Joan

A sad story of a Kent girl with a rough life, who gets into diamond theft and other assorted shenanigans. It's not bad as stories like this go and passes the time, BUT whoever selected the contemporary background music for this needs to be replaced as woefully inept. It starts supposedly in 1985 and has Brass in Pocket playing from 1979. It switches to four months earlier but has two songs from four years earlier, in 1981 (Bucks Fizz, Making Your Mind Up on the radio and and Soft Cell, Tainted Love in a bar). We also hear Hungry Like the Wolf from 1982, and whilst all of that is at least from the recent past to the time when this is set, it is very strange that we don't hear anything from 1984/85. Finally, this is all blown up when we then seem to time travel to 1989 as Wicked Game by Chris Isaak plays on the jukebox. I have never in all my years seen and heard such a cocked-up selection of supposedly contemporary background music in a professional TV or movie production. It is so bad, it detracts from the show in itself.

The poor reviews here are to me amusing, it's a good series the acting is great, the characters are well developed but hold on here the story is great, no one complained about Atomic Blonde it's the soundtrack aswell that's brilliant, epitomises the music at that time it's realistically set in how London was at that time, the it's a pity that people can't pull back and just enjoy something like this, pull your heads in and just enjoy it , the comments I'm reading gets me thinking have to watched the same series, don't see those comments about snatch or kill bill glorifying violence, I'm laughing.

I was quite engaged with Joan in the first couple of episodes and Turner and Dillane were excellent and had chemistry but unfortunately it lost its way as it progressed. It was essentially TV crime by the numbers with cliched characters and situations and from what I've read is not very accurate in regards the real Joan Hannington. I'm not saying it has to be as I accept it was just based on the actual person but I was a bit disappointed how it all panned out and it all fell flat, especially in the final episode. It was a shame as both Sophie Turner and Frank Dillane demonstrated they can act well and I hope to see them again in perhaps a better vehicle.

It's 1985. Single mother Joan O'Connell (Sophie Turner) escapes after her petty criminal boyfriend gets in trouble with violent gangsters. She is forced to place her daughter with the authorities while she tries to start again in London. She steals gems from her workplace. She joins crooked antiques dealer Boise Hannington (Frank Dillane) on her way to becoming a real life Godmother.

I think this is a limited series. It could continue, but I don't know about any future plans. As it stands, it's six episodes of about forty five minutes each. That's four and a half hours in total. Some of it feels slow. The crimes are not actually that thrilling. Her desperation for her daughter is the most emotionally compelling. This needs some condensing in order to quicken certain parts.

Sophie Turner delivers a remarkable performance, transporting viewers back to the vibrant 80s with its iconic hair, music, and cars. The show begins with a captivating story that pulls you in, creating a sense of deep involvement. However, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes increasingly implausible that an ordinary woman, with no criminal background, quickly evolves into a mastermind thief, manipulating seasoned criminals within days. One particularly frustrating element is Joan's tendency to gaslight others, despite her own flawed ideas. Overall, the series serves as a commentary on the shortcomings of weak men.