Red Rose

Made by the same company as 'Sex Education' this is a very different beast and no comedy. Yes its a bunch of teens at odds with the world and themselves - but this is a coming of age horror story set in Bolton. For once its not a bunch of rich kids at a posh Academy down south.

Made for BBC3 its now also going out on BBC1 which shows its well thought of. The budget is obviously tight but it was well made and it was generally well cast. Best friends and principals Wren and Rochelle played by Amelia Clarkson and Isis Hainsworth are both excellent actors.

The storyline is interesting and grabbed me. Rochelle downloads the 'red rose app' hoping to boost her confidence with it, but it soon begins to become controlling and events start to take a much darker turn.

This is one to enjoy and safely roll with if you like the first episode. I'm in.

Before I begin my review I just want to reiterate this new idea from IMDb whereby all reviews must contain 600 characters this to me is ridiculous as there are certain shows series that are so bad it is very difficult to write that much in a review without listing individual plot holes etc which is something I do not like to do! So I end up waffling inherently just to fulfill the required characters.

This show had a good start dark mysterious humour I found the characters as end of school kids good and the acting was good, story wise it was a bit strange and there were many flaws in its production and writing mainly due to the strange story and how the kids reacted which on many occasion was bizzare and not what you would expect any level headed teen to do or act! Due to that you can not expect a good ending so I wasn't surprised at the lameness of the ending either! If you don't expect much and don't look to much into the story it is passable entertainment only. Seems the BBC is hit an£ miss with its drama sadly this is one of its misses ! For a Hit BBC drama I would opt for the Capture imo.

After she downloads an app called Red Rose, life spirals out of control for teenage girl Rochelle, who's phone seems to have a life of its own, others download it, and have to discover who's behind it to stay alive.

It's an enjoyable, fast moving psychedelic horror series, I was impressed by the tone of it, the acting and the pacing. It really does get darker and more twisted as it develops, the final trio of episodes were the best patch for me.

What was interesting, was the anonymity of the villains, nameless, faceless, and lacking any degree of morality.

Initially I just saw it as The BBC doing a Netflix type series, similar to Eden or Scream, but it has its own identity, it's twisted and macabre at times, it had me gripped.

Well written, well crafted, I liked the mix of horror, humour drama and action, it surprised me how good it actually was, so much so that I binge watched it in a day.

7/10.

It started so good, the first 3-4 episodes with Rochelle were great, then it was becoming just an average teenage drama, lazier and lazier writing and not believable. New, shallow characters appeared, too many unbelievable coincidences, like Roch's father having a picnic on his own in the same spot as the teenagers and by coincident he also has Roch's letter about her results in his hands. What is the chance of that happening? Teenagers dying and no one is willing to turn their phone or WiFi off. The last episode is probably the worst. I was expecting a much more twisted ending. The series had a potential but it feels like a different person wrote the beginning and end episodes.

What sets this thriller apart is its genuinely likable and believable group of young freinds. It takes its time to really build up their relationships and I loved its use of trademark northern big hearted insulting banter. When the story starts taking dark twists you really care about what happens to them and the bonds and rifts feel real. Red Rose is a sophisticated cyber thriller, but also a wonderfully portrayed warm hearted, realistic drama. Make sure you give it the time it deserves as it is more considered and less showy than a lot of dramas we are used to today, but the pay off is worth it and it stays with you. There are some really powerful uses of music for key moments. I'm sure we will be seeing more of its talented young cast and I look forward to more from the writers too with their totally believable gritty writing.