rosemaryandthyme

Series 5 - the writing is bad and the characters are a miserable lot. There is NO chemistry between the main character and her husband or de-facto or whatever he is. She's a miserable, boring, sad sack whose face would crack if she smiled, and her partner is equally annoying. Their soap drama home life is of no interest to me as a viewer and adds nothing to the story. There is the usual Caucasian sexist middle aged cop sparring with the younger female cop - yawn, seriously are these writers just churned out through the same writing schools? Are there any writers prepared to write scripts out of the mould. Modern series are doomed.

The reviews are a bit harsh - it's a shark movie so what did people expect? They had the usual stereotypes ie nice girl, bad girl, jock, joker and black guy. The shark deaths were gory and the wounds and bite marks were well done - I thought they were suitably realistic with open bloody cuts and shredded skin. The water scenes were beautiful especially as I was watching on a cold Autumn night with heating. The shark looked like every other shark we have seen in these movies but I thought the attacks did have a few exciting moments, especially one scene where the main protagonist was involved. The action was going right to the end and it was not a bad watch on a lazy and cold evening. I was surprised to find the main actress was actually British and has been in a Sister Bonaface episode.

Well of course starring such names as Ashley Walters and Stephen Graham why would you expect anything less than outstanding. Each episode is mesmerizing, not only for the outstanding acting and developing story, but that each it is done incredibly in one continuous take. The timing is impeccable. This is British TV at its best and how it should be done. Lately what has been coming out of the UK has been disappointing to say the least and I have been despondent that good British drama is a dinosaur from past. Well done to all involved in Adolescence.

I should also add Owen Cooper playing Jamie the adolescent was pretty darn good - a big acting future ahead of him. The biggest mystery is why Ashley Walters is not a major Hollywood star but I am selfishly glad he isn't so we can enjoy series like this which Hollywood can't pull off.