The Halcyon

The Halcyon has certainly delivered, it's cleverly written and has brilliant actors - how ANYONE can say that the homosexuality in it is pointless is beyond me when we are talking about an era when it was still illegal! It was beautifully and sensitively written. The characters are brilliant and have great chemistry - here's hoping for a second series!

I liked this from the very beginning. The acting is great, the characters seem real and the story is interesting. An average English series beats anything on network TV. Thank God for the cable channels, Netflix, Amazon, and PBS. I think I watch one network show. The new ones always sound so good but most are complete duds about halfway through the first episode.

Bolstered up by great settings the series is easy to watch but not very demanding. What really annoys me is the obvious lack of research that has gone into the background of the story lines. Its as if the writer has based the plots on two premises, 1. the average watcher is too young to know the facts used are incorrect and 2. the facts don't matter as the whole thing is just a posh version of east enders anyway.

It was clear from the start that reality was out the window (windows that are not bomb shatter proofed I might add) when the mistress of Lord who owns the hotel sat in on a mega secret political/economic meeting and pretty much took over the meeting. Not in unenlightened 1940 she wouldn't have,she would have been lucky to have been seen in public let alone at any meeting other than the women's guild.

It kind of went down from there ,the young lord who inherits the hotel takes every other day off from his fighter squadron to spend the day in bed with his girlfriend at the hotel,well Im sure his mates can handle the German air force. Oh and by the way ,his squadron seems to be made up of pilots from all over the world, one from the Indian sub continent and one from Poland at least, not in a British RAF squadron in 1940 they wouldn't be. The staff officer prejudice at the time meant that even experienced Polish fighter pilots were kept in there own squadron at Northolt and not allowed to engage in fire fights until they took the law into their own hands and proved they could do it What happened to the careful research that used to go into this type of show,how can you relate to a series set in an important historical era when the background is fantasy. It reached the bottom rung last week when four times the hotel staff wished departing guests a safe flight home to the USA. Just how were they going to do that,there were NO passenger flights to the USA at that time!! Even American planes destined for use by the RAF were sent by ship in crates until about 1941.There was only one passenger service prior to 1946 and that was a sea plane from Southampton to New York and that was closed in 1939

Id like to sit back and let the series roll over me as I took a passing interest in it but now I find myself looking for the next glaring mistake, its a pity really as some of the above mistakes would have made good story lines if portrayed correctly

The Halcyon (2017): When I watched the first two episodes of The Halcyon,it felt like the episodes are so dragging and failed impress me.But from the 3rd episode, The Halcyon improved a lot and for the rest of the episodes it did not disappoint with brilliant performances and engaging drama.

Plot: The Halcyon tells the story of a bustling and glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society and a world at war. The drama, set in 1940, shows London life through the prism of war and the impact it has on families, politics, relationships and work across every social strata - set to a soundtrack of the music of the era .

What I felt: The major highlight of The Halcyon is the stunning performances from the cast especially Hermione Corfield as Emma Garland.I don't know whether this coincidence is meant to happen but Hermione is may fav character name from Harry Potter and now the lady with the same name gave a charming performance in Halcyon.She is absolutely stunning and she is the main reason for me to watch this series.

Steve Mackintosh,Matt Ryan and Olivia Williams also deserve the applause for their striking performances.

Music of the series really brought up the mood of the 1940's.Opening song is very good..("Raining Down" track) Even though all the episodes are engaging,most of them move in the predictable manner.They have added all the necessary clichés like a Triangle Love Story,A dark past for an important role,a cunning person,a homosexual love and even a Negro-White love.

But still the stunning performances and cinematography never bore us and the ending of Season 1 is very good as we all care for all the characters and their next phase in life after such huge shock.

So,The Halcyon may have a slow start and highly predictable flow but still it makes a good watch with terrific performances especially Corfield.

My rating 7.5/10

I really enjoyed the series: the beautiful sets and costumes, the outstanding music and the stellar cast!

The Halcyon gets better and better each episode with great characters and interesting story lines. If you like period dramas, you're in for a treat!

Let's hope there will be a season 2 :)