The Outsiders

Where do ITV get their script writers from? this could have been an amazing programme! you have Nigel Harman who's brooding good looks and athleticism could have been put to much better use,Brian Cox who is an amazing actor and who can be incredibly menacing when he needs to be, Colin Salmon who can cut a presence in pretty much any scene, and what did you get? dated, boring, drivel....... I haven't got a problem with ITV trying their "star" vehicles, but for pity's sake, use these people as actors rather than purely faces.

The amount of clichés in this - wife dead, daughter unavailable, dying twin sister, eternal life formula blah blah blah - just went to prove that - and I hate to say this being a brit - the Americans do this kind of drama so much better, where were the fight scenes? (counted a couple, not enough for an hour and a half), the graphics when Nathan was hanging out of the helicopter were terrible, and that stupid woman who played his partner? oh please!!!!!!!!!!! Not impressed,not impressed at all, in fact, my boyfriend was so bored by it he went to sleep!!

I saw this tv yrs back loved it-but typical itv1 ib them days axed it,,,abtibe know where i can get a copy or watch again.thx.

What can one say about this vehicle for Nigel Harman. It was acted as well as could be expected with a very lumpy script and cliché ridden plot that seemed to have been lifted from a weekend of watching loads of DVD's from Blockbusters. The undeniable talents of Brian Cox were wasted trying to add weight to very thin dialogue. The characterisation relied too much on narrative, IE: "I know all about your history, you were born in 1962, had went to a convent, felt alienated because you were clever, etc etc." The best element of The Outsiders was the very watchable Anna Madeley who despite also being let down heavily by the writing, manages to shine through with credibility in tact. Despite the downs of the script and direction, it should be noted that this was written as a pilot and as such has to lay a lot of foundations very quickly and so a certain amount of spider blinding should be expected. Suspend disbelief. Leave cynicism outside. Have a glass or ten of wine and enjoy.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Nathan Hyde (Nigel Harman) is ekking out a quiet existence in a remote seaside location as a chef, until he starts talking to an attractive woman in the restaurant. One thing leads to another and they end up in bed- but the woman has been a little devious and before he knows it he's taken hostage by helicopter. It's here we learn that Nathan has a bit of an extraordinary past, as an expert evasion expert. Now an organisation known as The Establishment want him to sneak into an island and retrieve a stolen painting. Nathan's doubts are removed when his daughter's safety comes to rest on it...

Long running British soap opera East Enders has never been renowned for it's stellar acting and has yet to produce a Sean Bean or Ben Kingsley. But that doesn't stop some of it's stars, such as hunky Nigel Harman, from trying to avoid disappearing into the realms of panto land forever and so we have The Outsiders, a distracting but totally unmemorable and rather corny take on the spy/world-wide mega-lomaniac premise. The writer is obviously a fan of the sort of spy thrillers that were about a lot in the 60s and the whole idea seems to have been lifted from one that I don't know the name of (it was spoofed on The Simpsons once!) But in trying to make it appeal to a more modern audience, this ITV production has just managed a campy retro feel rather than a trendy new one. **

Touted as being in the genre of " The Bourne Identity" (and Supremacy), this film had a lot to live up to, but failed miserably. Nigel Harman plays a former spy now running a lobster restaurant. He is seduced into bed, and wakes up chained to it. He is "kidnapped" into going on the very clichéd "one last job". The task is to steal a painting from a very secure place. The idea of this provokes thoughts of a good action thriller, but the film was almost 40 minutes in before any action took place. After 55 minutes I was getting bored, so went for a bath. My wife stuck it out till the end , and assured me that it didn't get any better. Prime time TV? Sorry but this one really did disappoint. What made it worse was the TV guide giving it an unmissable rating. If ITV do screen further episodes (as previous reviewer mentioned), then I may give it a second go, but if it was no better 15 minutes in, I would turn over without question.