The Trouble with Maggie Cole

I imagine there are a few towns across UK (and the world) where situations like this would/could happen. While some of the storylines a questionable, the cast are very well placed and enjoyable to watch - with Gwyneth Keyworth stealing the show with her dry delivery. Pleasantly surprised by the number of days of sunshine this town receives. ;)

Words have a powerful impact, as Maggie Cole finds out when she gives a frank and explicit interview on the local radio, where she discusses the locals. Maggie quickly falls out with everyone, and must spend her time building bridges.

It's a bit of a slow burner, but as it develops it really does come to life, the first episode is great, and you're left with no idea the direction it's going to take. Stick with it, as the last few episodes are incredibly rewarding, and very dramatic.

There is a definite Doc Martin vibe running through this, the setting and tone etc, but it is different.

French and Heap are very good throughout, showing they can do drama on the more serious side, the laughs are supplied by Vicki Pepperdine, who is just a joy as Secretary Karen.

If you need to know how harmful gossip can be, just watch this.

Very enjoyable, 8/10.

As an American, I found this short series to be very intriguing and enjoyable. To me, the acting by all was uniformly excellent. Each actor/actress developed a unique character who was fascinating to watch as the story unfolded. Dawn French in particular. There are plenty of twists and turns as the six episodes proceed, and while there is drama, there is also some wonderful humor - and, hey, that's the way real life is most of the time, isn't it? In the United States, we rarely get to see a series like this - most of our tv is flash and trash or special effects with comic book superheroes. But, here, we see real life in a small town and how it can be thrown off balance by one careless citizen. The production values are top notch (the scenery is terrific), the direction is excellent, and the writing is smart and clever. The final episode alone is worth the trip. One of the best series conclusions I have ever seen. Really well done by all.

In isolation at home and flicking through ITV hub I came across a Dawn French show I wasn't aware of, wasn't initially sure why this had passed me by.

However, halfway through the first episode I realised why none of my friends and the media had been talking about this show. Extremely poor writing. Are there no good writers out there anymore?

I struggled to get to episode 4 and then just had to give up.

Sorry Dawn I love you, but most certainly don't love this! This is truly another failure for ITV.

Whilst we're meant to be in a golden age of TV, ITV continue to produce rubbish like this, full of cliche characters, badly written dialogue and set in a 1990s world where every teenager is an ASBO, every marriage is on the rocks, every foreigner is treated with disdain. It's like a Brexit version of Broadchurch, only without the humour, drama or interest.

It is painfully slow. The writing is a mess, neither funny enough to be a comedy, nor dramatic enough to be a drama. It's wallpaper TV. What a waste of talent on screen, what a mess from those behind the camera.