hillrosemary

I usually love John Le Carre's books, but I didn't think much of Our Kind of Traitor at all. In fact it left me with almost no memory of the story except a vague outline, which was very handy when it came to watching the film. I enjoyed the screen version much more. The adaptation is good, the action was paced far better than the novel, and the acting was excellent. Stellan Skarsgaad was wonderful as Dima - he managed, I thought, to make the character sympathetic without ever losing his menace. Damian Lewis was also very good. I don't especially care for Ewan MacGregor, but I thought he did well in this. I had last seen Khalid Abdalla, who played Luke, in the role of an Islamic terrorist in 'Spooks', and I think Susanne White made an excellent choice of having him play an MI-6 officer; while I know nothing about who staffs what in Vauxhall Cross, I would imagine it's much more multi-ethnic than it used to be. Lastly, the little cameo by John Le Carre himself was a nice touch.

As to how close to the reality the story line is ... I suspect much more so than many people might like to think!

I watched this yesterday evening and was riveted from start to finish. The acting was excellent from every member of the cast, but Ben Miles (Somerset), Sophie Okonedo (Margaret of Anjou) and Hugh Bonneville (Gloucester) absolutely took my breath away. Everyone's diction was crystal clear, and the whole thing was beautifully shot. The BBC, like any organisation, may have its flaws, but when it does something like this I defy any broadcasting organisation in the world to outclass it. Anyone watching who doesn't know the history of the Wars of the Roses may find the events being depicted a little confusing at first, but reading a synopsis of the play beforehand will help and is well worth it. Outstanding, and I can hardly wait for the next two adaptations.

I must be very easy to please, I suppose. I've thoroughly enjoyed this, and as we approach the final episode, I'll be sorry to see it end. Yes, I agree, a Kay Mellor drama is usually fairly recognisable, since her style doesn't change that much, but then why should it? She has an enviable ability to write good stories and, most important, her writing appears to attract some very good actors. I like the way in which even the nicest (on the surface) of her characters have flaws; it makes them much more realistic. I'm sure I haven't been the only viewer wanting to smack Jasmine at various stages in this! The only character to whom I haven't managed to warm at all is Susie, because she's been so unlikeable from the start. I don't quite hold with the criticism that Kay Mellor can't or won't, write 'good' male characters either. Yes, Dev, Simon et al can be weak and daft; they can also be strong and sympathetic - just like men in real life are.

Last but not least, I think Ms Mellor's done a wonderful job of preventing 'In The Club' becoming overly sentimental, which it could easily have done, by leavening the pathos with humour. Much of the latter has been provided by the character of Roanna. Having admired Hermione Norris's comic timing and skills in 'Cold Feet' I think she's done an equally fine job here. The scene where Simon panicked like a headless chicken because he thought Roanna was in labour when she had foot cramp had me laughing out loud. Likewise her tearing a strip off his artist housemate. Brilliant.

In short, it's the kind of programme TV critics will inevitably be patronising about, but the kind that I look forward to every week. Good acting, good writing and a good laugh. What else do you need?

I'm afraid I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviewer. I found 'A Mother's Son' to be very compelling viewing. I thought Chris Lang's script was wonderful - natural-sounding dialogue, and for one hour fifty minutes of the two hours I was unsure who had actually committed the crime, so deftly did he hint at the possible guilt of first one, and then of another character.

The casting was just as good. Martin Clunes revealed acting skills I hadn't previously seen him display as Rosie's second husband, and his character, Ben, was a wonderful contrast to David, her first, superbly played by Paul McGann.

The drama focuses on the suspicions of the mother (Rosie) that her son from her first marriage may have been involved in the murder of a local schoolgirl, and her dilemma as to how best to deal with those suspicions. Hermione Norris, who plays Rosie, has a real talent for portraying women on the edge, and she uses it to its fullest extent here. Only once does Rosie completely lose her composure; the rest of the time her torment is repressed and, with increasing difficulty, held in silent check. Ms Norris, however, can do more with silence and a slight change of expression than others can do with many pages of script, and I sometimes found Rosie's anguish almost too painful to watch.

Alexander Arnold, who plays her son Jamie, is equally good, moving seamlessly from sullenness to anger and then fear, and all the time seeming to me to give a very accurate portrayal of a wayward teenager.

