SeaChange

SeaChange is a rare and wonderful show that takes the viewer into the fictional, yet oddly familiar, town of Pearl Bay, where once you are there you never want to leave. The characters in the show are very real and are not unlike people you would meet in your everyday life. This is due to the fantastic casting of each of the characters, especially the leads, (Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham and William McInnes). With each new problem, and it always is a problem with Laura, Thornton plays the part wonderfully with alternating waves of pure joy and crippling sadness. McInnes also does a fabulous job as Max. Although I doubted whether McInnes and the character of Max would be anywhere near as good as Diver Dan, I am happy to say however, that my doubts were not at all an issue. He was fantastic! McInnes was a delight to watch whilst acting Max's character with his skeptic, hard exterior to his very soft and caring interior. Diver Dan however, played by Wenham, was a perfect character who was terribly hard not to fall in love with. From his great humour to raw emotional scenes Wenham is extremely compelling as the laid-back Diver Dan.

The brilliance of SeaChange however is owed to the excellent and flawless writing, principally by Andrew Knight and Deb Cox. With memorable lines in every episode to the exciting and hilarious structure of each episode, SeaChange makes for incredibly enjoyable viewing. The Kevin and Trevor scenes are often so ridiculous they are funny. This is especially the case in the Season 3 episode with Kevin's anecdote about his fear of ping-pong balls. It sent me into fits of uncontrollable laughter. The magic of the writing in SeaChange is also evident in many episodes when the character story relates to the court case Laura is currently judging.

SeaChange has a mysterious quality that makes the viewer feel as if they are part of the abstract town and that also it matters to them what is going on with Laura's relationships with Dan and Max.

The best TV-show ever made in Australia and it is highly likely nothing will ever rival this absolute golden series.

When my "in" show "The Bill" was suddenly replaced I thought to myself "I might as well give this a go" and as someone already testified, I was instantly addicted. After the first 2 episodes I could not get out of my mind the Northern Exposure feel it had. I was thus please to find another comment that expressed a similar thought. It simple, beautiful and full of laughters as well as having serious and sad moments. It's different and unhurried. The quotes on the main page do tell you a little about the pace of this work. Yes well done you guys who brought it to us you deserve, me, remembering your names... but that's another story, and I appologise about it,just the same I mentioned your existence! Perhaps one thing that got me on the first place was Sigrid Thornton casting. I always admired her and certainly had plenty to admire in her "Laura" character here. But as said by many, everyone is such an important part of it that it would be quite unfair to single any of them out. When I first googled the net to learn more about Sea Change, it did not bring IMDb in the search and I was a little sad about it as this site is my favourite in regard of entertainment and was looking forward for others' thought about it. But using S. Thornton did the trick as she's part of the big movie community, what a relief! I wonder how it would fare in other languages, as I feel it deserves a wider audience. I don't like giving rating but gave 8 as there are heavier things around but really 10 was in my mind all the time!

I've watched three episodes of the new Sea Change and I'm enjoying it in its own context, and not relating it back twenty years and attempting to see a seamless connection. The connection is there but time has interrupted the flow. Some original characters and there but older, while some have gone and others have grown up to be played by new actors. It's wonderful to see Sigrid Thornton, John Howard, Kerri Armstrong and Kevin Harrington still bumbling around Pearl Bay, and the addition of the talented Brooke Satchwell, Kate Lister, and a number of others, has injected new blood into the narrative and it has worked very well. I can't see Season 4 sweeping all the television awards handed out every year, but for me it hits the spot and the absence of serial killers, drug addicts and chronic depression are omissions from the plot I'm enjoying while I can.

Not a lot to add to the other comments. This series which, lamentably, is little known outside Australia, was compulsive viewing. Sunday nights were never the same again after the end! Yes it was right to go out on a high rather than peter out a la Northern Exposure.

Escapist and full of strange characters, you can only wish you lived somewhere the people were so strange (in a good way!). The series is as good on re-viewing and I have acquired all the DVDs. The series has little for action junkies. You come to know and like the characters - no real baddies, just a few scallywags, nothing major ever happens, but that does not give you the sense of the twinkle, the merriment of the little things that happen in everyday life, and the magic of living in Pearl Bay. I wish I did.

I got hooked on Seachange halfway through the first series, so I had to go and buy the whole set just so I could watch it all. I identify with "Miranda" and my mum is so very similar to "Laura". I adore the series now, and can't wait for the third installment. The characters range from very smart to quite stupid, and all are very funny. The best bit is that most situations are very realistic. Not all, and not always, but most.

I recommend it to anyone and everyone!