Before We Die

Please ignore the critics and reviewers who seem to have seen an earlier Swedish series of which this is a copy. Use your own judgement based on this production, not a different one.

This first episode was quite good, in my view. The acting was ok and the story moved along - although I did find a couple of plot holes.

I look forward to the next episode.

This is a straight remake of a 2017 Swedish Series which can also be found on All4. I watched it earlier this year and It's vastly superior to this.

For me the adaptation didn't travel well or ring true set in Bristol but shot in Brussels? Lesley Sharp is an excellent actress but she has too much to do here as the supporting cast around her is very weak. Direction was mediocre with a lot of forced scenes, the score was busy and cheesy often telegraphing the action or destroying the drama within scenes. A poor script with much clunky dialogue.

Overall the remake felt dumbed down and a lot of the relationships didn't work. The original was subtle and built slowly but this one gave away the plot cheaply.

If you haven't seen the original and liked the first episode stick with it as the series storyline has a great pay-off. But if you weren't convinced by the first episode and enjoy Scandi Noir watch the original Series on All4 as it's miles better.

Hannah Laing's complex relationship with her son is made harder when it becomes apparent that he's involved with a very dangerous, criminal family.

Ignore the dismal reviews for this show, yes it's a remake, but one I thought that was fantastic. It is incredibly well paced, and doesn't let up for a second, six very intense episodes.

A few quibbles, why does Bianca have an incredibly English accent, when all her family have definite Serb/Croat accents. Why are there so many sky shots of Bristol, we all know chunks are filmed abroad, and why do they have Jurassic phones?

Minor quibbles addressed, this is a very edgy, stylish six part series, the acting is terrific Lesley Sharp is first rate, everyone has their part to play, not least Patrick Gibson, who plays Christian.

It feels as if they've left the door open for a possible second series, I'd be delighted if one were made.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, 8/10.

The producer bombed out many times.

Seriously, if you were under cover such as Christian, would you risk sending so many texts at times of being in the company of "the family"?

Also the attempts of running from them whilst being chased by a car, mostly done on main roads. Hilarious!

I have been somewhat surprised at the number of low marks given to this series. Some people even giving it one out of 10 which is quite frankly ridiculous. I have watched the original Scandinavian version and this version and whilst the Scandinavian is better this is by no means a bad remake let's face it some of the remakes of programs like the killing, the bridge, and the girl with the dragon tattoo. Have not been as good as the originals That does not mean that they don't stand up as decent shows in their own right.

I sometimes think when you get these remakes people seem to take pleasure in dishing them because they think they Are superior because they've watched a program with subtitles. I would agree with some Reviewers that Some of the performances were not great but I thought the lead actors did a decent job, so my Advice give it a go to Particularly if you have not seen the original. 7 out of 10.