The Last Enemy

This is definitely worth watching if you are a fan of George Orwell's famous novel "1984". The series takes on much of the same material and ends in an equally depressing way. So if you are not bothered by the lack of a happy end, go ahead and watch this. Aside from the frustrating story, this does include some fabulous acting, though. Benedict Cumberbatch gave an Oscar-worthy performance. He really did all he could with his - admittedly - rather badly written character, Steven Ezard. It was very hard to emphasize with Steven because he was so unpredictable and not all of the inconsistencies could be chalked up to his mental state. But BC managed to draw you onto his side, at least. The script itself has some confusing dialogue and takes a long time to explain what was actually going on. It's okay that you have to keep guessing who's on what side but the key elements of the story and the main parties should have become clearer a lot sooner. Still, the time to review the series' issue is certainly here. Public surveillance and monitoring of individual citizens is not a distant vision any more like it was for George Orwell. It is very real and present at this date. Just think about smartphones. Or credit cards, bonus club cards,... Let's not even start with CCTV! We really ARE just one small step away from the scenario in this series and that is a system to combine and cross-reference all the data gathered through the various monitoring tools. If something like that would be found you'd be just where "The Last Enemy" begins. So, the series might be founded on frightening fiction that will probably become fact really fast, but it still should have ended on a more uplifting note. I do hope our future is not THAT bleak.

I went to this for Benedict in the first place, but when I finished I found that the story was more exciting. Very good plot, every things were quite confusing in the first few episodes, and I didn't understand the whole thing until the last one. There could be some improvements in the way they delivered the story to make it more clear and intense. You need to be patient to wait for 2 or 3 episodes to get an idea of what's going on because they've been laying too much clues around and not connecting them till the last sec. They also spent quite a few shots on drawing the social background. But towards the end it was irresistible to see where the characters will end up despite their struggles. And at the last few scenes I did get horrid, thrilling feelings that the story tried to create. It made me so disgusted about what's happening in that fictional world and that's why I found this series quite nice.

The cast was good. All actors/actresses were delivering fantastic performances. (And I am more than happy to see what a brilliant job that Benedict did in this).

Overall, don't expect this show will be witty or delighting or full of fun. It followed the George Orwell "1984" and in a sense, dull, but still alarming. In my view it was unnecessarily lengthy, but not intolerable. So if you are after some kind of serious drama on political conspiracies, this one worth a try.

And it is not just because I am Romanian, either. I agree, the series is a bit slow at times; things happen that cannot possibly happen at others. But it is worth watching it till the last episode, which pretty much explains away most of the inconsistencies.

Saying anything about the subject would spoil it, so I'll just say this: I have a friend who despises all corporate or governmental attempts to control the individual. If he would have seen this series, he would have paced nervously the whole time, cursing as he walks.

It is medium budget UK/Romania coproduction about the perils of personal data processing in a not too distant future. Most of the things in the series is possible even now, if they would have more powerful cameras installed and a bunch of software analyzing every bit of data in real time.

Bottom line: definitely worth watching, as one of the few quality series that are also believable, make a point and are also dark not all about how to make the audience comfy in their potato couches. And if Robert Carlyle plays in it, it is a must see.

This five-part mini-series started superbly. A dramatic first episode, full of incident, laid out the main themes and built up the tension. The next two episodes maintained the tension, developing the near-future main storyline about a surveillance society and its impact on citizens. Robert Carlyle appeared (and disappeared), as threatening as only he can be and kept the excitement level high.

But then it faded away. The plots became too convoluted, with too many themes and unresolved or unnecessary twists – notably a scene where Carlyle creeps into a house and downloads a laptop. What was that about? And the final episode was so disappointing – it was as though the writer (Peter Berry) had only enough material for half an episode. So the pace slowed down, the increasingly unconvincing love story took over, with long, lingering and time-wasting glances, and the main surveillance theme sank under the weight of biological, genetic and political extra plots that led nowhere. It could have been a gripping thriller if it had been stripped down to a feature-length film but in the end it only left the feeling that five hours had been wasted. And this is despite excellent performances, particularly by Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Carlyle and Geraldine James - the script could not match their talents.

Now 2 episodes in and this show is really picking up pace. The first episode had the difficult job of setting up this complex story, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It's great to see the BBC make some drama that challenges the viewers in the way that the best American shows do. The plot is complicated but I for one want to know where it's going.

The acting in general is excellent but special praise has to go to Benedict Cumberbatch who plays the socially inept Stephen to perfection. It is also good to hear Robert Carlyle's character get to have his share of dialogue after his silent opening episode as he is such a great screen presence. This is a slow burner, but none the less gripping for that, and I can't wait to find out where it's headed.