Capital

I have to admit that the mystery at the heart of this series' plot. Is what made me continue to watch it. The acting is good, as are the directing and production values. As an anglophile, I enjoy seeing how the Brits live. The characters in the series are interesting enough, and could be people one would come into contact with in our daily lives. The series just misses coming off as a soap opera, which in some ways it could be compared to. While I don't begrudge the time I spent watching the series. I was a little "underwhelmed" by the final reveal and the finale.

Capital was a three part adaptation of a satirical book by John Lanchester and adapted by Peter Bowker as a modern Dickensian satire looking at class, race, immigration, greed and a London neighbourhood in a background of rising house prices.

Petunia is at 84 Pepys Road and lived here all her life and seems to have come to grips with the cosmopolitan nature of her neighberhood. She has a grandson who seems to be some type of Banksy style street artist and her daughter comes to stay with her and she knows that value of her house. The Ahmed's are second generation children of Pakistani immigrants who want to foster good relations with their customers but one of the brother's is showing signs of radicalisation.

Roger is an investment banker with a big house, big extension and plans to do more work in the house and maybe get a house in the country with his big bonus. His wife already has made plans to spend the bonus. They have kids that go to private schools and eastern European child minders. The series seems to have few regrets about investment bankers who bought the country to its knees a few years earlier.

In among the mix are an asylum seeker embroiled with the appeals system, Polish builders making a nice living with the constant demands for refurbishment from good cheap labour and who all interact with each other. They all start to get threatening letters and emails. Someone wants what they have and police are called in to investigate.

The film is a gentle satire but I felt light on plot. Maybe it could had been done as a two hours film. We kind of guess the Ahmed's will end up in trouble with the police when that long lost friend came to crash in their house for a few days.

However it was worth just to see Toby Jones face when he got that much lower than expected bonus. Later on his account to his bosses as to whether they actually understand what these mathematical geniuses that they employ to do the trading is rather prescient

Acting was good. Have seen many of these actors in many other things and like most of them. Thought the story was leading to a great mystery and in the end fell flat like bread without yeast!

A group of neighbours are perplexed when they receive cards, featuring the words 'we want what you have,' initially they treat them as a marketing plan, but events soon take a more serious twist.

It's a very unique drama, I can think of very few along the same lines, the closest thing that comes to mind, The Casual Vacancy, not they there isn't a story, there definitely is, but it's almost secondary to the wonderful character play.

Every single character is so rich, so well realised, so relevant, the stories have significance even a decade on, Quentina's in particular.

Hard to say what it is, it's a drama, it's a mystery, it's one of those that doesn't need to be classified, it's just such an absorbing watch.

The performances are terrific, you'll see so many well known faces, so much talent, Toby Jones, Rachel Stirling and Gemma Jones are awesome. I truly rated the performance of Radoslaw Kaim, Bogdan was a great character.

9/10.

This more of a (mostly) comedy soap opera than anything. It has elements of realism in its premise: the social mix created in London streets because of exploding property prices - but there is also over-the-top parody and slightly cloying sentimentality. The comedy Pakistani grandmother is a case in point. The story of the postcards is weak and a bit baffling. The Detective Inspector (yes, that's the drip's rank) who endlessly visits the street on this rather trivial matter certainly isn't realistic. I have my doubts, too, about the church which entirely consists of a large wonderfully disciplined choir. We're in a dream world, except perhaps for Gemma Jones's story. And then there's the sadly all-too realistic tale of the Home Office relentlessly persecuting an immigrant. A strange mix, but overall it is fun to watch and the acting is mostly excellent.