Hostage

I highly anticipated this series because of Suranna Jones.

How sorry I am that, even she fails to reach her usual level of acting in this horrible written series.

What were they thinking? Did they think that the viewer is too stupid to recognize a dreadful script? Too many completely unrealistic storylines and bad acting make me advise you to stay away from this...complete waste of time.

Did I hate it? No. Would I watch it again? Also no. Nothing really wrong with the show, and it kept me interested enough to see it through. That said, when under review, it really falls apart in an amateurish way. Too many wild plot twists and gaps that felt rushed and uninspired. The ridiculous number of security breaches and oversights made British and French intelligence agencies look like Scooby-Doo. A few characters like the PM's daughter, were incessantly annoying and didn't add anything to the story. I didn't mind the political threads, but they felt tacked on and mostly ended up as red herrings with little connection to the antagonists' actual motives.

All that said, it still managed to entertain me. It's not a show anyone will be talking about for weeks to come, but it's worth a watch if you've got a free night to binge something.

What to say about this, sounds good on paper but so poor in execution.

Many, many 'surely that's not the way that would be done' moments but the standout for me by far was the team of French Special Forces apparently being transported in an Apache AH64...clearly a 2 seater helicopter...which the French don't use. Just lazy production.

It's rare that I find a plots outcome hard to predict but this one took me by surprise. Yes, it's not entirely believable that the 'kidnappers' could have managed everything they did but you have to give the writers some poetic license every now and again or we'd have come very boring programmes out there. Could not fault the acting. Every single person was superb and the supporting actors really shone in this series. The length was just perfect too. Didn't drag it out. Story progression was really natural. Great mix of political drama, thriller, and action. Just the right amount of all.

Having read a 4* review by Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Save yourself the time: it's soap opera territory, with more holes than a piece of swiss cheese.

I like Suranne Jones, but the plot and the script are so lightweight, and spectacularly predictable.

I really struggled to stay awake.