Hollington Drive

The live of sisters Theresa and Helen, and their families are turned upside down when a young boy, Alex is found dead.

It's a slow burner it's fair to say, it improves as it goes on, and ends with a cracking episode, unfortunately episode one is a real clunker. You wouldn't be blamed for switching it off after fifteen minutes, the opener is painful.

It's very well made, smart looking, and features some wonderful acting, Anna Maxwell Martin and Rachel Stirling give amazing performances, particularly in Part four.

It's a clever murder mystery, a whodunnit, you'll guess and wonder, I'm not sure you'll get it, I certainly didn't.

This would have been better over two nights. It's a slow burner, but ultimately rewarding in the end.

Overall, pretty good, 7/10.

For those who don't appreciate this drama or give it a chance, look up Brecht or 'verfremdungseffekt'. It is slow moving and the characters are unlikeable - set against a stepford housewives backdrop - but I think this is deliberate. You are supposed to be forming a moral judgement about the characters, their behaviours and role in the story. It is a snapshot of modern middle-class living from the writer/ director - presenting their viewpoint/ opinion.

I got 32 mins into the first episode and gave in . I could not suffer the pain of watching such garbage !

Possibly the worst thing I have seen in a long time .

Bad acting , Lousy script and what was that background in the bizarre driving scenes when looking for the missing child ... I mean com on !!

Rubbish I had to switch off , I'd rather just go to bed and stare at my wall .

Don't waste your time please !

From the writer of 'Blood' for C5, which was great, so was looking forward to this one.

Pros: the premise when it was eventually revealed at the end of episode one after a very slow start, is an intriguing one. There's also a fairly decent ensemble cast led by the excellent Anna Maxwell.

Negatives: the Protagonists family setup was very confusing - the Direction was weak - lots of pointless drone shots and static chat scenes and the tempo was way too slow. The Score was busy and intrusive with some of the dialogue inaudible. I agree with other reviewers that the parents of the missing child bizarrely didn't really seem that bothered..

For me it needed more sympathetic and interesting characters and more pace. I gave up on it.

Many of the poor reviews here, were posted before the final episode aired.

That frequently makes for an unreliable review.

I recorded all 4 episodes and watched them over two evenings. (It's easier to follow the characters that way). I normally make a decision as to whether to continue viewing a 4-5 episode show by mid episode 2. In this case I chose to stick with it to the end ..... and I'm glad I did!

It has an unpredictable outcome that on reflection, I should have seen coming. Watch carefully - there are clues as well as red herrings.