Bali 2002

I wasn't paying attention to the news when this happened, so this was interesting because I didn't know too much about it. The series did a good job of showing the shock and chaos of those first few hours. I liked how they worked with the timelines and interspersing some original footage. The show was well done, it wasn't emotionally manipulative, but very real. (Although I did fast forward through a few bits that were too tragic). I liked that it touched on the practical details of how to handle a disaster like this, both politically and medically.

What an incredible job the AFP did afterwards, in such difficult circumstances.

My Review - Bali 2020 My Rating 7/10 Streaming on Stan On the 20th Anniversary of the cruel and callous terrorist attacks on Bali's tourist hotspots, this 4 part dramatisation series explores how everyday heroes from Bali, Australia and beyond defied the odds to bring order from chaos and hope from despair it also portrays the pain and loss that the victims experienced.

It's particularly disturbing after watching this series to read that the Islamic militant Umar Patek was granted early release weeks before 20th anniversary of the terror attack that killed 202 mostly Australian tourists.

In 2021 the 82-year-old former head of Jemaah Islamiah, an al-Qaeda-inspired group behind the attack that killed 202 people.

People from 21 nations died in the blasts on 12 October 2002 on the popular holiday island of Bali. The two bombs had ripped through Paddy's Irish Bar and the nearby Sari Club in the Kuta tourist district.

Directors Peter Andrikidis and Katrina Irawati Graham have done a splendid job as well as the script writers Marcia Gardner, Justin Monjo and Kris Wyld.

It's not a long drawn out series and achieves a good balance between telling the personal story of loss of some of the victims without exaggeration or sensationalism .

It also presents the critical political events that in some ways hampered the investigations between the Indonesian Crime authorities and the Australian Investigation Team headed by Graham Ashton, the former AFP officer and, later, chief commissioner of Victoria Police.

Richard Roxburgh in my opinion gives one of his best performances as Graham Ashton it a far removed role from his usual edgy roles such as Cleaver Greene in Rake . He is almost understated as the chief investigator who has to negotiate a fine line between observing the cultural differences that threaten to destroy the vital evidence his team needs to find the murderous terrorists responsible.

It's an impressive cast led by Claudia Jessie as British tourist Polly Miller, Rachel Griffiths as burns specialist Dr Fiona Wood, Richard Roxburgh as Australian Federal Police Commander Graham Ashton and Sean Keenan as AFL star Jason McCartney.

The other revelation for me disclosed in this story was the fact that the vital intelligence predicting possible terrorist activity at the time was either ignored or not considered urgent by The Liberal Government headed by the PM at the time John Howard .

The subject matter is disturbing and may distress some viewers but the Producers have done justice to this terrible event.

It was really quite confronting to see this tragedy re-enacted. The show is tasteful, showing actual footage while pairing it with the narrative of the storyline.

It was thought provoking and the cast have done a good job in portraying the chaos and trauma well.

Perhaps would have liked a bit more character development before the bombs went off as well as additional characters however looks it's been executed well.

Sadly user: "mkennedy-36926" has written a rather inflammatory and negative review. The fact this person hasn't got a basic grasp of the English language when it comes to spelling or grammar shows their absolute lack of intellect.

Ignore the negative reviews!

Just because someone doesn't like this, there is no reason to trash an exceptionally good series! Get a life!!!

After reading some of the reviews you'd think it was the worse thing that's been on tv!.

This is really good, in my opinion and that's just my opinion! I think there are some better performers or actors in the show! And not necessarily all Australian!!

The people panning it are complete morons! Someone called it mega cringe! I can imagine what trash they watch!

I found it to be engrossing from beginning to end. This is a true life event that was seriously tragic!

I highly recommend it. And it does NOT deserve the lowest ratings!

There were some confronting scenes which really hit home the devastation victims and their families have had to endure. The acting and directing overall was good enough to want to watch each episode until the end. It wasn't intended to be a blockbuster but a timely documentation of the pain and suffering of the victims and the investigation occurring at the time. And that's exactly what this series is. For the critics attacking the actors; I think they played their roles very well, particularly as traumatised victims both during and after the bombings. I think perhaps they could have shared more stories or followed the progress of the victims' recoveries in more depth, but that's just nit-picking to reach the 600 word count required by this review.