Reviews

As a huge fan of the Shardlake books I was excited to see this production. It did not disappoint for acting and entertainment but I did feel it was abbreviated and could have been a couple of episodes longer. I also felt that the addition of a rather unlikely number of black characters did take away a very important element of how the black apothecary monk stood out as different; that said it didn't really effect the plot too much. The thing that did annoy me was the replacing of the character Mark Poer Shardlake's manservant, with Jack Barak, a character who makes his first appearance in the follow up novel "Dark Fire" I assume this is done to allow a continuing partnership in the next Shardlake series but this meant adjusting the ending of this series. So unnecessary! We are not children, we can cope with the introduction of new characters.

Raymond Blanc's enthusiasm is joyful to watch. The delicious recipes from the various chefs and of course Raymond himself are the real highlight of the show. This is an informative and beautifully shot series. The only thing that is irritating is the current trend of telling you over and over and over again what is coming up later in the show. Particularly annoying is the very long intro to each episode which tells you all the stuff you've already been told previously. Just introduce the show and let us watch, discard the unnecessary filler and you could have more recipes, which after all what we want from one of the world's finest chefs.

As a keen golfer, I was really looking forward to this behind the scenes documentary series. Do t get me wrong, I did enjoy the insight into what it's like to be a pga tour pro, particularly the varying abilities and expectations. What I didn't like was the heavily biased anti LIV golf message. All the LIV players are portrayed as greedy, unprincipled, and shallow, whilst those who reject the advances of LIV are saintly, loyal, morally superior, and caring for the community. I have no horse in this race personally but I do respect individuals right to choose, and think political and cultural differences are far too complicated to be solved on the golf course or sports field. I do hope there is another series that doesn't focus on the Political arguments and LIV rivalry so much, and more on the tour and the individuals involved. I would also welcome input from more globally well known golf journalists and commentators rather than the frankly boring comments from Sean Foley and Amanda Renner.

The people who write negatively about this amaze me. I can only assume they watched with the sound off. There is not one wasted word in this superb drama. Every single line Stanley Tucci utters is a joy of either dark humour or wisdom. The plot while unlikely is both funny and enthralling. We are kept guessing all the way through and every character adds depth and colour to the scenes as this brilliant story unfolds. The acting is of the very highest level, the entire cast give fascinating and riveting performances, and no-one is just going through the motions.

I truly can not understand how people can find fault with this great drama. I do hope there is more to come because I want to hear more from Grief.

I love this series. Great acting throughout (particularly the wonderful Eileen Colgan's performance). Unfortunately I had to turn this episode off three quarters of the way through. I just got more and more angry with the weak, tired pro-abortion storyline. It's so innacurate to portray all women who seek to kill their unborn children as victims, and those who carry out this inhuman brutality as saints. At the very least this divisive issue could be addressed in an even handed way instead of trying to claim a moral high ground whilst scewing the facts to suit a personal opinion. The cases mentioned in the program were, surprise surprise, a victim of rape, the standard argument for the pro-abortion lobby, even though this accounts for a tiny percentage of abortions; and an adulterer who had no choice but to kill the child so it wouldn't be an embarrassment. Just sickening.

Just finished this series which is more than some had the decency to do before slagging it off. Personally I agree that this is a bit cliché but it's a TV cop show aren't they all to some extent, every one is derivative in some way from what has gone before. In the end it had the standard plot tropes that are familiar but loveable. I am getting tired of the woke box ticking, let's face it minorities are just that not because they've been in hiding it's just that there are less of them that's a fact, not good or bad, just a fact, and to pretend otherwise is to manipulate your audience. That said I found this series enjoyable and look forward to another one.

I was concerned after watching the truly terrible "Friends that kill" show (which although he was ok in it I was amazed that he was anything to do with it) that he may be off form. This however is Bill at his awesome best. Just laugh out loud hilarious. How he can seem to be irreverent and brutal and still make everyone laugh is genius. The reason of course is that although he plays it like a ranting bigot he actually has thought it through and makes real common sense and cuts through the perceived woke agenda. It's like a wake up call. Truly excellent.

I'm a huge fan of Bill Burr but he should have been nowhere near this. Just terrible. Jimmy Carr was so bad trying too hard to shock but was just embarrassing. The worst by far was Steph Tolev just totally disgusting but no skill, no class, and above all no laughs not even close to raising a smile.

This is painful to watch. A second rate leading man with as usual, the husky talking under his breath to sound mean and moody style. It takes more than that to build a character, it takes acting and this is just formulaic pap. Any humour that is added looks forced and unbelievable. This is hardly surprising when the set up is an ex DEA agent who sells snow globes. If you are totally stuck for something to watch give it a go, but if you want something you can take seriously, don't bother.

I was wary of watching this version of Agatha Christie's story after recent dreadful Sarah Phelps' penned dramatisations. Fortunately this screenplay was written by Hugh Laurie and he did a tremendous job. There is not a wasted line, every word, while not essential to the plot, adds humour and colour, and brings the characters to life. The drama is beautifully shot, and the character acting is top drawer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this version of a great story. Whether it adds anything to the previous versions is debatable. In my opinion one addition that was worthwhile was the music; I notice many other reviewers don't feel the same but I thought it was joyous. I will never understand why film makers need to move away from the characterisations so beautifully painted in the original book though, really no one is going to outraged if a film has no gay characters you don't have to manufacture them. This woke box ticking is getting ridiculous.

As a huge fan of the Reacher books I was really excited to see this series. I thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Cruise movies. It's a testament to Cruise's talent that he could make it work despite being nothing like the the stature of the character. Now of course Alan Ritchson has the physique and menace of the character, and he does a pretty good job on the acting front. I'd like to see more in the next series though, Ritchson is a bit one dimensional. I don't know if the director and writer wanted it that way but without more depth to the performance it won't hold the attention for too many more seasons and that would be a real shame. Over all I thoroughly enjoyed this and the supporting performances were superb.

This is a very well acted drama for sure. The script is well written. That said I am getting tired of female lead drama where all the male characters are weak and unsatisfactory to their wives. I think the actors male and female deserve better in the way of story than this trite, feminist, depressing, box ticking exercise in woke tedium.

I had high hopes when I sat down to watch this drama which were very quickly dashed. The script for this unimaginative nonsense was childish, trite, and at times hilariously bad. The conversations between characters were dull beyond belief. At times of unbelievable tension, (unbelievable not because it was extreme, rather because the situation ridiculous and preposterous) when you would expect some meaningful interchange you get what could only be described as small talk.

I started to watch this on the basis of the very high scoring reviews on here. I don't have a problem with people liking this, each to their own, but "10" really!?

If you give this a 10 what do you give 'Line of duty' or 'Breaking Bad'?

This is so bad! The script is so cliché you could play a game where you stop the "action" and predict the next sentence. The highlight for me was the opening credits I actually laughed out loud at the theme music, Actually if you haven't watched it, you should just to hear the gratuitous use of the word "Yeah" in the theme. It's like a family guy cutaway of a terrible cop show.

The other reviews seem very extreme. This was genuinely funny, well observed and family friendly. I hope there are more to come.