Out There

Wales, the country, features in this English language mini series. Martin Clunes most famous for "Men Behaving Badly" heads the cast and presents a Welsh farmer barely making ends meet financially and merely making ends meet with his teenage son as well; whose mom has died.

The first episode is a little slow burn, but soon we are introduced to the villains, Gerran Howell plays the teenage drug dealer to great effect. The teenage son is induced to hold a mysterious package and ofcourse chaos ensues.

There is a gritty realism and desperation to our characters and it's easy to embrace them and lose yourself in the drama and tragic events that follow. Included in the drama are the police, their investigations, neighbours in hospital and a duplicitous brother who is both hero and minor villain. The bank looms as they do over all farms, and our hero must navigate these waters with skill.

Of late, although we love British TV over the exploding cars of American TV, the Brits seem to use a chainsaw to hack through the last episode with eyes fixed on season two. But the failure to end season one well, usually disappoints.

"Out There" does not fall into that trap! The last episode is as exciting and edgy as the entire series and proves to be a gem!

Highly recommended!

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

Nathan Williams (Martin Clunes) is a rural farmer in the Welsh valleys, living with his teenage son, Johnny (Louis Ashbourne Serkis.) He is becoming frustrated at the sight of the drones he sees flying over the fields near his home, on account of the county lines drug gangs operating in the area. When it becomes clear Johnny has become caught up in this world, Nathan is driven to extremes to protect his son, until a terrifying act of violence plunges them all into a swirling whirlwind of hell.

In the later years of his life and career, Martin Clunes is moving away from the fluffier, more light-hearted comedy roles he broke through with, into more mature, rounded serious drama roles, the latest of which is this six part ITV drama, honing in on the still relevant topic of 'county lines' drugs gangs, exploiting youngsters to distribute drugs in smaller, more secluded towns and cities. The result is a curious mixed bag that just about holds your attention to the end.

In the lead role, Clunes has to carry the project, which he has long form with, and he does so reliably well, managing a decent Welsh accent, numbingly calm, even during high stress moments, and losing his cool only when his emotions overpower him. He has some strong chemistry with co star Lewis Jones as his brother, who has an arguably stronger presence. It's the strongest aspect of a first half that drags a little and feels uneventful, before the gravity of the story kicks in in the second act, and things get dramatic all at once.

It's not entirely believable in its execution, but it's a depiction of an increasingly desperate situation, and it manages to keep you riveted to the end, with an opening for a follow up, to at least make things add up that little bit more. ***

People are right about Clunes's accent. Love this actor, he's a natural, but unfortunately they have tried to make him Welsh. If they wanted this character to be Welsh they should have got a Welsh actor.

It's great that it's set in Wales. Beautiful country and unique people. I blame the director. The one mitigating excuse for Clunes's accent is his father is English. But his accent is not continuous - it veers badly between English and Welsh in a single sentence and is distracting. It takes you out of your suspension of disbelief. They should have made him Welsh or English - a whole new barrel of issues to contend with although apparently some say too much is packed into this drama already.

Only on episode one. And will stick with it because like Martin Clunes (let down here by being allowed to make up his own accent), love Wales and the Welsh and am very interested in the subject matter of farmers, youth, county lines etc etc.

Martin Clunes is very good in this, as is Gerran Howell (playing much younger than his real age) as the drug-dealing friend of Clunes' son. Carly-Sophia Davies as the girfriend is also quite a lot older than her role suggests and she performs it well, though she perhaps doesn't look quite as young as her character should. Louis Serkis is closest to the right age for his character as Clunes's son and is adequate. He is supposed to be traumatised for most of the story, but I could imagine someone else doing a better job. As with most of such serials, it is stretched out over too many episodes (by about two) and the ending is not satisfying. I won't say more, so as to avoid spoilers. Nevertheless, it kept me engaged right through.

When is a mini series not a mini series when it is a series!

We watched this as we knew that as it was classed as a mini series by IMDB it would be only one series and NOT multiple series'

Imagine how disappointed we were when the last episode finished leaving an unfinished story!

It was a great series deserving 8-9 out of 10 until the final scene of the final episode resulting in the whole family grunting and groaning with dismay and the thought if we won't remember anything about this when the second series comes out!

Please please please categorise the TV series' correctly as it is really annoying!