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Reviews
The Crown (2016)
A mixed bag
The first few seasons were terrific, well cast and beautiful to watch. However things deteriorated with Olivia Coleman portraying the Queen as dull and unfeeling, then Gillian Anderson (who is usually so good) giving a truly dreadful performance of Mrs Thatcher, aging her by 30 years!
Other good points were Helena Bonham Carter as the totally glamorous Princess Margaret and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip
The final season was so boring that I fell asleep a few times, and the ghost scenes were absolute nonsense! They should have stopped while they were ahead. A pity to finish a previously good programme like this.
Three Pines (2022)
Magnificent!
Oh my goodness, what a treat!
After 5 minutes I was totally enthralled and in love with the adorable Gamache. Beautifully filmed and performed. How lovely to have characters with real believable depth.
The story has multiple layers which evolve over time which enthrall the imagination. It reminded me of the wonderful Cardinal which also absorbed me totally.
So pleased to have found another wonderful detective to love. (and the relationship with his wife is just perfect!
Having come to the end of the series, I feel desolate that it has finished. Please let there be another!!!
In the meantime I shall start reading the books!
Strictly Come Dancing: Week 1 (2022)
Shorten it!!
This would be so much better if they cut out all the jibber jabber and really boring "in training" sections. I just want to see the dancing and scores.
I also do not want to become acquainted with contestants families. I do not know most of these "celebrities" anyway, so have no interest in their domestic situations.
I shall look forward to the (unlikely) episode when no-one cries!
I shall have to go back to my previous policy of recording the whole thing so I can fast forward through the candy floss nonsense.
I then find that I can still keep up to date with what is happening, and not waste an entire evening!
The Control Room (2022)
Overdone, overstretched and implausible.
Started out ok with intriguing premise. Then came episode 2 which lost any semblance of reality. Main character an irritating idiot, prepared to carry out any illegal and dangerous favour. For goodness sake....... Dispose of a body? Oh, ok then! Deliver a suspicious package? Yup, my pleasure!!
Drive and hide a van supposedly containing a body... Why not leave fingerprints all over it??
I could go on but I'm too irritated. Is this really why we are still paying for a TV licence?
The Blacklist (2013)
Adequate for passing the time
This is not a great show. It is hardly credible or enthralling. However James Spader makes it worth it if you just want to enjoy his charismatic performance.
If only they had cast an actress with more than one expression to play Elizabeth, this could really have become something. Potential missed.
Suspect (2022)
Bored.
Gave up half way through second episode as I was so bored.. Uninteresting characters, implausible plot (actually not even sure there is a plot), ridiculous overacting.... I just don't care about any of the people. A police officer who has no regard for any kind of protocols regarding evidence. Well, I could go on but I'm bored again...!
Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains (2021)
Shockingly bad.
I shall firstly that Rhod Gilbert is one of the funniest comedians to watch in a live show. So what on earth is he doing this rubbish for? Is he really short of money? Should we have a whip round?
This nonsense is unwatchable. Who are these unheard of "celebrities" and why are they so boring? Couldn't watch a whole episode and shall not be trying another one. Let Rhod go back to what he does best and drop all records of this drivel into the nearest bottomless pit!
Gordon Ramsay's Future Food Stars (2022)
Unwatchable
Please just put Gordon back in a kitchen.
This is rubbish, full of idiots doing idiotic things. I do wonder how they find such annoying people...
Gordon is much too good for this embarrassment.
Forbrydelsen (2007)
Outstanding!
If I could have awarded more than 10 srars, I would have.
This trilogy grips the attention with a ferocious force and will never let go. Sara Lund will stay with me forever, she has become family. And like a family member there are times I want to shake her and shout that she is doing the wrong thing. But she is on her own trajectory and will not deviate from what she feels needs to be done. I am desolate to have finished watching but am sure that after a suitable period of mourning, I shall revisit and put myself through this particular wringer again.
Despite my despair, the writer is so right to have ended the series as a perfect entity rather than drag on in a diluted fashion as some dramas do.
Landscapers (2021)
Classy!
If you have no imagination, you will hate this.
But for the rest of the thinking world... Enjoy!
A true story, skillfully worked like a stylish stage play.
Excellent performances and direction.
No spoilers here as you know the end result from the beginning, so enjoy the ride!
Inside No. 9 (2014)
Astounding!
Just watch this! At first it will seem strange, but stick with it and you will be addicted and waiting impatiently for the next series. As soon as you think you know where the story is going, it turns round and slaps you in the face. Fantastic!
One of the very best programmes on TV.
