Reviews

I was hoping and expecting something that was a little bit like Mike Leigh's masterpiece Abigail's party. Believe me, Abigail's party is 90 out of 100 but this is 0 out of 100. My other half said she would be generous and give it 1 out of 10 because she liked the fireplace in the house. Interestingly it has been given rave reviews by most critics including Bradshaw in the Guardian and Kermode in the Observer. Once again their credibility must be shot by over praising this ghastly and boring fiasco. Rarely has the phrase "The Emperor's New Clothes" seemed more appropriate. Tara Brady in the Irish Times is one of the few, along with the Sunday Times and a site called Little White Lies, among professional critics who got it totally right by saying "this is still just a bad , bad play". If you look more closely it's possible to see that many ordinary punters have slammed it as well. As of today jan 7th, 2018 it's popularity in IMDb seems to be nose diving quite justifiably as people realise that the critics have got it wrong and this movie in an atrocious turkey and an embarrassment to the talented cast

Inspector George Gently is a tremendous series and "Breathe in the Air" is a terrific episode. My only mild criticism is that Gently appears to be a politically correct figure from the 21st Century who has been transplanted back into the 1960's. It has to be said that Martin Shaw seems to know how to pick well-crafted and socially aware dramas after his previous sterling work in the mysteriously cancelled "Judge John Deed". There will be some who see this sort of writing as leftist corporation-bashing. They were probably the apologists for corporations who ….surprise,surprise…..seem to have virtually got away scot free with multiple financial scandals….apart from some trivial fines …. PPI, Libor & FX rigging, the 2008 debacle. Sadly I could go on. But, the programme is well acted, written, directed and produced. Something for the production team and the BBC to be very proud of.