The Dry

Set up to be a semi interesting tale (if not particularly original), with a reasonably interesting family dynamic.

But loses its way almost instantly. Horrible brother. Horrible ex. Idiot sister. Idiot lead. Thick mum. Selfish dad.

No pleasing or empathetic characters to root for. No one. Not one.

Oh yeah no laughs either. None. Someone put a lot into the structure but needed to rewrite this with a bit more acid. It's just weak.

Then it goes all mawkish at the end of S1 like who cares about Carl, if he's anything like the rest of the family then he was probably a selfish wastrel like the rest of them.

Don't waste 3hrs. Go watch a classic movie or two.

The fact that this show isn't well known blows my mind - it's genuinely the best show I've seen so far this year. The whole cast is incredible - especially Roisin Gallagher who shifts from comedy to tragedy to pathos and carries the show on her shoulders. It's been described as an 'Irish fleabag', which does it a disservice - it's own thing with a mixture of darkness, drama, addiction and dysfunctional family dynamics told in a deeply sarcastic, darkly humorous voice. Both hands together praying for season two!

I enjoyed this original and quirky Irish comedy penned by Nancy Harris. Roisin Gallagher is perfect as Shiv the recovering alcoholic who returns from London to the bosom of her Dublin family hoping for a fresh start and finding an initial mix of bewilderment and scepticism from family members all facing their own unique challenges. Ciaran Hinds is superb as Tom, the paternal head of the family as is Pom Boyd as Bernie. Janet Moran excels too as Shiv's force of nature sponsor Karen. The piece as a whole is at times hilarious and at others quite tender and it's non judgmental lightness of touch and tone feels refreshing.

It was entertaining enough; the humor is dark which I always appreciate. There are the usual cliches, old love interest, family drama et. Al. But kept me watching and each character was interesting. However, the music was excruciating and pandering, a failed attempt at poignancy as it were; I had to fast forward through that, it distracted from the show and some of those 'music' scenes went on way too long.

Hilarious, sad, funny real. This drama/comedy about a recovering alcoholic from a dysfunctional, middle class , Dublin family, nearly passed me by.

Every episode is finely crafted.

Laugh out loud at times. Painfully cringy at others, but so worth a watch.

A lot of the characters are a bit over the top to highlight comic & dramatic value.

It's so well acted and scripted. Can't believe this flew under the radar. It's one of the best Irish programmes in years.

Really relatable in some circumstances and not in others, but brilliant.

This is so binge worthy. Give it at least 2 episodes and you will be hooked!