Boat Story

I don't understand some of the negative reviews - yes, you'll either love it or hate it - but watch it for what it is - I love it so far; very different and thoroughly enjoyable.

For me, the Tarantino-esque over-the-top violence and Lock Stock-like ineptitude and daftness of some situations/characters is what I enjoy about it so far. Yes there is violence, yes the plot is unrealistic, yes the dialog is sometimes corny, yes the characters could have been written better, but it's simply good fiction and a good plot so far, so watch it for what it is...a dark comedic thriller.

Although only 2 episodes in, I really cannot wait for the remaining episodes!

Where do I start? At the end. This has the best endings ever. It's not a misspelling, I do mean endings. It's not like there are choices to change the ending. It's more, well you'll see .. more endings. And the ending, while not the ending the tailor hoped for, was as spectacular an ending as anyone could hope for. The acting is absolutely top class and the story line has a lot of twists and turns. I particularly like the way actors who we know for their roles in other series suddenly confound us by doing the unexpected. Craig Fairbrass shows us he can play a character other than henchman. Joanna Scanlan goes from annoying dog trainer in wellies to iconic sex symbol and shows us her softer side. Then just as you get comfortable with the idea she might be a bombshell in bed drops coarse humour then later compassion. It's Villian meets French romance meets Godfather gangsters (tubas instead of violins) strung together in a series of sketches that have a Monty Python air of "and now for something completely different" with scenes broken by Keystone Cops title plates and a stage show reminiscent of Mulholland Drive. Yes, I've tried not to give away the plot, because you should absolutely watch it and once you've started you'll find it very hard to stop. Utterly brilliant in every way!

Then it would more than likely be along the lines of Boat Story. Its all here drugs, money, greed and some of the most violent shot outs I've ever seen on the BBC. I binged the whole lot in two day's, Daisy Hoggard and Patterson Joseph make an unlikely double act as they take on a very angry French drug lord who's drugs they have stolen, played superbly by the Missing's Tcheky Karyo.

The storylines are of course utterly ridiculous and totally unbelievable but when you get a mixture of violence and very dark comedy it really does not matter.

Overall a really enjoyable six hours of television. 8/10.

Crime is rarely fun; and cocaine is not some wonder drug with no serious ill-effects; but the criminal caper, often focused on cocaine dealing and featuring some stylised ultraviolence, is a well established genre. And you'll rarely see it done with more panache than in 'Boat Story', with its ridiculous plot and arch presentation, playing self-consciously with the viewer but actually well assembled and acted. The cast have great fun while managing to keep straight faces; I did enjoy seeing a good role for Joanna Scanlon, a fine comic actress when given something to work with. What you can't do is really care who lives and who dies; but that isn't really the point.

This series was very good but I think it dragged on a little too long. It would have been better if it was about 4 episodes. For me, the strongest characters were Samuel, Janet, Guy and The Tailor. It was also great to see Craig Fairbrass again as he is absolutely brilliant as an actor and I always wondered why he wasn't on mainstream tv more often. A great series with lots of twists and turns....i can see why it scored highly and would have given it a 10 but for the duration...by the end of episode 5, I guessed the ending by. However, worth watching and making up your own mind. A dark and compelling story that has some comedic moments!!