The Couple Next Door

I would watch paint dry if it featured Sam Heughan and I am keen to support any movie or series he stars in. He is a solid actor and nice to look at--a good combination in my books.

Equally, Eleanor Tomlinson is great to watch. She brings a breath of fresh air to any role.

Discovering that these two actors were cast together in The Couple Next Door, I noted the date in my calendar and counted down the days. I was excited.

And really, the anticipation was the best part of this series. To me it just didn't strike the right note and some parts of the storyline just didn't work for me. Sometimes a point was laboured (yes, I got that...move on) and other times the characters just, well, didn't stay in character.

I am disappointed. Hopefully Sam will be cast in a role that matches his talent in the future.

To be honest, it's not my type of series, although I decided to watch it because the English ones are usually pretty good. To start, the location confused me a lot, it seems like a good suburban neighborhood in America because of the materialism and the manners of the neighbors. Don't get me wrong, I'm just saying it as a compliment, for the English of course.

The first episode left me wanting more, and I just watched it until the end, it has something that hooks you. It is entertaining and exciting at various times, the police investigation and the religious theme kept me very intrigued. And just to make things a little more interesting, Becka is being stalked by Alan, a neighbour, the actor Hugh Denis, whom I mention and highlight for his excellent work, is the best performance in the series.

I didn't see any type of betrayal or secrets between the couples, the two participate in the sexy game, and later the psychopathic evolution of Evi, who is always laughing, is well done, but the continuous and annoying smile almost becomes a pantomime of a diabolical doll.

Like many other series, many of the decisions made are not at all realistic, and the ending, even so being very exciting, exceeds psychopathy and radical religious positions that never lead to anything good.

This short series may not be epic, but it remains watchable and exciting, offering a mix of entertainment and moments that really engage.

Normally wouldn't watch something with an IMDb rating of less than 7 unless there's a cracking cast as was the case in the couple next door. The acting was excellent, and I didn't even mind Sam Heughan slipping back into his Scottish accent. The thing that absolutely threw me was the location. It's all I could think about. By no stretch of the imagination could you find a housing estate anywhere in the UK that resembles the one in the show purporting to be in Leeds! I mean, who on earth would have awnings in Leeds, no offence, but there's just not the weather - talking of which - did the director not know it's always cold and rains most of the time?

The only reason I don't give this one star is because it's so bad it's almost entertaining.

Slow boring story with terrible acting set in an eternally warm, sunny, tropical location that's apparently in Leeds.

There is one attempt at a Yorkshire accent but Joey Tribiani could do a better job.

It also seemed to be filmed with 80s soap opera effect.

Nothing erotic about it and a very strange time scale, days, weeks and months seem totally interchangeable.

The more I write the more I wonder if this is in fact actually a very clever comedy that I just don't get

Hugh Dennis was the only saving grace but even that was touch and go - non pun intended.

I notice there are some 10/10 reviews here. Well it's Hardly in the same league as Line Of Duty! It's a totally ridiculous story of a middle class suburban neighbourhood, that starts when a young attractive couple move in to one of the houses. They become friends with a couple across the road and this leads to a an affair and it all starts to kick off, especially when a creepy resident from across the road played nicely by Hugh Dennis starts spying on them through a telescope.

There are several other sub plots along the way including corrupt police, diamond smuggling and a local online paper trying to catch a major criminal.

To be fair they cram hell of a lot in these six episodes and it moves along at such a fast pace you don't stop to think how daft the plot is. 6/10.