This Town

I'm not really sure why was the promoted about the 2-Tone record label and the Ska music movement of 1979-81. 2-Tone was massive for those two glorious years of fantastic music thanks to the legend Jerry Dammers. However this series has nothing at all to do with 2 Tone, a few Trojan tracks a few tracks from The Selecter and that's it, I was expecting more about the legendary era.

This drama is OK in itself, a good watch, not fantastic but a good watch none the less but it's more about the IRA troubles of the time which to be honest I think most people would rather forget.

The other side of the story is about the band they are trying to form and to be honest they would have got no where, no talent there like there was in the actual 2-Tone bands where the music is still loved today some 40 years on.

Personally I think they dropped the ball on this one, it should have been 100% about the beginning of 2 Tone and how it affected kids, why they got it to it, how it became so massive, the culture, the music, the fashion and the hot hatch cars of that era, we don't need the IRA.

As another reviewer said, they tried to do too much and failed to do anything. They could have done so much more with the music of the time and they failed. But most of all the original music is terrible. The band as such would never have been popular.

Then they tried to shoehorn the IRA into the show. Great, do an IRA show or do a Two Tone show. Not both. Then they tried to add M Thatchers in to the mix. Add a dollop of soap opera and you end up with an uneven pile of crap.

I did enjoy quite a few parts of this but I would have to be convinced about a second series. More Ska/Two Tone and less IRA.

From the creator of Peaky Blinders Steven Knight.

There are moments when it has a similar feel with some of the dialogue.

Like Peaky Blinders it has a great soundtrack. Once I got into the second and third episodes I started to really like it, and invested into the characters a lot more. Felt like I was waiting a long time for the development of the band, but plenty of other stories to keep you going until that point. Felt like The Commitments at one point as the band were coming together. A few very good performances from the lead characters, especially Levi Brown & Michelle Dockery, who couldn't have been any further away from the character she played in Downton Abbey.

This just hits the spot. There was such edginess at that time in the 70's/80's, inequality, racism, skinheads, the awful troubles in Ireland, industrial strife and the general failing of society to look after people that needed help. 'This Town' picks bits of that and melts it together in a glorious understanding of it all, with a great core story, fabulous tunes and poetry from the lead actor. He stood so tall he made me feel proud to be British. Please give us more of this raw, untamed, shout out feel good of life. There are stories still to be told. A wonderful TV show. Rock on BBC, you can make great drama.

Wowee. This show is pure class. Loads of authenticacy on the area and its period. Proper working-class boozers promoting the peried tunes of punk and ska and new wave.

A dodgy gangsta club boss which was reminiscent of the time from the Krays as well. Proper nuts stuff which compliments what I read about in their reports from the period but providing a unique twist of its own from the genius mind of Stephen Knight.

It also shows total capitalism and stark poverty; the Tory age was well and truely alive in 1980's Coventry and Birmingham! People being unemploed and people ripping-off the state in disgust and illegal gross capitalism as well.

The record store is just amazing. The sets are perfect. Council estate and the pub is just wow. The attention-to-detail is staggering.

Then there's the script. Oh yes! A really epic drama and incredibly well-written with a LOT of dialogue; fighting and dancing and merriment.

I loved it. It's one of the best dramas the BBC have had in a long time and it has real Shane Meadows' style vibes from the exceptional 'This Is England' series.

I'm astounded by the excellent acting involved and the realistic approach of scripts used for the IRA and the serviceman giving a huge dilemma from the UK Government.

Clothes are great. The set team and art team have done amazing with the the props. I love all the vintage Fred Perry and Sergio Tacchini are on display and proudly-worn!

The Zulus were a notorious Birmingham football gang in the 1980's yet they were from in the late 1980's and I am wondering if this series is a quiet homage to them?!?

Let's talk about the acting! Wow. Lots of talent here. Incredible stuff. Please just watch it and sit-back and enjoy. A sensational series!