagues. The plot explores the reality of deep crime, namely its banality and reliance on greed in drawing supporters in, and the need for dogged in-depth research alongside an unswerving intention to see justice done, both by arresting the bad guys but by gathering the minutiae of evidence that when brought together make the big picture.

Because you can't fault the production values, which are very high, or the basic concept, which is quite delightful. What's not to like about a jailed genius psychopath. But the plot just went all out of shape, and depended on eminently sensible, kind people deciding to do murderous things because -- well, it was never completely clear why. I felt bad at being pleased when one of the characters died violently and suddenly, because it was probably the most uncontrived, logical and understandable event in the series. The writers also got the lifestyle of vicars in 21st century Britain very wrong. They cannot afford to live in vast expensively decorated luxurious homes let alone ones with soundproof cellars.

An excellent series that deals with complex issues surrounding addiction, poverty, children's rights and corruption in public office. Amazingly, it manages many truly hilarious scenes even when they are also truly violent. From my own viewpoint I was so happy to see an Aussie drama that did not involve a white-marble kitchen with an island at any point in its seven episodes. The actors playing all the iterations of the children central to the narrative were adorable. As a fan of Brisbane and its surroundings, I took great pleasure in seeing places I am familiar with woven into the action. Only slight demerit lies in the audio quality, which is rather like a badly overdubbed foreign language film, with every spoken scene having the same rather flat-echoey resonance rather than sounding like the space it was meant to represent.

It took me 3-4 attempts to get into this series but I was so glad to have seen it through to the end. It is by turns alienating, compelling and startling, and ultimately very well scripted and acted. Initially I found all the characters so consistently repellent that I could only watch in small chunks but something kept me coming back. I still don't know what that was, maybe curiosity, but the storyline that begins as irritatingly trite builds into a powerful climax. I discovered the series just as the media coverage of the golden globe came out and I simply didn't get what the fuss was about but now I do. If you needed to explain to any adolescent how choices affect your life, let them watch this.

Could not fault this - great hard-hitting comedy, literally don't look away or you'll miss something. I got two episodes into season two and got a sudden fear it was turning into a one trick pony and I couldn't bear to see it go lame, so I stopped. Guess I'd absorbed the central message..... Now at this point imdb says i have to add 200 + more characters so I can waffle on about the women being somewhat 2D and it being a very blokey cast / storyline, or about the obvious shoe-horning in of diversity in the casting but it was still like I said at the start funny and apposite. Please ma'am can I go now?

I found the start very slow and the 'exciting' bits inevitable. The cast seemed to be doing their level best with tedious scripting and 2D characters. The male characters sweat their way through their dilemmas (Kevin please clean that sink....) and the female characters waft around passively in the wake of the uniformly bad decisions their menfolk make. The action centres around constant consumption of alcohol and I was continually astounded that these people could stand upright, let alone drive. The plotline could have been dealt with in a much pacier way but was stretching wearily over ever more episodes when I finally gave up at number18.

As with all dramas and especially this kind of sci-fi / supernatural mash-up, you have to suspend disbelief. Wondering 'What If?' is part of the excitement. But I gave up during Season 2. I had given it a long time to come to some kind of middle part, an explanation, something that then has to be resolved later on. This never happened during the hours I gave it. Instead, layers of new weirdness and additional characters were introduced to extend the same initial dramatic question posed in the first few episodes. It is a classic instance of a brilliant initial idea that did not have any known conclusion in mind when it went into production. You can only ask the viewer to be interested in 'no change here' for a while, no matter how well presented. Well done if you make it through all the three series, you've more patience than me.

Slow to start but picking up pace by episode 2 and impossible to put down after that. Very well made and always fantastic to see northern England's industrial locations used - see if you can spot Bolton Civic Centre masquerading as some kind of Gringotts bank. And that's just a tiny reference among many embedded cultural references guaranteed to make you feel a right smart-alec: we've got Sliding Doors and Groundhog Day, even a Dirty Harry 'chase across town guided by phone calls', and for the sci-fi readers there's a dollop of Ray Bradbury's 'Butterfly Effect'. Yes, the premiss is very silly but it is acted and presented excellently. Simply suspend your disbelief and enjoy the entertainment for what it is, a well-produced fantasy.

Start with the positives: can't fault the production values. Gorgeous sets and costumes, and let's face it who wouldn't want Rowan's super-power when faced with an unpleasant employer. But this is embedded in the epic layering of more and yet more supernatural relatives, combined with fantastically unsafe personal choices in a strange new universe where the rules apparently get made up as we go along while the plot searches for a meaning.

I watched to the end to see what strange sounds the 'old Scottish accent' could produce.

I've never encountered the books so can't make a comparison but if they are built on similar silliness I'll give them a miss.

Basically the story is so loosely anchored to the original that it has floated away and lived its own life on another continent. It helps never to have read the original or have any knowledge of 19th century life. Apart from that it's a good watch but it has almost nothing in common with the original novel.

IMDb now says my review is too short so here's the waffle to fill out. Much of the plot involved opium being smoked. 19th century life was awash with opium but most of it was not smoked, but taken in liquid form as 'laudanum'.

So the scenes of genteel ladies smoking opium are very unlikely.

This was an excellent Twixtmas binge-watch. ITV seems to have created a distinct genre of regionally filmed and located drama, and this one does not disappoint. The action slowly reveals the circumstances that led to a girl's death and then equally carefully strips away piece by piece all the certainties surrounding it. Cleverly, none of the characters from the grieving parents, to an exploited teenager appear particularly likeable, nor are they written to elicit the audience's sympathy. The drama also explores the grim reality of life in areas that are run by drug gangs and the pervasive grip of fear that such gangs can exert.

