Reviews

Well Netflix you are a weird creature. A curate's egg. This is a beautiful well told story. Roll more of this sort product out if all you have left is wooden acting and poor script writers. The history is pretty epic. The characters are real; both on an individual level, for the the good the great but also the people. These are best described as snakes in the grass, which gave him such a chronically hard time when he made one "mistake. Great role model as father and husband really - he certainly provides for his family. The old video is brilliant. Fantastic they had it, wouldn't have been half as good. I had my first handycam in 87. And yes getting the great football icons to view bits of their career and be able to view their faces doing so in front of a screen also excellent. Utterly charming with finesse.

Wooden acting, poor casting so nothing like the great books. I am sorry to say we both switched away from this. I have quite a collection of Connelly's books so hooking up with Netflix again this was a nice surprise.. or so I thought.

Don't really know why Netflix has sunk so low with this particular crime series. The type of difference between Netflix 10 years ago, with great series like Daredevil, is best described as a gulf.

The original Bosch Prime series was brilliant (Freevee Legacy not so much) and can stand two or three viewings.

I actually gave up with this. The lack of believability the stone faces, deadpan acting with droning voices. Where is the industry going?

It's like painting by numbers, no charisma getting pay cheques and sod the viewers. This has to pay like everything else spend as little as possible on the product to get the maximum return.

It's such a shame the Netflix and Amazon carvery split these characters between them when the should be together.

I love this and should add we both did. It had proper writers, plenty of reality including one real plane.

Yes I know it's not camouflaged properly and there were a few bad American accents but each episode had a start, middle and end and a few episodes carried on in delightful ways.

When this was made they still had beer in the right shaped bottles which must have helped with establishing the right scenery. I kind of felt the attitudes were correct for that time period too.

Most of the love affairs, which always add something and the humour was great and most of all things were believable which is pretty key to this sort of production.

Also really great was the film they managed to "rob" from way back then = WW2. That added a lot to this drama. All in all I give it an easy 8.

I don't know why people are climbing all over this claiming it's absolutely perfect. I guess it is for the right now but there have been much better dramas.

To me these days there is too much computer generated graphics and in my opinion the script has the whiff of artificial intelligence too.

I claim there is nothing better than a real human script writer.

You might ask why AI but when you recognise so much in this drama that has already been in seen in other dramas that I claim AI is in control.

The "Terminal List" is right out of first season of "Arrow. Also there are elements of "Person of Interest - even "Smallville and so on and so forth. All these latter creations had less CGI and AI.

Yes Chris Pratt does not have to prove he is a great actor and I get that. Yet I hate saying "that's straight out of another programme" we have watched before. There should be brownie points for originality and I am afraid to say this is not it.

I bought the CDs and now wished I hadn't. I've not read the fiction but this comes across like it is.

Somebody claiming this is "not to be missed" well I could easily have done without it.

Another comment claiming a "Piece of Trash is slightly over the top but nearer the mark.

I've read lots of WW2 pilot diaries from Ritchie, Clostermann and Braham and night fighters and so on and none of them write about their squadrons being like a full blown public school with bullying and snobbery etc. Yes there was loads of drinking and rampant clowning about but this does not in any way come across as real expect for the fact it is not CGI and written by artificial intelligence (AI). I really not have expect to fast forward lots of this but I have and if you want better easier on the eye WW2 examples then I can give you "We'll Meet Again, which is excellent and "A Family at War, also excellent.

Well this second season has been a Major Reacher let down.

The first season was brilliant. If you have read quite a few of the books then the first season is definitely for you. You can't tell the difference between the book and the film it was that good. Also Alan Ritchson, who I remembered from Smallville and that was a brilliant drama series, looked spot on.

Personally I don't think the second season is any good even if you have not read the books!

This is absolutely important as Amazon seems to coming off the boil and onto back burner mode with some of its programmes of late. I have not written a review for a while but this needs saying

Is this cost cutting?

Where are you Lee Child - I thought you could write and have some influence?

I do not want to have to say to my other half: "Well is it worth watching the latest episode?

