Virdee

I wasn't sure after the first episode, but the second had me hooked. Strong cast led by Staz Nair, who is a commanding force on screen in the title role of Harry Virdee. All the supporting cast are also very good. Storyline is compelling, as are the side stories about the characters personal lives.

The overall tone, characters and story really reminded me of Luther, which is no bad thing.

The setting in the Asian community in Bradford offers something refreshingly different and highlights another side to British life not often seen on TV. And as someone not part of that community, I also found it educational.

This had a lot going for it. Especially the location in Bradford and the unusual characters involved.

The acting was pretty good.

But just a few things let it down - I'm not sure if it was the directing or the director of photography but why oh, why focus on a coffee cup in the last scene?

Why oh why leave the door open when you're about to do something nefarious?

And surely everybody has seen silence at the lambs now. And certainly the writers had. So wouldn't it be sensible to come up with something a little bit different?

Or at least introduce some humour around it?

I started liking some of the characters but by the end I was pretty bored with them. Again, too many lingering shots of handsome faces.

And repetitive dialogue.

Nice try - try again please!

Don't judge in the first episode. Keep watching as it does take a little while to get into the characters and the story, then before you know it you are drawn in and you get taken on a great journey. Raw and gritty, the tension builds up nicely and It's full of action and lots of thrills. It also has some very emotional and thought provoking scenes giving a good balance and understanding of the characters. Feel that the main actor grew into his character and he gave a stellar performance. The main actors are cast really well and all the interactions between them set up the foundations of the story line. Absolutely brilliant! Thoroughly enjoyed it and was sat on the end of my seat. Couldn't wait for the weekly watch, but had to binge watch it on iPlayer! Story is very well written and complete and the ending leaves it very nicely set up for the next series and I can't wait!

I quite enjoyed this new series as it was great seeing an almost all non white cast....don't honestly quite know what some of the low reviews are being so harsh about. The Bradford accents were fine....the series was very well acted by everyone and the twists and turns in the plot had me binge watching on iPlayer. My only negative is some of the plot holes that were quite big, otherwise I would have scored higher - an example was when Virdees wife Saima is watching Riaz at his warehouse across the road from her car. Everyone standsing outside the warehouse would have seen her car, it was directly opposite and not far - just wasn't believable to me. Anyway, watch this as it's very good in terms of screen play as the storyline was well written. The actors who played Virdee, Saima and Riaz were absolutely outstanding. Loved seeing them in this...it's hard to please everyone but well done!!

Vikash Bhai is a decent actor but i dont think he's strong enough for this lead role. His action scene acting is good but he doesn't convince when it comes to the more subtle parts required. Its a shame because the story isn't bad and it's pretty watchable. Good to see a mainstream series set in Bradford too and i guess its a fair reflection of some of the areas of the city.

I haven't read the books but my friend has and he says there are some major changes for the screen and not all for the better. We binged the series and it was alright but I felt it could have been so much better. Hopefully there is a second series and they can grow into the characters more. Elizabeth Berrington steals most scenes she is in as Virdee's boss and she is in no way an outstanding or leading actress just very solid and consistent. Therein lies the problem with the casting maybe?

Still worth a watch though.