The Runaway

But it quickly went downhill from there. I made it through all episodes, but the story failed to engage me. The main leads act well, but they just don't have a decent plot to work with, and some of the scenes are really poor. Apart from the young girl who plays Cathy's daughter, the other characters are unpleasant in varying degrees, and the violence is extreme. Filling up the time with repeated flashbacks looked really amateurish.

What a great series. I wish we had this kind of great work on this side of the pond. I became a fan of Max Irons recently so I started watching his films. Being a young up and coming actor (son of Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack-double powerhouse genes there), I gave the series a go. From the first episode I was hooked. It has opened me up to another fast rising mega star in the making, Jack O'Connell. Runaway is a bit of everything, edgy writing, intrigue, romance, crime, drama, murder, gangsters, bombs and drag queens. Who can go wrong with that lineup. Leading the charge is the ever awesome, Mardi Gras and New Years wrapped into one actor Alan Cummings. LOVE HIM. This role was written just for him because no one could have done it justice. For only 6 episodes it keeps you hanging on to every luscious minute. It is well worth a weekend Binge watch.

After reading the book and hearing great things from friends about this series I was very excited to watch it. Unfortunately, after the first episode I felt that the story went way off field from the book, and although it is only "based" on the book, I was expecting it to at least stay true to the main points in the novel. I felt that the characters in the book have been betrayed by the way this series has shown them and rather than falling in love with all of them like I did in the book, I found myself loathing most of them. The book is absolutely fantastic and will keep any reader gripped until the very end. Whilst this, I'm afraid to say, left me actually quite frustrated that people find it so necessary to completely change such a brilliant story.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Opening in 1960s London, this six part tale tells the story of Eamonn (Jack O' Connoll) and Cathy (Joanna Vanderham), whose parents, a drunk and a prostitute, were lovers when they were children, and this forged a friendship between them, until circumstances drove them apart, and Eamonn ended up killing a rival boy in a gang fight and Cathy was spared prison by a corrupt detective (Burn Gorman) after killing an abusive client of her mother's. She ends up escaping from a tough girl's institute and ends up back in London, in Soho where she's taken under by kindly cross dresser Desrae (Alan Cumming) while Eamonn starts working for, and then has to flee from, local villain Danny Dixon (Keith Allen.) When he falls in with the IRA, it sets the two on a deadly reunion that ends up having explosive consequences.

Raw and unflinching drama seems to be the order of the day at the moment with British drama, especially so with television drama, which also refuses to let go of what was always it's stranglehold trademark of being as bleak and depressing as possible. Moving about with camcorder fluidity from the darkest corners of society to the seedy out in the open stuff on the surface, The Runaway tells a dark and harsh tale that occasionally saves it's soul with flashes of the tender love story at it's heart, that is essentially the driving force behind it all. It would never have worked as a feature film, far too long and sprawling, and so it receives the appropriate format in this six part adaptation that manages to keep the drama, for the most part, on an even keel. Inevitably, though, with such long source material, if you don't manage to stay disciplined with repeated viewings, sometimes it's hard to keep track of it all, with so much happening so quickly. A shame, since it's all so driven and slick, style and flair being the order of the day.

Performances wise, rising star O'Connoll in the lead role shows a further depth and range, but trying to apply a cockney twang to his northern dialect does make him sound strange. The likes of Allen and Cumming are well cast in their respective roles, while less heard ofs like Vanderham and Gorman also manage to be part of the driving force. It's a brutal, hard hitting piece but it's length and scope inevitably drag it out and sometimes makes it lose it's narrative flow. ***

A must for fans of the work of author Martina Cole, and with plenty in the tank to entertain those who simply enjoy gritty crime drama, The Runaway is a story that pulls very few punches. Spread across six episodes, it's set in the late 1960s, and follows two youngsters, Cathy and Eamonn, as they're brought up in the East End of London.

As you might expect, things aren't easy for the characters in The Runaway. Cathy is the daughter of a prostitute, while Eamonn is lured into a life of crime. Yet what bonds them together is what they both have to do when the chips are down. And one event, as is often the way, has ramifications.

The Runaway is about as far away from a glossy television thriller as it's really possible to get. And there's little doubt that the programme earns that 18 certificate that adorns the box. Yet there's a strong, grown-up drama here, and it's livened by some terrific performances.

The two leads, for instance, are excellent. Jack O'Connell, best known from Skins, and Joanna Vanderham, who has a bright future ahead of her, take the main roles, and handle them well. Meanwhile, there's compelling work too from Keith Allen and Alan Cumming. Between them all, there's a constant compulsion to see what happens next.

The Runaway punches above what you might expect of television values,the downbeat world of the drama comes across strongly .

A gritty period drama, well made, and if you can stomach it, it's well worth your time.