Our Girl

Considering her annoying family, a cheating boyfriend and worthless friends, being in danger of getting blown up every day probably doesn't seem like such a bad move for Ms Dawes. And indeed, this whole enterprise might as well be bankrolled by the army... the camaraderie and discipline she has in the force is in stark contrast to her pitiful existence back home, where no-one likes her and every day is a drudging chore. In fact, it looks like so much fun, can I enlist? (What do you mean, spare tyre?!)

Joking aside though, by far the best parts of this BBC film are those when she's at training camp blossoming from a smart-mouthed little girl with issues... to a smart mouthed-little girl with issues, and a great big gun. Her friendships with her commanding officer and a fellow recruit who has self esteem issues are touching on a few levels, and Lacey Turner's performance as the feisty 18 year old is out of this world.

Les convincing though, is her time spent back in Newham, as her father is an irredeemable caricature of every child's worst nightmare, and her boyfriend is such a lying, manipulative sack of... manure, you wonder how such a smart girl like Molly ever hooked up with such a piece of... dirt. AND her lifelong mates turn on her at the drop of a hat. It's not very logical, and drives down the realism in the rest of the film. Still, it does pack a punch... and the poignant ending will leave you with a lump in your throat. Or maybe, I should try swallowing harder? 6/10

Within minutes this had me gripped. So well written and such emotion portrayed from Lacey Turner. Incredibly well put together and along with series one of Our Girl - a brilliant watch.

Our Girl started as a one off film written by Tony Grounds before it was developed by the BBC as a regular television series.

Lacey Turner is Molly Dawes, a teenager in Newham, living in an overcrowded house with her siblings. Mum (Kerry Godliman) is pregnant again, Dad (Sean Gallagher) is a bit of a layabout and an unpleasant racist and sexist of the east end type.

Molly's boyfriend is a young Muslim who also is another worthless individual who easily cheats on her and really does not value her.

So Molly who looks like a bright girl, seems to already have a life which is taking her nowhere with people who are just shiftless. Molly ends up joining the army which gives her life purpose and self esteem.

The problem is her family and boyfriend are left befuddled by her decision.

However basic training allows her to turn her life around and give her life renewed purpose as she makes new friends and finds out that it is better to help out fellow recruits rather than be a put upon babysitter at home.

The series started out with a lot of grittiness of inner London domestic life. Lacey Turner puts in a convincing performance as Molly and it is a refreshing positive portrayal of army life, not sure whether it is very realistic vision of army life and does felt a bit like propaganda as well.

Yet the film was better than the subsequent series in my opinion and at least it offered a positive note that a person can have the courage of their convictions to turn their life around.

Molly Dawes lives with her father, mother and multitude of siblings in a working class area of London. She's just turned 18 but instead of a feeling of euphoria all she sees is problems. Her boyfriend is unfaithful, she doesn't like her job and her father is a deadbeat. So she decides to join the Army.

A movie-length first episode of the series, so don't expect any nice neat resolutions or Hollywood endings. It's reasonably good without being great. We see Molly's background, which is a bit of a drag. This part seems quite predictable and seems to just delay the inevitable.

Once she's in the Army the film gets much more interesting as we see her having to make decisions regarding her future and having to adapt to Army life. There's a few overly neat and convenient plot developments but it's pretty good, good enough for me to stick with the series.

I Wasn't a fan of series 1 of Our Girl, didn't like Lacy Turner as lead and didn't like the way the story progressed throughout the first series so when I heard it was coming back for a second season I was going to give it a miss until I heard Michelle Keegan was to take up the lead role so I decided to give it a chance and I am glad I did.

Keegan knocks it out of the park and then some. Series 2 will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you like War drama's and high adrenaline rushes then Our Girl series 2 is for you.

Keegan's performances have seriously surprised me transitioning from Soap to a Drama is never easy and she has something in her arsenal that Turner was missing. I love Our Girl now and will be watching every episode from now on. Eyes glued to set. Love it.