The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies

A good story, brilliantly acted by an excellent cast, but tediously slow at times, and unworthy of five hours of investment.

Another reviewer made a point about how blatantly implausible Rob's lies were and how unlikely it is that an intelligent woman would fall for them. This reviewer neglects to mention that this very point is made in the show, and by the lady in question, who is exasperated retrospectively by her gullibility and voluntary blindness in the face of an obvious liar.

This show would have benefited from being a little leaner. Three hours would have been quite sufficient to tell the story, enabling it to move along more quickly and efficiently. On this occasion, it is not a case of having time to flesh out the characters, who are well enough established within the first hour, and, rather than tension, tedium is the result of the unnecessarily long time taken to reach the end.

The difference between three hours and five hours, is the amount of people I would happily recommend this show to, with fewer likely to take a chance and commit to the latter.

The worlds of two women crash together, brought together by Doctor Robert Chance, who on the surface is a prominent Scientist, fighting for the future of the Earth, but underneath a confidence trickster, and a man who preys on women.

It's a deliciously dark and twisted series, it takes a little bit of time for it to open up, but when it does, it's addictive viewing.

Initially I thought it was merely a black comedy, but as it develops, it morphs into a psychological drama, with domestic abuse as its focus. It proves one thing, the abused can be ordinary, down to Earth people, or indeed the ritch and famous, people you'd look at and say 'it would never happen to them.'

It's well paced, full of suspense, and contains some genuinely upsetting moments, expect the unexpected. The final episode is seriously satisfying viewing.

Each of the main characters has a chance to shine, Alistair Petrie, Marianne Jean Baptiste and Rebekah Staton all have some incredible scenes.

Truly satisfying drama.

9/10.

To be honest, I was hooked from the first episode. So much so that I watched the whole thing in one night.

It's funny, tackles some gritty issues in such relatable ways, and overall has a good message.

I'm hoping for a second series!

I was tempted to give it a nine because it could have maybe been wrapped up in three to four episodes, but I decided it was fun and pleasurable and well worth the time.

The subject it deals with is awful but it is also so normal. And I think that this gives a good, honest, peek into it. For those who think it's a fantasy, either lucky you or more likely you are one of the baddies!

Not too bad a series, with an interesting storyline but it would have done much better with different lead actors.

Rebekah Staton is as stiff as cardboard. I know she is supposed to portray a fearful and bullied woman but she came out as an absolutely brainless bore. Why should everything turn out badly for Alice? Her bad luck and inaction became unbelievable after a while.. Alistair Petrie too relied too much on his facial expressions, it looked unbelievably over acted - and the first episode of him clumsily riding his bicycle around university like a mad man made it look like the series was meant to be a comedy.

Marianne Jean Baptist was as usual a good actress, but was some what too strong an actress and became a stark contrast between the other 2 weaker lead actors.

When watching a TV drama, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is often required. For example, in a detective drama like Morse or Vera, the police person usually goes in alone and unarmed to confront the murderer, rather than calling in armed backup and waiting.

But in this series suspension of disbelief is needed all the way through. I'm constantly thinking "that couldn't happen", "she wouldn't say that", "he couldn't do that". The premise of the story is that right at the start, a man turns up in Oxford claiming to be a top climate scientist. Well, no, anyone could look it up and see that he and his supposed research institute doesn't exist. All the way through, the characters have to behave in a ridiculously stupid way for the story to work. In the final episode, it descends to a kind of farcical pantomime.

There are some redeeming features. The acting is fairly good, considering the silly things that the actors have to say and do. The sets and costumes are quite lavish; plenty of licence fee payers' money has been spent producing this.