Angela Black (2021)
Disappointing
This started out with promise but with so many convoluted plot twists, it was hard to stay interested.
The final straw was when it was revealed to be a very substandard rip off of Strangers on a Train, which is a terrific book and film. The writers/producers should be ashamed to waste our time!
Dalgliesh (2021)
Beautiful
Just perfect. Totally true to the books and well crafted and well acted. Bertie Carvel is fabulously charismatic, sensitively putting aside his personal tragedy to concentrate on the job at hand. Marvellous!
The Larkins (2021)
Disappointing
What a shame. The original version of these stories was a warm hearted, cosy evening's entertainment. This isn't. It has totally lost it's soul and the attempts at humour are contrived and belaboured.
If you haven't already been disappointed by this, don't bother, just watch the earlier David Jason version and have a lovely time!
The Long Call (2021)
Boring
Now I love Anne Cleves but oh my goodness, did she really write this?
The first time I started watching it I kept falling asleep, so I tried again another day.
Phew, talk about slow going. The detective is uninteresting, doesn't seem at all involved with his work, and so "proper" (telling off a colleague for speaking disrespectfully to a colleague! How very modern!)
What kind of a budget does Devon police force have that they can afford such swish extensive premises? And what amazing houses everyone lives in with massive windows overlooking the sea. The scenery was the most interesting thing about this programme, everything else dull, dull, dull.
I really hope that Anne Cleves did not write the screenplay because the dialogue is dire.
Thank goodness we have a new series of Shetland for some quality drama with great characters!
La cabina (1972)
Traumatic!
Such a simple film... But it isn't!
I saw this many years ago but never forgot it, I found it terrifying. Like another reviewer says, I wondered if I had dreamt it as I don't know anyone else who had seen it. This film has haunted me for the last 50 years, there are not many others that have. Awesome.
Rebecka Martinsson (2017)
Excellent
I love this series. Most of all because the characters are real people doing real jobs. Particularly, they are not obsessed with appearance as in American dramas and the women are unmade up and natural, just doing their jobs like real people do. I get so tired of dramas where everyone has bleached teeth and is waxed, coiffed and made up like models.
The stories are intriguing and heart-wrenching at times. If you want good involving stories here you are.
ER: And in the End... (2009)
Goodbye old friend.
Am truly feeling bereaved after watching the end of this beautiful series. It was lovely to see all the old characters come back for the opening of the Carter Centre, with their new lives. And the writers still enabled me to continue to hate the dreadful Kem who turned up just long enough to break Carter's heart once more, but always keeps him on a string so he cannot make a new life. I even forgave Rachel, who was a horrible child, because she redeems herself by following in her father's footsteps (thanks to Elizabeth's influence).
I wept buckets as the credits went up, feeling the loss of dear friends.
Beautifully constructed and performed. A unique gem of a programme.
I Can See Your Voice: UK (2021)
Appalling
Couldn't manage one episode it was so bad. Who the hell thinks up this nonsense? And we pay a licence fee for this????
The Pursuit of Love (2021)
Fabulous!
What a glorious production... The feel of the book and the eccentric characters together with the brilliant addition of modern music soundtrack made this the most enjoyable TV drama I've seen in a long time.
The best part was the wonderful performance of Andrew Scott as Lord Merlin.... What a delight!!
My Unique B&B (2021)
What????
Unbelievable rubbish. And the BBC wonder why people resent paying the licence fee! Ridiculous people making ridiculous huts!
Who really wants a bath in a field? Do they not know what the weather is like in this country? And is it a B&B when there is bed but no breakfast??
Bank Balance (2021)
Truly dreadful
Too bad to watch. Let Gordon get back to the kitchen, that is where he belongs. This should never have been made, and the contestants are too stupid to breathe air.
The Crown: War (2020)
Disappointing
Very disappointing after the previous excellent seasons. In particular, Gillian Anderson's take on Margaret Thatcher. She plays her as a woman at least 20 years older than she was and apparently recovering from a stroke! Such caricatures devalue the excellent job done by other actors. I shall look forward to the next season in the hope that it will be better.
Semi-Detached (2019)
Rubbish!
I had the misfortune to watch an episode of this drivel. Shall not be making that mistake again! I'm sure that something billed as comedy is supposed to be funny? Not in this case. One of the worst things I have watched in a long time.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Terrific film
What a great film. Brilliant performances all round and a really engaging and moving treatment of a very important part of history. I have no problem with the artistic licence used, all films have this, and they would be boring documentaries without. The very casually accepted racism of the time was accurate and uncomfortable, but it happened. I remember!
I wish these remarkable womens' stories were better known. That's what I call role models.