SeaChange

I got hooked on Seachange halfway through the first series, so I had to go and buy the whole set just so I could watch it all. I identify with "Miranda" and my mum is so very similar to "Laura". I adore the series now, and can't wait for the third installment. The characters range from very smart to quite stupid, and all are very funny. The best bit is that most situations are very realistic. Not all, and not always, but most.

I recommend it to anyone and everyone!

I've watched three episodes of the new Sea Change and I'm enjoying it in its own context, and not relating it back twenty years and attempting to see a seamless connection. The connection is there but time has interrupted the flow. Some original characters and there but older, while some have gone and others have grown up to be played by new actors. It's wonderful to see Sigrid Thornton, John Howard, Kerri Armstrong and Kevin Harrington still bumbling around Pearl Bay, and the addition of the talented Brooke Satchwell, Kate Lister, and a number of others, has injected new blood into the narrative and it has worked very well. I can't see Season 4 sweeping all the television awards handed out every year, but for me it hits the spot and the absence of serial killers, drug addicts and chronic depression are omissions from the plot I'm enjoying while I can.

SeaChange is a rare and wonderful show that takes the viewer into the fictional, yet oddly familiar, town of Pearl Bay, where once you are there you never want to leave. The characters in the show are very real and are not unlike people you would meet in your everyday life. This is due to the fantastic casting of each of the characters, especially the leads, (Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham and William McInnes). With each new problem, and it always is a problem with Laura, Thornton plays the part wonderfully with alternating waves of pure joy and crippling sadness. McInnes also does a fabulous job as Max. Although I doubted whether McInnes and the character of Max would be anywhere near as good as Diver Dan, I am happy to say however, that my doubts were not at all an issue. He was fantastic! McInnes was a delight to watch whilst acting Max's character with his skeptic, hard exterior to his very soft and caring interior. Diver Dan however, played by Wenham, was a perfect character who was terribly hard not to fall in love with. From his great humour to raw emotional scenes Wenham is extremely compelling as the laid-back Diver Dan.

The brilliance of SeaChange however is owed to the excellent and flawless writing, principally by Andrew Knight and Deb Cox. With memorable lines in every episode to the exciting and hilarious structure of each episode, SeaChange makes for incredibly enjoyable viewing. The Kevin and Trevor scenes are often so ridiculous they are funny. This is especially the case in the Season 3 episode with Kevin's anecdote about his fear of ping-pong balls. It sent me into fits of uncontrollable laughter. The magic of the writing in SeaChange is also evident in many episodes when the character story relates to the court case Laura is currently judging.

SeaChange has a mysterious quality that makes the viewer feel as if they are part of the abstract town and that also it matters to them what is going on with Laura's relationships with Dan and Max.

The best TV-show ever made in Australia and it is highly likely nothing will ever rival this absolute golden series.

Set in a small coast side town of Eastern Australia, Seachange follows Laura Gibson and her strange family... well, they seem that way, but they are more truthful than a strange interpretation of the Aussie family... Performances to look for are Sigrid Thorton and David Wehnam in the lead roles and in the supporting cast, I loved the ditsy, but kind hearted couple of Angus (Tom Long) and Karen (Kate Atkinson) and their lines such as "We're on a break from our break." Phrani was great too. "You are like the great god ganisha, except you don't have the head of an elephant and the body of fat little indian man" Hilarious stuff!!

This is a gem of a series, just perfectly put together, and - that rare thing - something which knew when to stop, so there is no tailing off, just a glorious and appropriate finish. It's funny, clever, warm and beautiful, and every character is perfectly cast, from the main players (Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, in later seasons William McInnes) through to the supporting cast (Tom Long and John Howard are standouts, but they're all good). As time goes on there are 'in-jokes' and things to look out for, such as the short exchanges between Kevin and his son at the end of every episode, and the viewer feels a part of this wonderful and quirky community. It's scandalous (but not really surprising, I suppose) that Australia is known overseas by shows like Neighbours and Home and Away, and this wonderful piece of art has not yet received due recognition. I live in hope!!

:D