The Couple Next Door

To be honest, it's not my type of series, although I decided to watch it because the English ones are usually pretty good. To start, the location confused me a lot, it seems like a good suburban neighborhood in America because of the materialism and the manners of the neighbors. Don't get me wrong, I'm just saying it as a compliment, for the English of course.

The first episode left me wanting more, and I just watched it until the end, it has something that hooks you. It is entertaining and exciting at various times, the police investigation and the religious theme kept me very intrigued. And just to make things a little more interesting, Becka is being stalked by Alan, a neighbour, the actor Hugh Denis, whom I mention and highlight for his excellent work, is the best performance in the series.

I didn't see any type of betrayal or secrets between the couples, the two participate in the sexy game, and later the psychopathic evolution of Evi, who is always laughing, is well done, but the continuous and annoying smile almost becomes a pantomime of a diabolical doll.

Like many other series, many of the decisions made are not at all realistic, and the ending, even so being very exciting, exceeds psychopathy and radical religious positions that never lead to anything good.

This short series may not be epic, but it remains watchable and exciting, offering a mix of entertainment and moments that really engage.

Man, with most of the cast this had so much potential. I knew Sam Heughan and Elinor Tomlinson from the few episodes of, "Outlander" that I have seen, so I was on board. Plus the title made it sound intriguing.

Jessica De Gouw is someone I have seen but, she didn't have that instant name recognizability to me, but funnily enough played the best character of this tale.

The story is basically a new couple moves in across the street, from De Gouw and Heughan who are married. They all become closer and "swinging" is in the mix.

Alfred Enoch plays "Pete" who is married to Tomlinson, and boy, is this the worst acting or character briefs he was given with the roll, but by minute seven of a 6 episode series, he is detestable. You couldn't root for him if you tried hard. Props to Hugh Dennis as the creepiest neighbor you've ever come in contact with.

This could been decent at 4 episodes. Still, not bad. It's a good one to watch if you have a lot of laundry to fold.

I was looking forward to this series and couldn't wait to see what it had to offer due to the exciting trailers. At first I was not disappointed as there was a sizzling buildup- however sub plots began to develop which left me wondering where this was all going. The problem was the sub plots didn't really go anywhere or have anything to to with the main event. Then we had to make some huge leaps in suspension of disbelief as it soon becomes absurd. All in all a good start but it could have been much better if the plot had been focused and not all over the place. So I'm afraid I feel a little disappointed.

Normally wouldn't watch something with an IMDb rating of less than 7 unless there's a cracking cast as was the case in the couple next door. The acting was excellent, and I didn't even mind Sam Heughan slipping back into his Scottish accent. The thing that absolutely threw me was the location. It's all I could think about. By no stretch of the imagination could you find a housing estate anywhere in the UK that resembles the one in the show purporting to be in Leeds! I mean, who on earth would have awnings in Leeds, no offence, but there's just not the weather - talking of which - did the director not know it's always cold and rains most of the time?

I watched the original Dutch TV version of this show which ran for 4 series 10x40m from 2014-2019. It was a bit cheesy at times but enjoyable with well-grounded characters and a dramatic storyline full of unexpected twists and some pretty raunchy scenes.

The remake seems to have been drained of drama and toned down and as a consequence comes a distant second to the original (Which was titled 'New Neighbours' but can still be found on C4 Catchup with subtitles as 'The Swingers'. If you haven't watched either definitely seek out the original.

The remake didn't feel authentic if felt tepid with a lot of one-dimensional performances, Hugh Dennis aside. For some reason it was shot in Leeds and The Netherlands and Belgium but meant to be set in Yorkshire, so a lot of it just looked plain wrong.

I'm afraid I very quickly lost all interest, it was naffly made in all respects, including acting, writing and direction.