Alan Ritchson was blown up (cycle pump springs to mind) physically into a too big version of Reacher. The don't even get the best out of attractive Serinda Swan, who acted loads better when she was a lot younger in Smallville. I think Krtistin Kreuk (Smallville again) put on a better show in the first season. Everything seemed real in Season 1 rather than tedious like the lion's share of the second season.

The acting is wishy-washy perhaps because of an uninvolved director. There are loads of scenes which are a waste of time and I wanted to run on but wife wanted to stick it out like a trooper. To me it's like background intermission musak - if you know what I mean.

The only gravitas was the scenes actor Domenick Lombardozzi was involved in. You can't beat great actors. Remember him in "The Wire.

The usual boring flashbacks to a different era, which you don't care about if the era the season is actually based on make you sigh.

Tell you what the second season of "Reacher" really show's how great the Tom Cruise films were, because even though he is not of the scale of Alan Ritchson the direction/acting etc of those films of a while ago were leagues ahead of this second season.

Even "Taken 3" a cross between Reacher and "Green Arrow" is a great deal better than Season 2 of this.

Some of you people have attention spans of playground kids possibly even play games on your phones - sad life. You can tell the age of the reviewer by how he or she tackles writing about this drama.

This is a very well written slow burn based, apparently, on a book. Must be a good one and perhaps I will read it soon. My wife and I, who are older but not these guys age but older than Brenneman.

It's difficult to find any sort of drama that is not aimed at 20 somethings. Our kids are in their 30s now! So this is excellent though can't believe the lead character is so tough - how can he be - though I suppose he is kind of in the Reacher bracket - where I have read loads of the books. As for Brenneman/ Zoe I like her as an actress (watched Judging Amy many years ago) and why can't you have a wild card, like her, in this spy drama?

I too was fooled by the "Old Man" title until I actually found out what that meant. I don't think this is an earth shattering drama but it's very good. We just about, well my wife does, put this on a par with "Person of Interest" though for me not quite as good because that one also has great humour good music etc.

We both watched this for about 20 minutes "enjoying" the CGI, the front end island life and into the hammy catching villains ending in the shopping mall. We stopped watching when the scene was switched into the "museum" type of "set" and the actress cast as Barbara Minerva having loads and loads of qualifications but also thick as two short planks. I get it; cast the FBI woman as tough, worldly wise and implying she has no time for fools and so on, we get the agenda. Wonder Woman as who she is, this time around compared to the original and best of "1984" but really for authenticity should have been the 1970s. Yet really why, just to please the discrimination thought police, have a supposedly "clever" white women portrayed as a total, complete dork, well we exited there.

What a load of rubbish. This must have got such high ratings on the back of the scenery alone. And the Lone Ranger is a clueless whimp. This is nothing like the real deal. You can deal me out after watching this. Instead of helping Tonto he's like the Indian's pain in the neck and boy there is a scene at the end even worse than this. Commercial breaks would be a reprieve from this. Sadly you actually don't care, Indian or "man in a suit, if they live or die. In fact it is the complete antithesis of the programme featuring the "Man in a Suit.

Merlin might have been the last gasp of sublime credibility the BBC Quango had. Anything that can get very near to the quality of tv syfi like the USA's "Smallville" or the "Harry Potter" film franchise is top notch.

With four kids growing up in that era, the early noughties, we watched Harry Potter films as they were rolled out, Smallville, much, much later and Merlin only very, very lately.

And Merlin is magnificent/great. By this I mean for me to watch anything it has to have brilliant scriptwriting, with humour, pathos, downright evil characters, fabulous costumes, great casting.

I am not interested in gratuitous violence/sadism (shades of Game of Thrones) or swearing from the get go or rampant over the top in your face sex.

As for Merlin Katie McGrath as Morgana, for instance, has the knockout striking looks required for that evil part and yet she actually looks very appealing and boy so do her costumes. Richard Wilson is supreme in his fatherly role. What a lovely character. John Hurt - there will be NEVER be a better dragon voice - ever.

