The Guest

An enjoyable thriller which moves at an agreeable pace. Eva Myles is a great watch and looks like she's having the time of her life in a succession of glamorous outfits as a wealthy business woman with dark secrets. There's a few events that stretch credulity but mostly you're happy to glide over those for the overall reward. However, without spoiler, I can't reconcile how a character, who proves ultimately to have been involved in the whole nefarious business that's going on, should go off the deep end with catastrophic outcomes when he finds out the girl he's dating is not who she pretends to be?

I have watched all four episodes on BBC iplayer so my score of 5 is for the overall series.

After a period of reflection, I think this was going to be a 5-parter but the budget dictated 4 parts. This resulted in a completely ridiculous and rushed final episode. The ending spoilt what could have been a good series. The first 2 episodes were good, the third, so-so but the final episode!

One criticism, some of the dialogue was muttered with strong Welsh accents. I couldn't understand what was being said.

This wasn't the BBC at its best, more like a Channel 5 production.

I just finished Season 1. Starting with the good parts, it was engaging throughout, which is impressive considering the episodes were almost an hour long even though there were only four. I always wanted to know what would happen next, what genre it was really going for, and where the story was heading. The cast did a great job, especially the two lead actresses.

In the first episode, a few scenes reminded me of The Maid. Then I thought it felt more like Sweet Pea. But as it went on, it took a bit of a different direction. Each episode ended in a way that made me curious about what was coming, which kept me hooked.

The thing with shows like this is that everything depends on the ending. Once everything is revealed, that's when you know if the whole journey was worth it. For me, the ending just wasn't satisfying. The characters' motives didn't make much sense, the final episode had a lot of predictable moments, and the parts that weren't predictable still didn't feel satisfying.

To be honest, it wasn't just the ending that made me want to rate this show so low. Throughout the show, it kept going in different directions, and even in the last episode I was asking myself which genre it actually was. I smiled after finding out the reason behind it and thought, "Is that it? All these things were happening just because of this?" It just didn't feel right for this type of show. I think if the final episode had been better, I probably would have rated it 6 or 7 and wanted a Season 2, but sadly, it didn't make it there.

The first two episodes were entertaining, but after that it became increasingly implausible.

This seems to be being sold as a "who is playing whom" thriller, but things are so imbalanced that "who is playing whom" is not in any real doubt.

While Lee is far from being a central character, I found the way his character developed to be hard to swallow.

The two police detectives were very poorly conceived. As if the writer felt he had to write some police into this, even though he really didn't want to. There's a laughable, very brief conversation between the two of them where they essentially demonstrate just how lacklustre they are.

So, maybe watch the first two episodes but then call it a day. Save yourself from the rather questionable ending.

Ria is down on her luck; she loses her cleaning job and has a leech of a boyfriend. However, her fortunes change when she meets the glamorous Fran, who takes her under her wing, offers her a job, and shows her a different life. Unfortunately, it ends in tragedy.

This is a quality drama. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to do so quickly; make it a priority. This is well worth a couple of hours of your time.

It's perhaps a little slow to start; it takes time. But when it does, you'll be gripped; storytelling at its very best. It's intense, it's gripping, and it's such a captivating mystery.

The acting is superb; Eve Myles and Gabrielle Creevy are equally brilliant. The pair plays their parts superbly well. In my opinion, Eve tops her performance in Keeping Faith.

Incredibly location work, especially the magic of Rhossili; it looks sublime.

I'm up for more BBC Wales dramas; this is yet another belter!

9/10.