The Replacement

Okay, to be fair, I'm only two-thirds through, but already I'm rooting against the protagonist Ellen and for the supposed antagonist Paula. Ellen is a super annoying and passive aggressive Karen who stalks & sabotages her co-workers. Despite appearing completely incompetent at her job, her superiors fawn over-- does her husband (who she treats like sh-i-te). She suddenly gets pregnant and discovers the value of playing the new mom/baby card to get all the attention and manipulate people. Who's to say what will be revealed in the final episode, but something pretty bad needs to be revealed about Paula to make me hate her more Ellen.

It's basically a story about toxic femininity and women turning against each other at work. Not far away from reality in certain ways.

This production could have been a ten. A complex tale about a replacement professional being hired to cover, for a senior Architect, in a small practice.

As the story progresses, you become hooked, and are left guessing about every major character. There is quality tension, in more than a few scenes, and unlike some dramas a more restrained type of shock hits you, which is far more effective. Vicky McClure is simply superb, and i could watch her all day, as my wife equally agreed. Unfortunately Morven Christie, and Richard Rankin, were not as eye catching. One can find faults in the story line, but it entertained us both, and was enjoyable viewing. I bet Hitchcock would loved to direct this tale. The ending could have been so much better, and in dramas like this, having rather different or even sinister closure, would make it far more memorable. I also think there is plenty of room for this type of work, and even wonder if writers consult with genuine drama lovers, as to how to get the best out such stories. Reading complete reviews of this is risky, simply do what we did, and enjoy it.

This was creepy in a sociopath kind of way, the ending was perfectly ok and I really enjoyed it. I have no idea why some people are bagging it.

Thank you to the reviewer who said ignore the negative reviews and watch it. Really good.

The great thing about TV in this day and age is that sometimes a show comes from nowhere and grabs peoples attention. In 2017 this show did that.

With a good premise and a cast that you've likely seen in lots of other things this show brightened up dreary spring evenings with its quick turns and obsession based plot.

We need intelligent TV shows like this, and on free to watch stations, rather than buried away on Netflix. I'm sure in time more people will find this on IPlayer/DVD and see what a good show it was.

It's a shame that there won't be a series 2.

I really enjoyed this thriller. A slick, gripping, engaging three part drama which develops well, before a dramatic, albeit unusual conclusion.

Beautifully acted, the two main players Morven Christie (Ellen) and Vicky McClure (Paula) are excellent, bouncing off one another brilliantly, as you watch you get a true sense of awkwardness, almost loathing between the pair, the body language was expertly done.

McClure is always the good guy, moral, but here she has a killer smile, beautiful but deadly. Well acted all round, Dougray Scott, Siobhan Redmond etc, but it's the two lead actresses that shine.

The first two episodes are great, if a little padded at times, the third is definitely bonkers, and came in for a lot of criticism, but I enjoyed it, after two hours of meaningful stares they needed to do something different, and that they certainly did.

The finale wasn't what I was expecting, I had a different conclusion in my mind altogether, but I applaud it for being bold, too often you watch a drama which contains a flat conclusion, not here.

8/10, really enjoyed.