Anthony Head acts out the same sort of dogmatic role the BBC licensing lay on with the same aggressive "1984" type of self importance. Ironic isn't it?

If you have seen Merlin (my wife and I fast tracked it via Netflix) and the "thank you" quotes said to Merlin right at the start and at the very end of the series you know exactly why I say this tv programme has lots of finesse.

So the type of brilliant programme that is Merlin is now a thing of the past. I only came by this programme on Netflix by chance having enjoyed tv dramas like Smallville. This TEN years after Merlin first aired.

These days Merlin is simply not politically correct enough. This in spite of if it having black actors Angel Coulby as Gwen and Gwen's brother Sir Elyan. Ten years ago these were excellent acting choices but even this is not woke enough now. TV drama is now a crappy joke.

What a complex confused outfit the BBC now is with programmes like "Cursed". Just like the name itself it has that sort of affect on me. I just do not watch mainstream massively over the top politically correct TV like Cursed at all anymore. I just read reviews of how awful it is. So no tv arial, cable or dish at our address.

Just a dashed off review and unlike some of the more disparaging even churlish comments on here, I think this programme is excellent. There are often multiple threads in each episode and very difficult to predict. Most importantly it is exciting and does make me laugh, which is absolutely key. Occasionally it can be sad and perhaps also provides an insight to the very, very competitive nature of a typical American hospital.

There are many complicated threads in this brilliant family drama, which has everything in it. I tend to compare all syfi with my particular benchmark - Smallville.

Believe me it does borrow a fraction of ideas but overall think Supergirl but in a very different way. Do not expect to know what is going to happen next and the story metamorphoses characters to some extent. Also, massively important both great humor and some real sadness though the latter will creep up on you.

Considering it has a very high tech agenda, not many people seemed to have viewed it, which is a major pity. You have very many types of different families including robots both thick and almost human. Also, there are relationships between siblings and the usual head thug and nasty henchmen.

The almost human robot juxtaposed with the dumb in comparison robots, the vehement anti robot faction, the tussle between men, both older and younger over various woman as would be lovers and simple sex bots and another overriding family/sex issue that runs throughout the drama.

Also very coherent and you can really grow an attachment to these characters and loath one or two of them. I thought the actress playing the robot incredibly good and a young child in the "family" situation also a massive stand out especially at the start. Hugely better than the drab "Humans" drama of some years ago. This drama never gets excessively heavy.

Unlike others which appear to want reactionary, wall to wall, not predictable but perhaps very violent off the cuff violence the-whole-time I do not think I have seen a better episode of ANY programme than this one - dealing with secrets.

I have to admit here might be better future episodes. We are getting through them fast. Secrets are one of the MAIN points of these programmes. Can you imaging let's say Clark Kent going round bragging about being an alien the whole time. So boring, yawnsville.

I think Laural Lance (Cassidy) takes the biscuit here, her dialogues with all the "good" protagonists. Again, you just cannot beat it, and her dad Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance is amazing. There remains this desperate desire, against all the odds, to keep things secret. I love it!

Another example of what might seem minor detail is even the music is great. Though not as totally engaging as Smallville an Arrow example are the little scenes alluding to The Flash, light, and quick on you feet you could say. This is totally opposite to the very mechanical automaton music in the Scientist episode for Brother Cyrus where it is affective when compared to The Flash music in the same episode.

So, so don't agree with this other review above.

Difficult to write this, as I was unsure if I would like Arrow straight after Smallville but heck this is brilliant and this episode is atypical. Top notch.

Just cannot believe the script the situation the characters find themselves in - love it!

In addition, if this is soap well so be it and damn good as one. Writing as a Brit it certainly has nothing to do with soaps like Neighbours or Crossroads or give me any American soap, bugger all to do with anything like them.

The secrecy about identifies the relationships it's magnificent when they finally come clean - you cannot beat it for breaking the Polar ice.

I recently have got into this DC comics thing and I have to admit it I am hooked.

Also and very importantly, DC Comics have wiped the floor with the Marvel films. These EPIC TV dramas allow the viewer to get to know the characters and if you have had anything like a family in this lifetime, you know what I mean. Back off mean spirited me, me and me and computer games types this is not for you - especially if you think it is like a bloody soap because in a very, very little way it is.

