Compulsion

A bleak opening with Jenny (Leanne Best) contemplating suicide by train due to gambling-induced financial problems. During a panic attack onboard, recently bereaved Sasha (Anna Chancellor) helps her and they strike up a relationship. Things quickly spiral out of control for Jenny and it is unclear whether Sasha is a guardian angel or a psychotic demon.

After episode one, I am torn on this - it is either a tightly-written well-acted psychological thriller with interesting twists or it is whiny derivative drivel of the type we see frequently now. Best and Chancellor are fabulous actresses so I await episode 2 before passing final judgement.

Addendum: Skim watched to the end and it is poor with the worst ending imaginable - rescored from 6* to 4*

I watched this for Anna Chancellor and Haley Mills. Both actors get to really chew the scenery. You can tell they're having a fabulous time. Intentional or not, their scenes play as high camp and I enjoyed their collective screentime. I could watch Anna Chancellor read the phone book. And who wouldn't want to see Haley Mills playing the thug heavy? Fabulous casting against type. Other than that, this four-part series, which could have been two, maybe three episodes (they pad for time with flashbacks throughout of things that happened three to four minutes earlier within the same episode), was a waste of time. The tone was all over the place, even in a single scene. The ever present musical score was absolutely histrionic. Plotholes abound. There is seriously poor writing and exposition all over the place in this one. If the screenwriter wants us to sympathize with a main character going through PTSD and suffering from gambling addiction, you have to give them some redeeming value. You have to show us who they were before they went down this path. There was none of this and I found myself rooting against the protagonist, Jenny (Leanne Best). She is written as a pretty irredeemable human being throughout, even in the ludicrous ending. Anyway, if you are able to watch it where you can fast forward 5 to 10 seconds at a time, it's really the only way to watch episodes 3 and 4. Or you can just skip it all together.

As the title says, it actually wasn't too bad. I'd never seen any advertising or mention of this show until I randomly stumbled across it. The best way to describe it is "okay". I'll admit: there's plot holes and some weirdly unusual scenes where I wonder what a particular character is doing. But, it takes on a unique issue - gambling. Considering that topic isn't widely represented in TV I thought the writers took it on quite well. And, the ending was not the best: it was drawn out and didn't really flow or make sense. Bit of a shame as I thought the ending might redeem the previous episodes. I don't know whether its worth watching - give the first episode a go to see if you like it and go from there.

Having survived a train accident, paramedic Jenny suffers a panic attack on a train, fellow passenger Sasha comes to her aid, the pair strike up a friendship.

Ok, so I'd be lying if I said it didn't have its issues, there are faults, plot holes and some absurd moments, but it is TV, and it deals with an incredibly serious issue, and features some terrific acting.

Leanne Best and Anna Chancellor are both first rate from start to finish, they share some great scenes.

It's very nicely filmed, and looked well produced, unlike recent C5 dramas, it was filmed in The UK, looks like Liverpool.

Nice to see gambling addiction featured in a TV series, it's still a taboo subject, good to see it get some attention.

One of the best dramas to come from Channel 5, Streets ahead of the last few offerings, I really did enjoy it.

7/10.

Its pure escapism and we all need a bit of that sometimes. I don't get why everyone wants tv dramas to be so realistic all the time. A bit of far fetched does you good. There are some brilliant actors in this, Best, Challenor and Mills are great to watch in anything anyway but the storyline is interesting and takes a few twists and turns. The sideline characters had to want becomes a very complex plot and it keeps you guessing who is telling the truth. In parts it could very well happen in real life but yes there are minor inaccuracies and loopholes because it's fiction. Watch it for entertainment value and it will deliver. If you want reality watch a documentary.