The Couple Next Door

Man, with most of the cast this had so much potential. I knew Sam Heughan and Elinor Tomlinson from the few episodes of, "Outlander" that I have seen, so I was on board. Plus the title made it sound intriguing.

Jessica De Gouw is someone I have seen but, she didn't have that instant name recognizability to me, but funnily enough played the best character of this tale.

The story is basically a new couple moves in across the street, from De Gouw and Heughan who are married. They all become closer and "swinging" is in the mix.

Alfred Enoch plays "Pete" who is married to Tomlinson, and boy, is this the worst acting or character briefs he was given with the roll, but by minute seven of a 6 episode series, he is detestable. You couldn't root for him if you tried hard. Props to Hugh Dennis as the creepiest neighbor you've ever come in contact with.

This could been decent at 4 episodes. Still, not bad. It's a good one to watch if you have a lot of laundry to fold.

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.

I was looking forward to this series and couldn't wait to see what it had to offer due to the exciting trailers. At first I was not disappointed as there was a sizzling buildup- however sub plots began to develop which left me wondering where this was all going. The problem was the sub plots didn't really go anywhere or have anything to to with the main event. Then we had to make some huge leaps in suspension of disbelief as it soon becomes absurd. All in all a good start but it could have been much better if the plot had been focused and not all over the place. So I'm afraid I feel a little disappointed.

I only finished this show because maybe, maybe it will take a turn for the better. No. It actually takes a turn for the worse. Really bad script, all over the place direction and poor production values. Acting? Not so great either. Eleanor Tomlinson is greatly miscast. Sam Heughan takes his shirt off so I guess he'd done the part he was hired for. Jessica De Gouw and Alfred Enoch are adequate, though not sure why they accepted to be in this.

Instead of airing this atrocity maybe Starz should have bought the original Dutch series Nieuwe Buren. This one is a big fail. Save your time and watch something else.

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.