Night & Day

I've seen at least 5 episodes of this show and everyone has been absolutely awful. The worst part are the terrible characters, none of whom are likeable. The stories drag on and it is certainly not a production that you cant wait to see. Maybe I am the wrong age to enjoy this show, my mother watches it, but she too finds it weird, creepy and too slow. There are far better British shows around then this rubbish. In short try and avoid - at all costs!

RATING: 1/10

Having watched every episode so far I think this is the greatest thing to hit the screen in ages. The directing is fantastic and im sure pioneering as far as soap operas come. This is also great because it is not just targeted at the usual predominant female target audience but at young and old viewers a like, both male and female. Personally I would compare it to Hollyoaks in its target audience but completely different in its style. I think this is a space which definately needs to be watched. The characters are so distinct, from the seductive Sharon Stone(Basic Instinct) esque Jane Harper, with her michievious ways and intelligent manipulation of the male mind to the old tv favourites such as Alex (Charlie in the upper hand) and Aunt Rachel (Dorean in Birds of a feather)whom we witness in new yet very fitting roles. This Soap/drama has something for almost everyone, the almost being not the older age bracket (50+ sorry).To sum this soap/drama up I would have to say it is a combination of the escapist american shooting to the gritty British realism which has made films such as Lock Stock' and Bridget Jones Diary so popular. The experience is a vicarious ride which to a film student like myself may seem odd in a soap, but incredibally fitting. Written by Sebastian James-Yong

The use of atmospheric popular music, cinematic camerawork and special effects distinguish this "soap", (actually soap belittles NIGHT AND DAY, perhaps serial drama is a better description). Having bored of repetitive plotlines and characters, I'd given up on British soaps, until this one arrived. Off-beat characters, regular and genuine cliff-hanger endings to episodes, even adult content in the omnibus repeats, all add up to a unique approach to a formerly hackneyed genre. The opening intrigue of the series alludes to TWIN PEAKS in that the femme fatale of the neighbourhood is a blonde schoolgirl who touches many lives before shuffling off...

All of which is good enough to keep this viewer hooked.

Night & Day is a BRILLIANT, ORIGINAL, GROUNDBREAKING TV series, which has mostly been badly treated by TV executives and it never reached high ratings, but has gained a cult following. It certainly isn't for those who only look for some lighthearted fun, who don't like to use their brain and imagination too much while watching TV, or for those who only like documentary style realism, or cannot take anything that is different from the things they are used to see. But I find it incredible that anyone can call the series bad or complain about the acting. NAD's trademark use of fantasy scenes, visions, flashbacks, great background music, weird camera angles and cinematography, its occasional weird humour and campiness, and literary and religious allusions, are very daring, but brilliant. But IMO everyone should be able to appreciate the great writing, strong story lines, complex and dynamic characters (in the sense that they all show different sides to them and undergo big transformations which are however always psychologically true) and fantastic acting, especially by (in no particular order) Georgina Walker (Jane), Stephanie Leonidas (Della), Seb Castang (Josh) and Nick Schofield (Ryan) out of the young cast, and Sally Dexter (Natalie), Cathy Tyson (Steph), Joe McGann (Alex) and the hilariously funny Lesley Joseph (Rachel) out of the older cast. The series kept getting better and better, and the ending was so strong and moving that it left me thinking about it for months and months afterwards.

RATING: 11/10

Strange how this oddly understated show divides opinion so violently. I watched the first 20 or so episodes when it was airing several times a week, without quite being drawn into the curiously un-insistent plotlines. The disappearance of the beautiful but unlikeable Jane Harper (Georgina Walker) ought to be an event of considerable drama, but such is the gentle, ambient quality of the show, that even this fails to move the viewer very much. Is this a failing? I'm inclined to give "Night & Day" the benefit of the doubt. When I first saw it I wasn't sure whether it was experimental or just incompetent. I don't think it really matters.

People who like quick development of plotlines are urged to stay away! "Night & Day" unfolds at a glacial pace. It was probably inevitable, in the light of this, that it would be reduced to one episode a week. This seems less an ignominious concession, and more a realisation on the part of the programme's makers of its natural tempo.

Some viewers will also be irked by the difficulty of establishing who the central character is. Initially Della, Jane's shy friend, seemed to occupy this role, but as the show has continued this would seem to be less the case.

On balance, I find the show likeable. Its lack of urgency, its ambient, dreamy quality, and its evocation of a quiet London (which still exists in pockets here and there) mark it out as unusual in a TV world where noise, incident and naturalism are the norm.