It certainly is not all about the endless killing. The Arrow is right on there. We have enough of that in the real world.

This film well what can you say about Du Pont?

This is a mysterious, yet, anonymous dictator of a company. If you follow the film, the "family values" of Du Pont you could say it was a sort of Stalin or Hitler father figure. I cannot believe the company is so die hard about its massive mistakes.

To think technology transfer from the world of atomic bombs is akin to ploughshares.

I suppose Hitler's army retreating from the Soviet Union - the scorched earth policy. This kind of says it all really.

It made it even more awful when you see the "Bucky" character towards the end of the film. Wow, we are fairly quickly chucking out and replacing all our non stick pans.

To think the fit athletic Lycra brigade might be affect too. Get some of that!

This is a good film. Terrance Stamp Smallville brought me here so I watched it. I know it has probably not to suppose to but actually made me chuckle a few times. I am impressed. It was way back when good films, without endless added CGI, were made. There is quality throughout. Any person rubbishing this film is quibbling, mere semantics. Terrance Stamp, stamps his role on this film. He might have picked up his authoritarian role as Jo-El in Smallville on the back of this and I can quite easily see why. So very different from Erin Brockovich ( very different content) but also a great film so this film director definitely knows his stuff. Actually, Terrance Stamp, in his actor's role in this film, might have said the same thing. Music good too and another similarity with Smallville. Altogether a good experience.

This is probably not for our age group but more for the right here right now age group with perhaps limited attention spans, which require instant gratification so lots of 10s dished out.

Meanwhile, having watched Smallville, some episodes many times, we were looking for something else perhaps not as gritty as the Watchman film, though that was excellent - more a TV series.

Like this?

We had to give this up after few minutes because it had zero character build up and went straight into full hyped up mode instead.

So swearing from the get go and I can only guess its filling in the gaps in the script. To cap it all the incredibly early Selfies moment, which says it all really, as this trite overused me, me, and me, ritual, was born more than a decade ago.

In addition, I do not mean the world of Smith in the Matrix because The Boys is without any of the finesse of the first two versions of those films. I can never fathom how superfluous throwaway expletives make for a good intro.

Let the easily fobbed off seething masses, who allow the raking in of gazillions of any currency on the back of the Marvel films, give this endless 10s. I gave it a three because at least it takes people off the streets.

Gone are the days of the massively better, incredibly detailed, fantastically scripted, and superbly acted; even great sets/lighting but let's not go on too much, super hero programmes like Smallville and more is the pity. Briefly, I have just sorted out the Men from The Boys.

By the way Smallville, in my opinion, is the best superhero escapism drama series that's ever been.

Just noticed the popularity is down on this site. Well it isn't here. Far from it. Had to write a review about this scintillating series.

What first?

Just to give you an inkling of an idea, we now have over four hours of new music culled just from watching this epic ten season series. We totally missed it when it first came out and this remained so. We were preoccupied at the time.

So how does one continue?

Firstly the script writing is brilliant, clever, witty, so incredibly funny at times and just the perfect lines for every actor as they arrive and remain or just come and go. I could not fault any of them!

It also helps to have endless episodes to watch, whole eras, odysseys, call it what you will, actors coming and going over a staggering ten years. Very old skool way of doing things which really helps the viewer to become totally vested in every aspect of this drama. Just picking out one season James Masters totally nails Brainiac and while we are at it the whole Kent family acts as a totally cohesive unit. Lex and Lional Luther have there own bubble of intimacy.

The sets are brilliant, the colours, family settings too. Also excellent is the good versus bad. Because a lot of it is Clark the good guy his evil character episodes are a very stark contrast.

Anyway I don't want to go on too long. If you have missed this exceptional series you viewers that like good wine, craft beer a nice book, expect to love this way more than the dashed off, made the billions of masses, Marvel movies that are so now.

