Land Girls

The series is well acted. The complaint here about "cliches" is itself one. Look up the history and look it up from first-person, eye-witness research. The events are based on real-life experiences and the protagonists being women should not frighten away legitimate historians who understand the time period and the sacrifices British women had to endure. The shape of the events are far closer to real history than some of the bleating-heart (not a typo) critics imagine. Yes, it is a soap opera. That was a given, by the way, to anyone who started watching it. But the position of women in Britain during the war and the dynamics that could and did occur are a part of history that also shapes the future for that society. For that focus, alone the series deserves respect. If the negative critics of this series are Americans, they can be forgiven for their ignorance. If the critics are British, they can only be apologists for the behavior of officials who had totally lost their moral bearings.

Well, despite what has been written I thought this was a smashing little series, or three. It is a bit 'soapy' but I don't like soaps yet I like this. It does lean on sentimentality, but in my opinion not too much. More than anything it's a character study, where few characters are either all good or all bad. Mark Benton provides the comic relief and it's something he expertise's in. It does stand as a drama though, the trials and tribulations of a set of decent women in an harrowing time. I've just watched it daily on bbc, and have felt cheer for the characters at a personal time where I need something to believe in. The acting is excellent, the story lines strong. It can be disappointing when characters or actors drop out between series'. But I presume that's a testament in itself. As with all wartime dramas (as opposed to war dramas) it shows the best of British resolve. All I know is, when good things happen to the main characters I feel glad, and when bad things happen I feel sad. And if a drama manages that, it's more than halfway home.

This series is repeating on The BBC. Whilst watchable it is ultimately a bit silly with very little farming to be seen. Ultimately if their efforts were replicated throughout the nation everyone would have starved

This program has very fine actors doing their best with woefully inferior scripts. Every character is a stereotype of others we have seen before. Time and time again they behave stupidly in order to advance the plot and intensify the false sense of drama. Sorry, but it just rings hollow and false. There are precious few honest steps taken through the course of "Land Girls." Instead, the audience is manipulated, often with the use of modern PC sensibilities. I have forced myself to watch all fifteen episodes, and it has not been an easy chore. The scripts of Dominique Moloney, Dale Overton, Paul Matthew Thompson, Jude Tindall, Joy Wilkinson, and even series creator Roland Moore fall flat, dumbed down to the shallowest of viewers.

And then, in the midst of all this mediocrity, there comes a single brilliant episode that shows what might have been. Rob Kinsman has written a terrific script for "The Enemy Within," which is episode 3 of series 3. Here the dialogue crackles with intelligence. Suddenly, we are confronted with real people, not television templates. After watching "The Enemy Within," I thought perhaps "Land Girls" had finally found its stride. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Back to the same old predictability we go, and our patience is tested by stupid characters behaving stupidly. Clearly, this production should have hired Rob Kinsman from the start and stayed with him for the entire run. Then they might have really had something to be proud of. As it is, all too often the result is embarrassingly bad.

I tried, I wanted to live this but the script is just awful. I don't know if the "Yanks" are really American but the accents are horrible. The real Land Girls deserve a lot better than this.