Riptide

So I thought about turning this series off more times than I can remember, but something (maybe the Sunday afternoon lull) compelled me to keep watching...

Jo Joyner carries this show, not sure why she felt the need to head across the pond but hey Ho a job is a job and whilst the acting at times is wooden by the cast, overall it's fairly watchable. Very typical of Australian soap, think neighbours/home and away. (Why is Australia filming always very grey?!)

Yes, I'm massively confused by why they chose an English mum and dad and an Australian actor for the daughter but i managed to overlook this and somewhat enjoy overall.

It might have been good, had the sound not been so poor! Music and sound effefts killed the dialogue, could only understand less than half spoken. It's not easy when you're hard of hearing and your hearing aids have to be turned down because the music is too high. Seems the norm these days, for all shows and films.

The acting was wooden and uninspiring, and unbelievable, and that was just episode one. This 4 part show could've been done and dusted in one episode, I imagine.

I'll watch all four and see if it can redeem itself, but not holding my breath. Its a pity because I like Jo Joyner, especially in comedy.

Alison and Sean seem to have the perfect life, newly married, living the perfect life, when Sean disappears at sea, Sean's family are quick to point that finger of blame on Alison, but is she the Cuckoo in the nest?

I'm not too sure why there are so many harsh reviews of this show, I'm not sure you could argue it's a classic, but it's well paced, it's intriguing, and it's so good to see the wonderful Jo Joyner taking a lead in a series.

It's very nicely produced, well filmed, and certainly well acted. They're perhaps a little guilty of taking away some of the suspense and mystery a little too soon, it becomes more of a whydunnit.

It's better than many of the mainstream mysteries on screen right now. It was a good Christmas watch.

There are a few flaws, considering Hannah has only been down under for two years, she doesn't half have a strong Australian accent, and as I said earlier, the mystery was revealed too soon.

7/10.

This must be one of the very worst thriller series I have ever had the misfortune to watch. Amateurish writing combined with production values of a five-shows-a-week soap opera - no better than dreadful stuff like Hollyoaks or The Bold and the Beautfiul, with exaggerated characters delivering unlikely lines and unlikely reactions.

All the actors are wooden and hammy, especially the "male model"-looking nosy neighbour, and the storyline is extremely hard to believe. Add to that a 28 year old playing 16 (while looking 28+) and really awful soapy music, there is really nothing to see here.

In "Shakespeare and Hathaway", Jo Joyner's bubbly personality is an asset, but here she is obviously out of her depth - recently tragically widowed, yet still with a happy smile all the time...

I had low expectations, as always when it comes to Australian drama, but this was even worse than I had feared. So watch something else. Anything else. Some cooking show or whatever...

The idea behind Riptide, whilst hardly original, could have been something that might have been very interesting.

But almost everything about it was "unbelievable" it had so many flaws that we kept watching thinking it could get better.

But it really doesn't.

There were too many occasions when belief was suspended beyond normal levels of expectation.

The bad "guy" is flagged too easily so there was no suspense as the episodes unfolded.

Elementary questions by all involved were never asked including Police procedures.

It was quite insulting for viewers thinking that we'd buy these continual misjudgments and events that really are beyond reasonable belief.

Broadcasters shouldn't take their audience for granted and expect them to like a "drama" like which was of such poor quality.

We're not C5 Watchers so this hasn't endeared us to this Channel.