Desperate Measures

Channel 5 dramas are not known for their quality at the best of times, and this is certainly not one of their best.

It's entertaining enough to watch all episodes in one evening if you have nothing better to do, and can get past the first episode which doesn't really come alive until the last 5 minutes. Be prepared to suspend belief in just about everyone and everything ... Cops who couldn't find a criminal right under their noses unless they were waving a placard with "I'm a robber" written on it and a Drug Lord who is a true pantomime villain with a gun

From the cops to the robbers, the acting and script is pretty poor and the ending ridiculous.

"Desperate Measures" suffers from having an illogical and, frankly, impossible plot. The villain is akin to a cartoon character while the bank manager and police officer are little different. That said, the principal characters do their best with what they've been given - ridiculous plot, a plethora of unlikely circumstances, and a fairly mundane script.

A less likely gang of bank robbers is not just hard to imagine, it's impossible to imagine. How a nervous bank cashier is transformed into their leader is a question better not even asked. However, if all of the impossibilities and other failings are put to one side, the series can be watched and even enjoyed. The story does move along at a decent pace and is interesting despite being so implausible. Rather oddly, I found myself reasonably gripped despite its deficiencies, and award it a 5, which somewhat surprises me.

This was OK. A bit of a daft story with stereotypical characters, a baddie with a gun, a dumb drug runner and a dumber school kid. Single mum, short of money, kid somehow gets involved with drug baddies, mum now owes money. Luckily she works in a bank!!!.

It was such a shame that Abington felt the need to overact with the constant ridiculous facial expressions and her over the top touchy/feely actions and baby references to her teenage son. Actually he lapped it up which is odd - usually it'd be a 'gerrof' if mum tries to cuddle a teenage lad, and call him darling. She was always cupping his face in her hands and hugging him tightly. Too much. In most scenes she was putting all she learned in acting school into her performance - it makes it so unnatural, forced and a 'look at me, I'm acting'. She's a good actress and doesn't need to do thiis.

The outstanding actor in this series was Sunetra - playing Abington's work colleague . An understated, natural performance. No over acting, Nothing to annoy viewers.

Despite the appalling acting of the son (can't recall his name) and the ridiculous baddie, this it was watchable, if daft. Abington needs to curb her annoying facial expressions as they were a distraction.

Amanda Abbington did her best as a cashier who comes under suspicion when her bank is robbed but she had too little support to save the show.

Production values were poor, not sure where it was meant to be set, but it was shot in Hungary, for budget reasons I guess? Main problem was the cast, there were some awful actors in this, e.g. Her wooden boss and the HR woman, the baddies, her son and his friends etc.

The script was also weak and clunky, it was a potboiler plot full of improbablities with nothing original.

One you can safely give a swerve, it was terrible all round. Find something better and don't waste your time.

For channel 5, not too bad actually. Don't get me wrong, you need to leave any sense of reality firmly at the door, but once you do and accept it for what it is, it's actually quite enjoyable so far.

A few things could have been done differently, such as the bad guy (too dog drug dealer), who is horribly miscast here. Also the storyline of sunetra sarkers character, whos mum drops a hot boiling pan and then all of a sudden she decides to help rob a bank; didnt really sit well with me. Plus, it has clearly been filmed in a European country on the cheap (not in the uk, despite it being set here), so all road signs and price tags in shops are blurred out or quickly rushed over, but it's done in quite a sloppy and amateurish way. All this being said, I'm looking forward to seeing how the next 2 episodes play out.