I have now watched a load of Arrow stuff and some Flash stuff and one episode of Legends and I confirm this series is at least ten times better than ALL those mentioned in this last sentence

Just a short effort to dash off a review confirming my opinion that this Star Trek "Picard" is streets ahead of the recent moody Star Trek "Discovery" debacle.

The way Seven of Nine made her entrance in the fourth episode of this series was just excellent. It came as a total shock to me but a great one. Always loved her acting in Star Trek "Voyager". A breath of fresh air. If only the "Voyager" hologram Doctor could find away aboard this ship too even though there is already one aboard this ship. Try and try again for a bit of humour. There is enough edge for me.

So personally I think this series is leaps and bounds better than the "Discovery" series. It's a kind of old and new; a sort of family structure, if you can imagine Picard almost as a Grandad figure. That does work here, plus the avoidance of mean spirited characters. You know, the sort of "I've got loads of personal problems so I don't really want to be here" characters that were all over the "Discovery" series.

It's much more difficult for a new series to find its way these days. There isn't scope for a massive build up and lots warm up episodes to get to know and love the characters. I can only say thank God the moaning cynical types don't appear to be so much in the mix here.

By the way the people that rate this low go out of their way to down mark people who like it so beware of this.

We missed most of this incredibly fine crime drama first time around, especially in the 1990s, being busy with children.

Now older, with mostly rubbish output placed in front of us by the tv channels, this is the sort of cream we like.

We are only into the fourth season and have just watched on On Beulah Height and it is the height of excellent crime drama. This one episode was like a feature film.

The setting was incredibly atmospheric in the traditional sense and highlighted all sorts of "human condition. Tough episode though.

If you like Morse and Wallander or are just bored with the knock about modern stuff this is for you.

Also the rotation of directors, screenplay writers, the music score creators; you can never know know the shape of the next episode.

So the big hits are the quality cast, the soundtracks, the settings, the DL humour and the genuine police comradery.

Sadly the BBC certainly doesn't get any where near this quality any more. Most of the above is missing. Also pity they went off piste, as they often do, shunning the adaptation of most of Reginald Hill's later books. Thought they could do better than the author I suppose.

We are so bored with modern stuff we bought the entire output via Holland - all the episodes and so far, into season four, we can't fault it. At this stage there is still the Pascoe "family" built into the script although we do know that this is written out later but hey let us enjoy these early episodes we have never seen.

These days its Channel 4 rather than the BBC, ITV, 5 or Sky etc where we get our intelligent crime drama fix.

Professor T. is the latest example - this time from Belgium. In my opinion its a hugely better offering than the BBC's total re-working of the Agatha Christie classic The ABC Murders.

Well the first two seasons are incredibly good. Sadly most of the wonderful connections are lost in the third season which is downright awful and we lost all interest in it. Just watch the first two seasons and be prepared for a let down in the third. The Rabet Teerlinck interface was tough at the start but very watchable now harrowing start of the third season building to the hiring of a rabid wound up top as a chief inspector. Well.. now we have lost most of our interest.

Until then this drama is cohesive in that it successfully stitches together threads within a university criminology department and plain clothes police. This is generally as in the synergy between the two institutions and singular as in cases where T helps the police plain clothes unit. It also has plenty of individual people related back stories including dealing with mental illness. Let's face it you might think that a bad recipe.

As you get through the Episodes this is not so as appropriately mental illness can trigger a lot of crimes. Apparently one good example is shame. I am not going to tell you which episode but its a stand out one. Even Professor T has some form of mental illness which anyone, who has come across it, should recognise. Yet this does in no way stops him from being key to solving crimes. In fact its the opposite. He is a "necessary evil" for the police as he annoys many people he comes into "contact" with. Notice the use of inverted commas.

So NB a team or group of people holds this brilliant drama together - not just Professor T. Also there is a lot of humour; mostly at the university were T works, which is very important when dealing with, at times, heavy drama. It's a great recipe just like their often Palm Oil free chocolate. Well done Belgium.

Who the heck is Farah Abushwesha? Clearly she is no British Agatha Christie producer. And it's that bloody Sarah Phelps again of Crimson fields notoriety. Put these two together and boy what a mess.

