Ridley Road

A mixed bag of actors. Some classy ones and some not so classy. But the script was full of cliches and this adaptation lacked credibility. The neo Nazis seemed more like a dark version of the Keystone Cops. Like Vigil this is another BBC series that promised much but failed to deliver mostly because of the storylines.

In 1960 I was 11 years old and living in Manchester. My mother was a great seamstress and we would go into the city centre to buy materials, in and around Stevenson's Square. That was my first introduction to a Jewish community. I asked many questions such as "What is a Jew?", "What is the Jewish religion?," and "Why are there so many tailors & fabric shops in the area?. My mother explained about coming to Britain for safety and then told me about the Holocaust. It was aweful to learn about, but very necessary. My father worked for Home Office Approved Schools at that time and was full of admiration, that there was only one Jewish approved school in the country, and that was never full. The Jews, he said, look after their own and family was everything. I admired that too and wished I'd come from a Jewish community. "Ridley Road" has taught me some uncomfortable truths, that although I thought 'normal' people didn't judge by colour, creed or sexual orientation - and I still think that, nevertheless old prejudices were dangerously held whilst I lived in ignorance. At 72 maybe I still do. Everyone should watch this series. Food for uncomfortable thought indeed.

I think the writing and plot is weak, unconvincing and unbelievable. No problems with the set, scenery and the use of archive film of street scenes of the period are great. The performances are good too but it it ends there. The plot is thin, superficial and full of holes and appears to be lossely constructed to present set scenes.

A young Jewish girl leaves her family home for love in London, when shs gets there however her life takes a very different course.

I thought this was a terrific four part series from The BBC, a fascinating, harrowing and incredible story from Britain's history. Not a story many seem to remember.

It is beautifully made, it looks big budget, with a big cast, great sets, and some terrific fashions. I love how they mix in original footage with the new shots, it looks so good.

Pacing is one of the main strengths, it will keep you gripped, and have you on tenterhooks in equal measure.

The acting is terrific all round, Agnes O'Casey, Sam Spiro, Eddie Marsan, and of course Rory Kinnear, who shows his chilling side, don't think I've seen him play a part such as this.

I loved it, served as a warning from history, 9/10.

Ridley Road is inspired by a real life clash between UK fascists and Jewish Resisters in London's East End in the early 60's. The contemporary parallels are unmissable with antisemitism and racist hate crimes at record levels.

So I was expecting something a lot more dynamic and engaging than the first episode which took forever to get going and kept going off on romantic tangents.

Direction and script were most at fault, lots of really tight frame cropping for some reason and the script was heavy with platitudes and clunky exposition and short on action. The score was odd, lots of curious mood music that didn't reflect the period or add much.

Cast were uneven but generally good, the lead character was too passive, it didn't seem to be her story. All in all a bit disappointing.