Yes, it isn't an all-action drama, yes, the build-up of tension is slow, but it's steady, relentless, and, I thought, very effective. Perhaps it's the kind of thoughtful, thought-PROVOKING drama that isn't likely to be wildly popular with a mass audience, but it certainly left an impression on me. Two days after watching it I was still wondering 'What would I have done?'

2012 has been a wonderful year for films so far, at least for me, but the rest of it will have to go some to beat The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I had read Deborah Moggach's book 'These Foolish Things', and the film did not disappoint. It was absolutely perfect - outstanding acting from every member of the cast, and a wonderful script that made me (and the rest of the audience) laugh out loud repeatedly. Funny, moving, interesting and able - as so many films are not - to make its points gently, with humour, and, praise God, without preaching at or haranging its viewers. No coarse language, no violence, and I left with a huge smile on my face. I can't remember the last film I saw where the audience burst into spontaneous applause at the end.

And I politely disagree with those who say this is a 'grey film' for elderly people. It's about elderly people, but anyone with an open mind and a sense of humour who loves a good story well told will surely enjoy it, irrespective of age.

Which is exactly what I think the final episode of 'Spooks' was. I didn't think they would be able to tie up all the story threads involving the Gavriks and Harry's past satisfactorily in just an hour, but for me, they did. The acting from most of the cast was outstanding, and from Peter Firth just phenomenal. Lara Pulver and Max Brown were fairly hopeless as usual, (at least in my opinion, their casting was the only thing to have marred this concluding series) but the fact that their characters were kept (very wisely, I think) in a very secondary role during this episode prevented them from spoiling it.

Yes, the ending is tragic, and not everyone will be happy with it, but I think it was the most appropriate conclusion. The idea of Harry and Ruth riding off into the sunset, while sweet, would have been completely out of character with 'Spooks', which has never gone in for saccharine happy endings. The last few scenes of the show, involving brief but very moving acknowledgement of the other officers the section has lost, Harry's own private farewell to Ruth and Harry's return to his desk were beautifully crafted and rounded the whole thing off to perfection. The last line couldn't have been better. Yes, a very fitting farewell to a wonderful show that everyone involved in should be very very proud of.

I disagree. I thought this episode was superb. It was taut, exciting, and never lost pace. Yes, the technology may not be used in exactly the correct way, yes, there may be the occasional unlikely coincidence. But quite frankly I was too enthralled by the developing story to notice those. Very clever writing to pick up on and quietly poke fun at both the recent spate of lost laptops/forgotten classified documents and the publication of secret government information by Wikileaks. There were touches of humour and superb acting. I speak Russian, and while the Russian accents might not be perfect, they're acceptable to me. Would it really convey anything more if half the programme had to be watched by most of the audience on subtitles? I am warming to Callum, whose sarky comments remind me of Ros Myers; my only problem so far with this series is Lara Pulver, whose casting I feel to have been a mistake. She's trying hard - perhaps too much - but she's on screen with giants, and seems to me to be having a lot of trouble holding her own. But for me, at least, that didn't spoil a riveting episode and a shocking twist at the end that I completely failed to anticipate.

I'm going to swim against the tide, I'm afraid. I can't judge the whole series, because as I write this only 2 episodes have been shown. However, while I wouldn't put 'Outcasts' into the same class as 'Spooks,' I have enjoyed what I've seen so far. Yes, some of the dialogue has been a little heavy-going, but I write myself, and I know that it is a very difficult thing to do, so I wouldn't be perhaps as judgemental as others. I think the cinematography is stunning, as are the settings, and I have no major complaints about the acting. While the quality of it varies - with Hermione Norris several giant strides ahead of most of the others, which is usually the case in anything I've seen her in - I've seen an awful lot worse.

I personally like drama involving moral conundrums and the interplay between characters as they develop, and I have no problem with something that moves slowly; if you do, and those things spell 'dull' to you, then Outcasts is possibly not for you.

Reading other reviews, the one thing that surprises me is the widespread criticism of minute detail - this wouldn't be used, they wouldn't have done it like that, that couldn't have happened, it wouldn't look that way. Forgive me, but how does anyone know? It's set in the future, which none of us have seen, and it's fiction anyway. It puzzles me.

