The Castaways

It's like if Neighbours and Lost had a love child. There isn't much more to say about it than that. The only difference being that Lost started good and ended poorly. This just started mid and stayed there. I guess Sheridan Smith got a free holiday out of this, it's certainly not her best work. It's definitely best to suspend disbelief on this one, don't expect anything from it and you might end up enjoying it or at the very least enduring it for the occasional bit of good story. Apparently I need to use six hundred characters for this review but there just isn't any more to say. So I'll leave it there.

I stumbled upon the book and finished reading it a couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed it. So when I got the Christmas radio times and stumbled across the interview with Sheridan I was quite excited to learn that a tv series was launching Boxing Day and had high hopes for it.... Unfortunately, It's badly written, badly directed and has deviated away from the original story line; huge mistake! I'm pretty shocked that the talented Sheridan Smith took this one on. I can only assume that she owed someone a favour or lost a bet when accepting the part. Not at all worth viewing. I lost count at the amount of times I had to flick my eyes back to the front of my head. It's utter crap!

And you will not be dissapointed.

If however you would think it will show similar struggle to survive, you will be hugely dissapointed. There is almost nothing about this, how to settle on a deserted island with no human presence at all. From one part to another there are huts, they know how to fish, they have food and water, although complaining it is not sufficient.

Of course setting is fantastic, nature itself is worth watching.

The plot is very unrealistic and sometimes ridiculous, but the scale of it is not more, than in an average criminal story.

Acting is average and uneven. I am afraid Sheridan Smith is not convincing at all. The best of the cast is Lasarus Ratuere.

So, if it rains and you have already walked your dog, make yourself a nice cup of tea and relax watching this beautiful island.

Tbis popped up on boxing day and seemed intriguing. It started of ok then became a chick flick and lost all senses. A terrible show with plenty of plot holes and annoying acting by both main characters.

I can't understand how the director or author thought to proceed with such stupidity in the discovery of the whereabouts, there was nothing intelligent about this and it seems to underestimate the IQ of the audience.

The final scenes also dragged, I found myself forwarding a lot of it as I'd already committed, but they just became annoying and it turned from a thriller into a full on chick flick. I would not recommend this and encourage you to save your time.

The scathing reviews of this show are a bit over-the-top I must say. It's not that bad, in fact, I would even go as far as to say its good. Not brilliant by any stretch, but at less than 5 hours in total, it's decent enough to waste away an evening or two with some mindless escapism. Now I haven't read the book, nor was I aware of it's existence until now, so this review is based on being standalone and will not be compared to the literature.

The story interchanges between "then", which is about Lori, who is stranded on an uninhabited island following a plane crash. And "now", which follows her sister Erin, a journalist who's obsession with finding Lori has understandably taken over her life. Months have passed since the plane fell from the sky and marooned a handful of survivors on the island and over the course of the story we learn that there are several survivors who have a good reason to never be found. Things go missing, mystery traitors sabotage progress, and despite apparently being a team, the isolated group start to turn on each other until the now and then catch up with each other as we enter the climax of the story. All along the way, Erins investigation drives the plot and reveals the secrets of the past.

There's nothing here that is groundbreaking, the dialogue can be iffy but the actors mostly play their parts well and the mystery elements keep you guessing throughout. The main downside for me was the little things that take the realism away. They settle in to life on a desert island remarkably easily, with little struggle and are mostly perfectly presented throughout. No sunburn or tanning to be seen, never do we see them struggle for food or water and the rate they seem to learn how to twine, thatch and build from the islands limited resources is quite remarkable.

That all being said, the story and mystery is entertaining enough to make this worth a watch, even if you do have to suspend your disbelief sometimes and ignore the odd plot hole. As long as you don't go in expecting Emmy worthy television and are prepared for some mindless entertainment, then you won't be disappointed.

6/10.