Press

Riley and Chaplin were riveting in this wonderfully crafted, intelligent script about the dog-eat-dog business of the newspaper business. I think this story was a take on the British tabloid versus "good journalism" competitors in the UK, but it was also an interesting story about human nature.

The acting was superb. Chaplin and Riley should get awards for their terrific work in this series. They were the heart and soul of the story. I couldn't wait to see what happened from one episode to the next. The ending was a little soft, but the points were made about greed, ambition, and the counterweights of altruism and truth.

There is so much drivel out there. So many tv series are poorly scripted, poorly acted and lack realistic plots. This was the exact opposite. The two central characters played by Charlotte Riley and Ben Chaplin are a master class in acting, perfectly matched and utterly believable. The story lines interesting and reflect what we see say to say in the British press. I can't understand why there is only one series??! Baffling. There is so much more scope for character and story development with the incredible ensemble cast of Al Weaver, Paapa Essiedu and Ellie Kendrick. What a waste!

I'm surprised by the negative reviews of this series. I've watched two episodes so far, I found it well written, well acted and very enjoyable. The contrasting motivations, of the two newspapers, cleverly provides extra depth to the characters who are both plausible and engaging. Charlotte Riley is outstanding as Holly Evans, an intelligent, hard working journalist with lofty principles but enough experience to know how to uncover the real story. Ben Chaplin is convincing as the world weary editor of the sleazier of the two papers with a set of pragmatic philosophies that give him an attractive earthy wisdom. I wonder if some of the IMDB reviewers are confusing an assessment of the series with an assessment of UK Journalists, whose shortcomings have been well publicised recently. For the sake of clarity, UK Journalists - not great, this series about UK Journalists - great. I hope that's clear.

Surprised at the amount of negative reviews this show has garnered so far. I've only watched the first episode but complaints that the characters are two-dimensional seem unfair without allowing the show to build those characters past the first episode. Of course this is assuming they are laying groundwork for substantive growth of character, which they might not be doing. My point is simply that it has the potential to be a good show, and at a time when the way we get our news is rapidly evolving seemingly without deliberation I'm for even superficial examinations of that process. Anything to kickstart a real conversation.

This is clearly a take on Guardian vs The Sun (or Mail) and it is entertaining and the characters are believable. A very entertaining show. Ben Chaplin really can play a ruthless man very well, and I thin Charlotte Riley is just fabulous and very versatile. I hope they will renew this.