Anyway, there is enough in the story lines to follow to keep me watching ... if no-one else!

I'm afraid I found this rather disappointing. Jimmy McGovern is an excellent writer, but I'm beginning to find him rather predictable. Willy Houlihan was less a character in a drama than a mouthpiece for McGovern's own views, and while I respect that he has deeply-held convictions, I don't particularly want to be lectured on them in every drama of his that I watch. By the time Willy Houlihan had finished serial tirades against the war in Afghanistan, the church, the banks and call centres, I was left in no doubt about Mr McGovern's opinions but knew very little about Willy Houlihan. I'm afraid I think the obsessive chip the writer carries on his shoulder is starting to have a deleterious effect on his work.

Episode 1 would also have greatly benefited from a touch of lightening humour somewhere. Willy Houlihan showed almost nothing but resentful, prejudiced anger throughout, and the members of his family were all so disagreeable that by the end of the programme I couldn't have cared less what happened to him or them. Most everyone else seemed grim, rude, and negative. Surely, however difficult life gets, most British people will retain a sense of humour - it's one of our most well-known character traits - and it was sadly missing here.

I like dramas that are realistic and well-acted (and this was certainly very well acted), but if Mr McGovern can't move on from his habit of ramming his I Am Working Class, Hard Done By And Proud Of It line down my throat, I don't think I'll be watching the rest of this series.

I never saw this on TV but bought the box set two weeks ago, not entirely sure I was going to like it. By the second episode I was completely hooked, and have watched the entire series in record time. Something about it makes it totally unputdownable. The writing is brilliant; I often found myself laughing out loud and then close to tears within one and the same episode. Despite being beyond the age bracket at which I gather the programme was targeted, unmarried and having no children I could still identify with the characters. I think that at one time or another I either empathized or became exasperated with each of them in turn.

The acting is superb throughout, and in the last two episodes it positively took my breath away. Hermione Norris in particular was absolutely extraordinary; why her acting ability doesn't seem to be given the recognition it deserves, I cannot imagine. By the end of the show, I think all the other characters were somewhat in the shadow of hers - which is a massive tribute to her and takes nothing at all away from the excellent work of the others.

There are too many comic highlights to mention, but I particularly appreciated David trying to get his baby son off to sleep by reading stock market reports, Pete's mum being introduced to the joys of smoking cannabis and the mens' ability to play decent golf being affected by the vagaries of their sex lives.

I can't recommend this strongly enough - it really is a television masterpiece.

I discovered this almost by accident by searching for something else, and I'm so glad I did. It manages to be funny, touching and thought-provoking, which is some achievement in just one film. There are truly too many highlights to mention. I laughed out loud when the hapless vicar offered Dundee cake to the CIA bloodhounds, and Robinson/Zelenski's attempt to drive Coward/Rublev's sports car was absolutely priceless.

This is an absolute must-see for anyone who grew up through the Cold War and perestroika. The acting is superb throughout. For me the most outstanding performance came from David Calder as Viktor Chekhov. If he didn't get an award for it, he surely should have done.

My only query is why, oh why, isn't the DVD available in the UK? Why has the BBC never issued it? When I think of some of the rubbish they churn out these days, most of which seems to be available on DVD the second the programme has been broadcast, that seems incomprehensible to me. It deserves far better treatment than that. I had to purchase it on Amazon from the United States, where, thank goodness, it apparently WAS issued.

Wherever and however you get hold of it, it's more than worth it. British TV at its best!

I actually thought the script was pretty good and it was clever in that it combined the plot of the crime with some of Lynley's personal upheavals. This particular scriptwriter is one of my favourites. The dialogue in the car where Havers promised Lynley she would save his dignity by making the video of his therapy session disappear actually made me laugh out loud, and the role reversal, with Havers bossing Lynley around and Lynley having to take the flak was, I thought, superbly done.

I consider myself equally horrendous at spotting the killer, and I didn't spot this one until about ten minutes before the end. Having once identified the person concerned, however, I had no difficulty seeing why they would have acted as they did. But all the way through there were several people who could quite possibly have been responsible.