Beautifully made and a brave attempt to explore the complexities and legacy of The Troubles. This is a piece of the UK's past that is seldom visited even in fiction, so to see this drama doing what contemporary history still cannot easily do is refreshing. Especially clever is the subtle manipulation of the viewer's perceptions of who or what is goodness or evil, justice or injustice. Of course there are things that can be unpicked - I especially enjoyed the unexpected and 'discontinued' snowstorm in the final episode. James Nesbitt's character has all the extreme cunning of the functioning madman and I look forward to this developing further in season 2.

Real Estate porn interspersed with a truly unconvincing plot acted by barbie dolls. Have root canal instead, less painful. Apparently some 600 characters are needed to make this review valid. I keep trying but it's hard to guess. So all this series didn't include is a headless horseman....what? Iot did? I must have nodded off. So why do these fks never draw their curtains? You know someone's stalking you. You have big windows. Draw the curtains at night. Is that too hard? Apparently so. Part of the plot involves the viewer accepting that a part time lady Potter can sell enough white vases to pay a £3m mortgage. Says it all.

It would be very easy to be critical of this series. After all, how hard can life be when you appear to have a kitchen bigger than my entire house and garden. The parade of fashions puts 'Killing Eve' well in the shade and the apparently heroic amounts of booze are consumed on a daily basis.

But even though I'm as cynical as the next person, I binge-ewatched all three series and je regrette rien. Cleverly written, it serves you enough clues to keep you feeling smug when your prediction comes to pass, but still manages to serve up plot twists. The complex characters all have infuriating and lovable aspects, and bar one who is perfectly horrid to comedic proportions, all are ultimately redeemed. The comforting resolution achieved by the end of series 3 serves up that big slice of feel-good factor. I felt brave production decisions were made in the way 'real' women protagonists were filmed.... the antithesis of la-la-land nip and tuck, and long may it be replicated.

I gave up twice but came back to this series. It is a bit slow and irritating to start with but improves and is actually a great plot with a couple of snakey twists. Maybe could have been two episodes shorter but the writing is actually very economical, with no element being wasted. The devil is quite literally in the detail.

Certainly had enough plot for the most part to keep me wanting to watch but the final episode was a little over-long. It's also a good warning to the curious about the dangers of apparently easy money and fair-weather friends, and was not timid about dealing with the toxicity of relationships where power is greatly imbalanced. Sadly the plot ultimately included judgements about the 'fate' awaiting so-called fallen women who are unrepentent, which I thought was odd considering the determined boot-knocking throughout.

I'm always willing to suspend my disbelief for a bit of entertainment but this just assumed far too much of the viewer's patience. The opening scenario is the best bit, and would make a great creative writing exercise to see how it could have been better developed. Beyond that I think I watched all episodes just to see if any goals were scored and cos nothing else appealed at the time. I regretted my decision.

This series hits the basics of being mystery-laden and pacey, and full of pretty people and locations, enough to keep me watching. It isn't high drama or complex deep intrigue, but a tale of everyday toxic people with apparently limitless resources with which they can wreak vengeance. It's fun if you don't question it too closely. Several of the characters change quickly from idiots who need a map and two hands to find their bottoms, to self-sufficient calculating psychopaths. It's all part of the fun.

It's imaginative and well-enough made to keep me watching all the way through series 1. The plot owes a great deal to Aleister Crowley and his imaginings, even with an apparition and its sound effects referencing Crowley's 'Chthulu'. The main downside is that it requires the viewer to suspend disbelief a few steps too far. It leaves the storyline with the possibility of a new series but I was starting to giggle by then.

But not for the kids or aunties. One could of course watch again and do a c-word count but that would detract from the hilarious, engaging plot that goes to great effort to keep the viewer entertained and interested. It is a mirror-image and parody of many a gangster movie and is also a running commentary on society. I would never ever have identified Hugh Grant without the cast list.

What jumped out at me immediately with this series was the lead's remarkable similarity to the female lead in Swedish detective series The Bridge. Both made in 2011. Both casts led by unashamedly sexually active, neurodivergent, troubled and highly intelligent women, nurtured and supported by older, experienced male bosses. Hmmm.

The series is is a pacy enough watch but descends into slightly farcical territory at the end of season 1, when I stopped watching, with convoluted double-cross assassination plots and deep cover double agents 'up the wazoo' ( a phrase used regularly in the scripting).

Competently made for the most part and very nice to see a 'provincial' location, Bristol in this case. A wholehandful of the cental characters are written to a Brechtian degree of unpleasantness but the young woman at the centre of the 'showtrial' is of pantomime-level screwed-up-ness. The five episodes manipulate the viewer nicely but as others have pointed out, waiting a week between episodes might have lost viewer interest. Spot the terrific wardrobe continuity error in episode 5!

I've read some pretty cutting stuff about this series but I ccame to it before reading reviews and couldn't put it aside until I'd watched the lot. I found it quite simply well written crime drama. Knowing nothng abou the dynamics of race in the Bay area, I just enjoyed the story for what it was. Sure there are weaknesses, but if you want to enjoy a watch you don't go in looking for holes to pick. Some reviews I read focussed on the digital tech side....er...I never watched anything to enjoy it's use of current technology. Did you? Thought not.

OK so maybe it was just that I watched this at a low point in my life, but I could not stop smiling all the way through. I read the book years ago, and found the film a good interpretation, beautifully produced and performed.