Golpe de revés

I'll admit I only started watching this because it had Aidan Turner in it - and as actor I admire his talent.

No offence to him or to Ella Lily Hyland (or any of the other actors) because it's not their ability as actors that ruin this.

I get that this is important issue, and that the plot in itself was topical. But what on earth happened from its inception to the final production?

It's just dire. I don't know if I'm even going to bother watching the last 3 episodes because I just find it so incredibly predictable, boring and mind numbing. It could have been so much better. That's my word count reached so I'll leave it there.

I'm a huge tennis fan and I expected this to be full of in accuracies and take liberties in the name of making good TV. And it was utterly inaccurate in just about everything about tennis.

That would be fine if the show itself was good. Unfortunately after a semi decent start it falls of a proverbial cliff in terms of well.. pretty much everything.

Let me list a few of the worst things: Horrible acting from most of the cast, the directing, pacing, script and story are all over the place. You get endless repetitive scenes of the coach talking in a ridiculous voice saying pretty much the same lines.

By episode 3-4 it seems like they're out of ideas or trying to fill time because they reach for pretty much every TV trope you can think of.

The main actress is actually pretty good. Especially for an unknown.

Why use Wimbledon and Roland Garros in a story and you can't even mention it them by name? There are plenty of other big tournaments? Why is the main character acting like she's broke when she would have won nearly £1million from the French Open? Why is the grass completely worn out down to mud on DAY 1 of Wimbledon? Oh and news flash for the writers... tennis players regularly rant and scream at their coaches in front of millions of people - no one cares, it's not the dramatic moment you think it is.

I'm mystified how stuff like this gets made.

Despite the scathing reviews from the mainstream media, I trusted my instincts and stuck it out for the entire six sets. Yes, there were quite a few unforced errors in the plot and more than a couple of double faults in the editing. Ella Lily Hyland, however was absolutely amazing. She literally smashed it out of the court. Vulnerable and venomous, victim and aggressor, her voice, movement and expression were captivating. Such was her presence, I felt that I had truly known this almost unknown actress for years.

The plot was predictable but worthy. Other acting was less so. One can understand how Aidan Turner became more famous for his torso than his acting ability. Other members of the cast were more caricatures than characters.

Wow. Aidan Turner expertly pulls off the most accurate depiction of how a narcissist manipulates and controls their victims. The writing and acting was spot on to perfectly display the many layers of this personality disorder: the love bombing, controlling, facade of gentleness, caring and protectiveness. Plus the underlying immense insecurities and self-loathing that these people feel which culminates into their own self-destruction.

Excellent, heartfelt and gut wrenching acting by the young stars in this show as well. Bravo to the writers, the cast, and to Prime for making this important show.

It's a bit stereotypic, which is pretty obvious from the first few episodes. You can see where this is going. Perhaps not a surprise since its created by (angry?) women who wants to make a statement?

The show is good, the acting is good, the characters are interesting and well played.

One thing is terrible though; the typical issues when making a show about sports. The scenes when they play tennis...why didnt they just skip those? Its terrible! It looks like a bunch of amateurs playing, with a cheering crowd which would have booooed for much less. If these were the ones qualifying for the grand slams, this show would be a total disaster.

Watch it though, and forget about tennis scenes.