Undercover

Where to even begin, episodes are either brilliant, or terrible, there is no happy medium, one thing that is certain, this should have been a four part series, at six, it's better padded than a Dreams mattress.

The story is up and down, implausible, nonsensical, but actually pretty enjoyable. You will be baffled by the actions of some of the main characters, particularly when you consider the positions they hold.

It's woke, Yep, it's great to see a principally black cast, it does make a nice change, but on a few occasions, they drop in a few lines that make you want to cringe, the Oxford jibe, not true.

The best aspect, the acting, the two leads, two people I'm a huge fan of, Okonedo and Lester, the acting from the pair, is first rate, two of Britain's best.

I can't really score it higher than a six, Parts 2 and 5 are terrific, parts 3 and 4 are a snore fest.

Overall, it's good, but know what you're getting. 6/10.

This is a comment on "Undercover", rather than a full-blown review. Sophie Okonedo is a very expressive actress and the range of emotions she displays as Maya are believable. She makes her real and at times extremely irritating with her relentless right-on, goody two-shoes behaviour. She loves her husband, she loves her kids, she is dedicated to her job, she has time for everyone and never snaps that she just wants to loll in the bath reading a book for some peace and quiet.

Every trendy box is ticked here - high-achieving black family, social conscience, human rights, epileptic heroine, autistic son, women's lib, house husband, fighting to save death row inmates - it's a full-frontal assault that dares us to disapprove or even have a fleeting selfish thought, because by golly Maya never does.

All this places a rather brittle and fake veneer on a storyline that does have its dark moments and dirty underbelly. The moral dilemmas are real and imaginable but what a shame the lead character is so upright and certain of her path that these dilemmas are not wrestled with in a realistic way. Nothing in life is clearly black and white, but that world view is not something Maya subscribes to. It must be nice to be so certain of everything.

For a long time now on television we have had flawed cops, private eyes, detectives, reluctant mediums, lead characters "battling their demons", all with messy private lives that are supposed to make them interesting as they react in unpredictable ways to all the various plot twists they are put through. In "Undercover" we have a lead character that acts in a totally predictable way to everything, apparently suffers no doubts or misgivings, and is firmly waving her righteous sword, never losing sight of the moral high ground or how to stay there.

This is a story of deceit and the sheer mountain of lies that can be constructed over a period of 20 years. What a pity it had to be wrapped in a politically correct blanket that suffocates any real exploration of the plausible grey areas in life. If it's not right then it's obviously wrong, and that's that.

Good acting but the storyline is pants - I simply don't believe this particular story, even though I know undercover agents have married or partnered-up with many women during their 'spying' years. The unalloyed 'goodness' of the principals in this series is cloying and unbelievable. I can't believe they scripted the Waltons in an story about deceit, scorn and cold-blooded treachery. The clunky dialogue just gives it away, badly.

Yes, let's have a seriously deceitful partner, who's spent years undercover with a loving partner, But making that partner Nelson Mandela in drag is a silly and wrong-headed plot device. You gotta get more subtlety and mischief in there for this to work properly. And don't start me on the kids...

All in all it's shame. And a huge opportunity gone sadly to waste. Should have got Jed Mercurio to write this one...

Confusing story at first, then starting to become interesting. Unfortunately, despite the excellent acting the plot finally turns out tot be rather weak and unconvincing.

This is a fabulous piece of writing, acting and directing.

It is not "pants" or "not believable" as some people are saying- it is based on extensive research into the long history of the Met Police using undercover cops to spy on a huge number of campaigning groups e.g Greenpeace.

The plot line may have been dramatised- but this is a DRAMA, not claiming to be a total replica of the truth which clearly people have totally misinterpreted.

It is compelling viewing, very well written by Peter Moffat (Silk, Criminal Justice, The Village) and beautifully acted by Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester, in particular.

It is one of the only British TV shows to cast the two main characters as black, and I think people are forgetting this.

Don't let patriotic, uneducated reviews put you off people!