The Town

Got to halfway through part two and gave it away. There is apoint where you say this is not keeping me interested or what is happening here is ridiculous or really it has crossed the line for believability. This one registered on all counts.

This is absolutely classic brilliant British drama. Three perfect episodes. Absolutely and completely totally satisfying. Great story. Great characters. Beautifully wound up. I totally loved it.

This is a very good "series" (if three episodes are a series). The actors are all very strong; Andrew Scott, in the lead role, is a revelation, as is Martin Clunes. This show belongs to a uniquely British genre, the something-is-surrealistic -about-this-place -but-everyone-seems -to-find-it-normal -and- that's-also-odd mystery. (The most salient example of this genre is The Prisoner, though The Town is a great deal more understated.)

The comments of some reviewers that the series doesn't explain every detail of the characters' lives; that some plot points are superfluous; and that it isn't a documentary on local government; are all accurate. I didn't care, and I doubt other admirers of well-crafted television will, either.

Bottom line: I liked The Town very much, and wish it had been an entire series.

This is one of those stories that as it goes along, more and more is revealed until it gets to the point of being ridiculous. It has good characters, a good atmosphere, and I enjoyed everything about it but that core aspect of the plot, with twists and turns that make it so ridiculous that it leaves a bad feeling when you've finished watching it, like you've been cheated. It starts off with deaths so mysterious that you share how devastated the son is in being unable to comprehend or cope with it, then it is answered in a somewhat plausible though unsatisfactory manner, then that's up-ended by a twist, then THAT'S up-ended by another twist and then it's over.

Andrew Scott puts in a great performance and makes it just about worth watching. The plot itself is serviceable. That's the good news.

The rest is bad. It's called 'The Town', but should have been called 'The Hamlet', since there's only one pub in use and everyone meets up all the time in a tiny range of locations. Then there are the ridiculous figures of the ruling mayor and his side-kick, who seem to be from a kids' series on CBBC. What parallel universe is this meant to be? I am not the first to note that English towns don't have mayors like this. Without this nonsense, I suppose the title would have had to be changed to something more relevant.

Has Mark never been back to Renton for the last decade or more? Is London on a different planet? Why is he over double the age of his sister? Why is their Gran in the programme at all?