The Children

Very cleverly written plot that slowly delves into the chaos of divorce and the round-about relationships that follow. Step-children become the flotsam as they get jettisoned.

The characters develop into very selfish and brutal players in their self/centred game. By the time the ending arrives - you're well on the way to not caring! Except for Jack the troubled fourteen year old. Even though the actor turns in at about seventeen, he brings a sweet tenderness to the confused son.

However, the ending is extremely lazy and simply does not reward the viewer for sitting through three hours.

Some difficult issues handled quite well but I found the non-sequential nature of action annoying more than confusing and any programme that repeatedly cuts in slow motion action of any kind is irritating; in this case a child falling back onto glass, indicating that the programme was being dragged out to fill the time available. I am old-fashioned, I just want them to tell the story. Good acting, good characters and the ending leaves you guessing but I feel it could have been better.