The Driver

The main charactrer Vince is a weak pathetic man who together with his wife has taken no time in teaching their daughter any life or emotional skills. She's expects things like driving lessons even though money is tight but Vince is too weak to say "find some work & i'll help you". Her boyfriend needed a lift so Vince gave him one in the taxi and the boyfriend blatantly disrespecgted him, but had to suck up to his daughter over it.

Even when he gets involved with the criminals, he does no planning/preparing self-development to prepare for the tasks ahead.

He get's pulled by police in the car the ciminals gave him, does a runner & luckilly escapes, and then drives to the crime bosses house without warning him first and when asked if there were any problems, he says "no". So he thinks that the reg plate is not going to get pulled again.

Could have been a really good movie, but Vince just annoyed the hack out of me.

Life is tough for troubled muggle, Vince McKee (David Morrissey). No bed of roses at home and finding it tough making a living as a cabbie in Manchester's rain-drenched streets. His fares either puke on his seats then don't pay or they have no cash and steal his day's earnings. This all changes when Mickey (Ian Hart) - just out after a six year stretch inside - suggests Vince does some driving for his gangster boss, Horse (Colm Meaney). Things start to go belly up soon after as he realizes there's no way back from a life in crime.

With so many tough acts to follow - Sherlock, The Fall, Broadchurch, Utopia, etc - The Driver really needs deliver something unexpected to help it stand out; this it roundly fails to do. It manages to be adequate in all domains: The dialogue, the plot, the direction, the camera-work, the performances, the action are all good though there's nothing that jumps off the screen. That said, there are two stand-out performances: Sacha Parkinson as Vince's daughter and Harish Patel as Vince's minicab boss.

David Morrissey's character grows ever more annoying as he dithers between his lives at home and in crime. In a way, he's morally gray: He's unable to invest himself in normal family life and clearly not cut out to be a criminal. His big problem is he's just not that interesting, nor are his reactions to criminality very compelling. His best moment comes when he tries to recontact his estranged son who is living in a commune. We get a brief glimpse of fire amongst barely glowing embers.

With a series called The Driver it's hard not to look for references to Nicolas Winding Refn's superb "Drive", but there are none. Although there is nothing much to remember about The Driver, the action sequences are well-handled and there are some nifty camera moves in Vince's car. The big question that this miniseries leaves you with is why oh why would a competent gangster trust the job of getaway driver to a civilian cab driver who's scared witless?

Good, quick watch. The main character is well played and I liked the story line. Was a great start but kind of fizzled for me by the end. Worth a watch.

Although billed as an action-fest, this is actually a far more cerebral piece. With car chases.

David Morrissey seems to have cornered the market in family men having midlife crisis (see also "The 7.39"), but this role allows him to show both his sensitive side and imposing physicality. The acting highlights have to be his scenes with the equally great Ian Hart, who he grew up with on Merseyside but had never acted with until now.

The rest of the cast are equally on top of their game; with Lee Ross and Chris Coghill providing much needed comic relief. And the first two parts, with their unrelenting pace, need it at times to allow the viewers to draw breath.

By the final episode, the various interconnecting plots have hit the rumble strips a little, meaning this is merely great rather than mind- blowing entertainment. But compared to much of what counts as "Original British Drama" on our dumbed-down BBC, it's top-notch.

David Morrisey always seems to me to play characters with a certain air about them just in a different job eg cop or baddie. That works very in this role and he does it well.

In this cautionary tale he develops a nice little earner and you're not sure whether to feel sorry for him , condone or condemn him but all the time you know it just cant last.

Mixing in family problems, it's that conundrum that gets you hooked and watching to the end to see what happens.

The action and pace never really break into a fast trot apart from the first couple of minutes of episode 1 but it does flow along nicely. There's the odd flash of dark humour here and there particularly one of the thugs describing his girlfriend moving "down south". All well played by a good cast.

Well with a watch.