Marriage

I can only imagine the poor reviews are from people who haven't been in a long term relationship and can't understand the dynamic.

From the word go I was amazed by the subtlety of the acting and the reality of the writing. The argument on the plane was perfect and only made better when they held hands on takeoff.

Beautifully written and perfectly acted.

Wonderfully observed banality of everyday life and love. Superb characters and actors pushing the boundaries of what goes for normality and the resulting paranoia leaves one feeling like a voyeur. Great stuff. Ignore those that can't see this and just get disappointed by a slow burn.

When Marriage was advertised on the BBC I said to my wife "That doesn't look very interesting " but. I like Sean Bean so we gave it a go.

What's it about ... well nothing really, a bit of jealousy, a difficult parent, a death and redundancy all mixed in to create a fly on the wall drama of a marriage.

The director was quite brave to show someone stacking a dishwasher in real time. Yet it is hypnotising, you get sucked into their world and want to know what happens next.

I understand a lot of people will get bored but I really enjoyed it.

This isn't a bad mini series, in fact its a great snapshot into the lives of an aging married couple who experience their ups and downs nestled in the relative quiet of middle class suburbia. However...

Cracks do appear in this show. The dialogue is stilted and unrealistic at times. Whilst clearly intentional to showcase the awkward staleness of being around people or relatives you've nothing to say to, the times when the dialogue *should* flow, it still doesn't.

Additionally, the show also lacks emotional and situational closure. Particularly the moments with the family talking about sensitive past events between each other, the scenes felt undercooked and lacking in payoff. The times multiple times when the show needed another 2 minutes to properly round out a dialogue/plot point never came.

For a drama that is clearly supposed to be a slow burning thinker, the overall through line of what the show is about is never brought to fruition. Theres much social commentary to pick at here and there, but all we ever get is scraps. It left me longing for a more meaty look at one or two issues raised by the plot in more depth; but sadly they never came.

The show is worth watching, but it had more potential than it ends up delivering. The two leads, Sean Bean and Nicola Walker need to take a bow as they are fantastic throughout.

P. S - This has the most annoying credits theme tune I've ever heard.

It starts with a minor 'thing' that turns into a full blown public row about a baked potato. Turns out Sean's character is just scared of flying, but he won't say so, so the potato is the problem. This sets the stage for some wonderfully observed characteristics of a long term relationship. Some of you, although apparently very few based on current reviews, will recognise those moments that define real love and friendship.

There's a very telling scene in a graveyard where not a word is spoken, but both are broken, sob on a bench, yet contain their grief, no touching or hugs. A dead child? We don't know.

Stolen kisses are a thing, just a quick peck in passing, but say so much.

The stilted conversation until one says what they really think opens up some otherwise guarded emotions. The daughter's awful, controlling and totally selfish boyfriend is going to be a factor. These characters don't want to hurt each other, but I think they will.

Ignore the haters, this is clever and really well observed.