Flowers

Dark, seemingly depressing too at first. However, the masterful use of the surreal and the perverse is a delight. This is Olivia Coleman at her very best, playing a wife suppressing so much turmoil that she's plainly the more troubled of the couple - in spite of Julian Barrett's superb portrayal of a suicidal husband. The addition of two deeply troubled but intriguingly bizarre "children" (living at home at 25) makes for even better viewing. Each twist of the story and development of the plot leaves me all the more enraptured - rare indeed in any TV comedy.

This is the sort of TV that only gets made when TV commissioners stop thinking about viewing figures and pandering to the hoi polloi , and instead go for something profound and amusing. The BBC should really be in the vanguard of such things, but they're always too busy in internal politics and demographical soul-searching these days. Thank the Good Lord for Channel 4.

I'm not sure if this was written specifically with Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt in mind - but they are utterly brilliant and perfect for their roles.

Dealing with dark themes throughout but in an uplifting way that I can't begin to explain, there are crazy surreal moments, tones of infinite sadness, rhythms of tragedy, but also creepy awkwardness and plenty of laughs as well.

The whole story is brilliantly written and directed, and Will Sharpe is an inspiration. I'm speechless at how good this is. Drop whatever you are doing and what the whole thing in one go.

Series One:

Bleak black humour at it's brilliant best, the first season of Flowers is absolutely wonderful. It is a very dark comedy that will not be appreciated by everyone, it's the type that the British do very well, but if this is what you're into it'd be difficult to find something better.

Firstly, casting is simply brilliant. Barratt is simply fantastic in his role as the struggling father, you feel for him constantly and his attempts to spare his family his pain. Coleman, as always, is perfect as the starkly contrasting wife, and the twins each fit into the disfunctional family excellently. Each main character has their own arc and develop well in the space of a few short episodes. The growth is often, if not always, in a dark light, but the laughs throughout are plenty.

Sharpe clearly wrote himself the most lovable character as Shun, the Japanese illustrator who'd do anything for the Flower family. A brilliant source for jokes, or light relief from heavy subjects, it's impossible not to like him. However, when it comes to his own demons, these are by far the most powerfully emotional, simply brilliant.

The additional character of 'George' seemed unnecessary, it's an outlandish personality yes but just so dislikeable. He and ' Abigail' didn't truly bring anything to the show, they interlinked with a couple of the arcs but really nothing important. However this would be my only critism, the visuals, dialogue, and everything else were perfect.

Series One: 9/10

Series Two:

Where did it all go wrong? The second series is just infinitely worse as it loses any sense of humour, or emotion, or relatability. Focus switches heavily to 'Amy', who was a great character in the first series. This time around, it's just too heavy and dives so far into lunacy that it loses any sense of comedy. The Baumgaetner arc is dull and pointlessly surreal, and wastes so much time that it's almost as if the other characters' developments no longer matter, which is a shame because 'Donald' gets given another dimension.

Acting wise there can still be no complaints, but the weird sense of relation you may have gained with each character is lost here. Laughs come up every so often, but not much. Even 'Shun' is taken away, as he turns to drink. I imagine this could have been a really great story if the surrounding context was better in any way, the same could be said for 'Maurice'. The series does ditch the previously pointless characters, but they are replaced to a lesser extent.

In all fairness the final two episodes are better, particularly the last, which is beautiful. But this is only because it's more of a prequel/flashback, and the emotion and innocence of Shun is explored.

However, it's disappointing that Flowers turned out so differently in the second season, no element of comedy was there. The ending is lovely in a way, but I'm not sure it makes up for the rest.

Series Two: 6/10

If you are looking for something different, that is at the same time funny, bizarre and sad - then this is for you. I found myself shaking my head, crying and laughing out loud, sometimes in one single scene. While dealing with multiple issues including severe depression, the writer draws you into the lives of the characters. Where in the first episode you feel some annoyance with them, as the story develops, you develop a sense of sympathy and understanding towards each of the characters. I was so impressed by Will Sharpe that I looked him up and will make and effort to see more of his work. Truly a brilliant mind in my opinion and I have to add that it was as if the parts were written for these particular actors. However as per some of the other reviews, it is not for everybody.

"Flowers" is dark, funny, poignant, and smart. A terrible beauty. I couldn't look away, and couldn't stop watching until I'd finished the entire series in a single sitting.

Will Sharpe's superb writing is brought to life by an equally superb cast of actors who give stunning performances. Barratt and Coleman in serious roles are a revelation. Sophia Di Martino and Daniel Rigby are convincingly fragile, but still relatable and even likable. Sharpe's acting is as powerful as his writing, adopting the role of Shun -- the Japanese glue barely holding this broken English family together.

"Flowers" is easily some of the best television I've seen, and I'll be following Sharpe's career with great interest.