Strangers

The shots/scenery of Hong Kong from the sea-view to the unusual perspectives of apartment high-rises are just two of the reasons this show kept me enthralled. Sure, the main character took risks that I'm not sure the average Joe or Jane would take, but his pursuit of the truth about his wife gave credence to his semi-stupid mistakes. Unlike a previous reviewer, I did not find the pace slow...it seemed driven to me, and I always wanted to see what happened next. I found the show well done and easy to watch.

If ever a series got huge advertising, this was it, Cinema, TV, online, wherever you looked, it was visible. For good reason, it was clearly big budget drama.

It starts off well, the first few episodes are intriguing, good characters, and a deep level of intrigue. Sadly, because it's an eight part serial, there comes a midpoint lull, and it does suffer from being padded. Plenty of scenes of Jonah walking through the streets of Hong Kong doing very little.

Fortunately from episode six onwards, the show gains real momentum, and truly delivers some excellent moments.

I love the Hong Kong setting, the buildings are incredible, and it's nice to see something a little different. John Simm is superb throughout, supported well by Tim McInnerny, Emilia Fox, and Anthony Hayes in particular.

In summary, great location work, plenty of intrigue, but it does suffer from being too long. 8/10

If you're impatient for action sequences then this isn't for you, but I really enjoyed the slow build of this show. It kept my interest enough early and as it got into later episodes it really turned up the heat and had a very satisfying finish and ending. I also really enjoyed the setting among the British-Asian mix of Hong Kong and they really capture it throughout, not just a couple of tracking shots and then the rest is filmed in Vancouver or something. The lead character can be frustrating and hard to cheer for at times but he grows from experience over the course of the show. Definitely worth watching if you can appreciate storytelling and a slowly revealed mystery as opposed to an action thriller.

Slow start but good acting & seems to be speeding up now. Shame about some of the technical details, for instance, the voice message left for Jonah by his wife being altered by the HK police. Voice messages are not stored on the phone, they are saved on the network providers servers, to delete a message would be simple, but to edit a message would be impossible as the HK police would need direct access to a UK network server, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Life does not unfold in 98 minutes, the length of a movie on average. This drama takes its time and allows you to absorb the story and the city of Hong Kong.

Having been there recently I especially liked the difficulty they had with taxi drivers. Everyone does and gives up and uses the fine public transportation system.

Made prior to today's weekend protests one can see that there is great distrust with the government and police. It is in the series and it is true.

Take the time. The acting is top notch. The story takes unusual turns. Get patience with your entertainment and give it a chance. You will not regret it.