Five Days

This series showed so much promise! An incredible line-up of actors for virtually every character in the story. What a shame the script and the story was such a mess! Every possible scenario for the disappearances was brought up but hardly any of them were resolved clearly. So many good actors included but a lot of the characters seemed pointless. Even the conclusion of the series was messy and only partially clarified. The sound was so poor too! Couldn't hear a lot of the quieter voices properly despite my clinically tested excellent hearing. The script was messy and inadequate. The different characters were confusing. The conclusion was full of holes. I really expected so much better, especially coming from the BBC.

This could have been a nifty two-parter with tight pacing and concise storytelling. Instead, it's bloated with gratuitous soap opera backstories and boring, long, pointless conversations. The character development overwhelms the plot, and detracts from the impact of the story. A missed opportunity.

After a promising first hour, Five Days deteriorates into a soap opera that seems to willfully defy credibility. Overacting abounds, with Penelope Wilton winning top (bottom?) honors. Hugh Bonneville and Edward Woodward are wasted; David Oyelowo's character must be the Worst Grieving Husband in the history of television. Rarely has so much skill at production been held hostage to such a disastrous screenplay (one that revels in irrelevant subplots). Three stars for the first hour-which is quite good-but otherwise...ugh. Anyone who can figure out the purpose of Sarah Smart's character can drop me a line and explain it.

For the first season it was a very interesting story but it absolutely did not need to be soooo long. This could have been wrapped up in one.

I love all the actors in this series. However, the storyline was disjointed, jumbled, depressing, head-scratching and just plain dizzying. I almost didn't watch the last two episodes but forced myself to finish. I wish I had that two hours back. Haven't been this disappointed for a very long time.