The BBC will always to turn to this sort of producer which this politically correct Quango knows will dream up some tosh that will irritate crime drama lovers.

The BBC absolutely hates camaraderie. It's so not of this age. By this I mean Captain Hastings, let's leave him out. Also Japp who is written out right at the start. Let's do what we did with Wallander and save a bit of money. No teamwork at all.

Any tax payer funded service which; I hear, sent nine journalists out to Sri Lanka and not televise any of the actual cricket, will always set out to waste money.

So let's not make an historic English crime drama in any way live up to the original book when computer graphics will do it for you.

In fact it feels like a computer dream't up script. So why not call it something completely different?

How arrogant can one get? Is the BBC more enlightened than Agatha Christie? Do we have to have a "correct" version?

Just as Brian True May produced the best Midsomer Murders but got fired for having the right ingredients this producer comes up with the wrong ingredients. It's tough luck the broadcaster is crap too.

Certainly don't agree with the rest of the pack or sheep perhaps or the 20/30 somethings or teenagers that must have written on here - surely to God?

Yes.. its syfi but incredibly naive, primitive, trying to be American in some awful way with dreadful ham acting (just about got the right lines out) though very BBC. Just come off some fantastic Scandinavian drama so have been spoilt silly. BBC can do it - North and South for example.

This was recommended to us as yes I like syfi a lot but certainly not this syfi. You have to be kidding. Couldn't be worse if it tried and yet it has run for a staggering five seasons since 2013!.

The intro - the totally flippant, facetious way she took on that persons life - summed it up really. Absolutely not one iota for humanity. So not even humorous unless you are sick. Red Dwarf was humorous. There are endless examples of humorous Syfi.

Just goes to show people have dumbed down their viewing habits. Yet its so BBC now. Every drama appears to be for the 20 and thirty somethings. No family at all. This model is alien, doesn't exist for the BBC - yet very politically correct now. It has every type of maladjusted human being on the planet. Yet also falls between every different type of stool in the tv market.

Wow no wonder I avoid the BBC. These days the BBC couldn't copy a good foreign example of any excellent television drama no matter how hard it tried. Just one example was Wallander. Just watched this drama twice over. Stargate SG1 was also immaculate syfi.

Just shows the sad state of tv, film drama in the UK these days. Good luck with it!

God this is a strange series of Star Trek. It rather reminds me of what Stargate Universe was to SG1. Maybe, just maybe someone somewhere however unwittingly is allowing the powers that be the reason to kill the franchise off.

The history of Star Trek is so great so why muck it up with a lets everybody in the universe be a carbon copy of a mostly warped (get it?) version of people now inhabiting our real world.

Severn of Nine, Tom Paris were the sort of "warped" characters I loved to watch in Voyager.

Just sometimes you want to escape from the real world not be faced with a whole ship stuffed with awkward difficult sometimes brittle minority personalities. Do I have to admit that maybe these are in the majority now.

So no uplifting humour as in Voyager where if you feel you really just want to have a laugh you can cull various episodes to watch and for me its Picardo as the Doctor.

I suppose it was worth looking at an "evil " version of the Klingons as per the original first series, which I remember as a very young kid. Yet I had kind of got used to the helpful to the cause Klingons in the more recent series. The Borg were much more evil in the context they were introduced in the 1980s and gave any Klingon a serious run for its money let alone the humans which in that decade also had Terminators to give the human race especially those with and I quote "i've got a problem to deal with first" a tough time. These are the sort of people that might inhabit Discovery.

On the credit side it is modern CGI and full of mostly dark sinister scenes which is de rigueur now.

So the mapped out, so far, characters don't seem to have anything in common with Star Treks of years past. The Michael (crap name for a woman by the way) Burnham has "indeed" nothing in common with any Vulcan I have watched previously. Lorca, as one commentator phrased it, is a simply a "shady" character so nothing in common with previous captains but maybe something in common with, although not a captain, Dr Rush in Universe. So harsh and depressing.

On this note I would end with pointing out there has not been another TV Stargate since.