The Take

I watched the four episodes of this mini-series in one go. That's how good it is. Once you're in the story you want to know what's coming. All actors did a great job I thought, but the best actor had to be Tom Hardy playing Freddie Jackson. Freddie Jackson, just released from prison, immediately picks up his criminal career, only thinking about his interests. He quickly becomes a very selfish and arrogant character that you almost hate immediately. And Tom Hardy plays this role perfectly. A brilliant performance if you ask me. The story itself is a gangster story with a lot of drama going on. You get sucked into the story and that's a good thing. For a short television series you can't get much better then The Take.

An early sign that actor Tom Hardy was going to be an acting force to be reckoned with. Hardy plays an ex-con named Freddy who just gets out of prison and initially takes his orders from the crime boss Ozzy (Brian Cox) who is still serving his prison sentence behind bars. Freddy meets up with his childhood best friend Jimmy (Shaun Evans) who is just starting to climb the proverbial crime ladder himself when the rogue Freddy chooses his own violent path to the top of the crime world. Adding controversy is Freddy's open affection for Jimmy's hot looking wife Maggie (Charlotte Riley) and his continued power tripping on anyone who even thinks of getting in Freddy's way.

It must be something about Freddy's resolute stare that makes everyone around him uncomfortable including his own wife Jackie (Kierston Wareing) and their young ten (10) year old son. I don't suggest this four (4) part TV mini-series is for everyone's taste, as it is rather violent and morbid, but it has more than its share of suspenseful moments about life in the midst of a criminal empire.

Tom Hardy excels in his role and he has a strong supporting cast in this four (4) part TV mini-series which left enough on the table to introduce a sequel if the producers could create another decent script.

This mini series are well done and strangely not that popular. It is dark and brutal crime story . Main character (Tom Hardy) as you can see from the start is a psychopathic person, so he is doing what psychopath usually does and that is hard to watch and swallow. Tom Hardy is acting brilliantly that kind of a person.By the time I finished watching the show I was completely appalled and disgusted by the character he was portraying. Rest of the actors has done a good job as well. Highly recommended, but be aware what kind of feelings this TV show might give you.

Martina Cole's "The Take", is by far one of the best British drama's I have ever seen. It has such a powerful and gripping storyline, which I find is a rarity. I have never seen acting as fantastic as Tom Hardy plays his character Freddie. They could not have chosen a finer actor and he deserves so much credit for this series alone. I actually did not see this on television, but I bought it on DVD, and as you can tell I do not regret my decision. I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone. If you love British drama, then you will love this. It has everything from sheer grit to absolutely heart breaking consequences. You cannot watch this without feeling so many different emotions, whether it is tears of laughter or tears of sadness. It will by far be the best 3 hours you will ever watch and it will definitely be something you will want to watch again and again. Martina Cole's "The Take" is nothing short of sheer brilliance.

J

Brilliant, what can I say most novel TV adaptations suck but this and along with another prize winning adaption, the Red Riding Trilogy they both have brought British Drama back with a vengeance that could rival the Americans for the title. In regards to the American counterparts with their crime Dramas, we as British always have darker tales because we do not skimp on detail or grit and thats what is definitely not skimped on in The Take.

Dark, gritty, heartbreaking even TEAR JERKING with a really sad experience for all women, and an even sadder consequence of it. The Take gives Britain a stepping stone just as Red Riding did that we can make good television. The only other programmes I can think that gives us this grittiness, would be Red Riding by a land mile and the likes of Murphy's Law, Cracker and Wire In The Blood. Brilliant TV with a great cast, not much more could be said for Brian Cox, a great actor but with perfect performance by Tom Hardy and Shaun Evans this adaption was only made even better.

A great supporting cast too with Charlotte Riley and Kierston Wareing, who prove they can really give outstanding performances. Great TV that we all want more of.