North Shore

Ok so this isn't Line of Duty or the Wire but it it was much better than I was expecting due mainly to the two leads who carry it.

John Bradley seems to have mastered the smart cookie hidden behind the soft English 'buffoon' character.

Joanne Froggatt continues to show has the ability to lead. However, if I were being critical it does feel like she's being held back and not allowed to show her full range.

The one irritating aspect was her inability to maintain her 'posh' English accent. It slips every now and then revealing her northern roots.

Don't go into this expecting a breathtaking drama. Take it for what it is. A simple who done it with a great twist at the end!

The Australian actors make the actors on Home & Away and Neighbours seem like the best actors on the planet - that's how bad it is. The British actors are good, but you can feel the cringe they are going through by working with these E grade actors. The script writing is terrible - soap level at best. I felt terrible for John Bradley and Joanne Froggatt having to try and make the best of the awful script and the cheesy acting by the Australians. Could have been great and ended up being mediocre at best. Loads of cliches. I think British actors need to seriously consider whether it's worth tarnishing their careers by acting in Australian dramas unless it's Underbelly or Wentworth quality writing and acting. I've given it 5 starts out of respect for the British actors who are undoubtedly embarrassed.

I liked it. It's not the best show out there, but it's also not the worst. It was obvious who the killer was about halfway through, but the twist they used to show it was probably the best 5 seconds of acting in the series. It's a police procedural that you can watch with your kids. No intense shoot-outs, no car chases through the city with multiple wrecks, no sex scenes etc. Watching this reminded me of watching the last Crocodile Dundee; It definitely won't win any awards, but you can do far worse. It's a very pleasant 4 hour evening binge. I'm looking forward to a second season if they make one because the ending of this one could go either way.

I'm sorry for those who gave this low scores and gave up on it before the last episode!

Because the final episode has the most surprising twist of any crime/ murder mystery series since the first season of Broadchurch! Not as emotionally dramatic but still shocking!

There is no way - and you're right it doesn't seem to point to the fact that there even will be a twist at the end - which makes it even more amazing. It seemed like just a normal procedural, that was however to me a great story and a great bunch of characters and their relationships evolving; with the backdrop of politics! And you assume that they and us the viewers know who the killer and accessories are around halfway through the series. And probably thinking what else is there - and boy is there something else! Then even after that denouncement, the very last scenes offer up surprises!

The surprise probably meaning there could be a sequel. Let's see. As long as there is another intriguing murder!

Ok I'm five episodes in so probably shouldn't be calling it.

There's a bit to like.

The actual whodunnit is mildly intriguing.

The pommy detective is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.

The Aussie lead detective is just dreadful. Probably not completely the actors fault though. She starts out as every cliche ridden caricature you could imagine and pretty much stays there.

What really annoys me though is the lack of reality in the day to day situations. We are supposed to believe that the leader of the opposition in the middle of an election campaign has 3 hours to spend at the beck and call of some strumpet every night in one city. Then there's meant to be a big trade agreement. FFS have the writers not heard of caretaker mode?