I watched the first series of the village and was completely glued. The events surrounding the first world war were particularly moving and made one think of how terrible a time it must have been. The time generally, of course, was quite hard for the working class people and this and the class divide are vividly brought to life in this well shot and directed series. John Simm and Maxine Peake are always great and they don't disappoint in this, indeed all of the acting is excellent. The story is gritty and mainly revolves around a couple of families with other characters dipping in and out of the story. Having said all of that I am utterly perplexed as to why the second series has suddenly become: 'The Village - a period soap'. Why on earth are we suddenly faced with what female loves what male etc. etc. to the exclusion of any real meat on the bones? I for one would like a return to what life must have been like and what challenges people faced at the time rather than tipping my hat to Mr and Mrs, or whatever the case may be. So I have to give the second series a rather paltry 4 out of 10 and hope that someone sees some sense and doesn't miss a great opportunity to carry on making a more realistic program that has an edge to it.
Review of The Village
