The Driver

David Morrisey always seems to me to play characters with a certain air about them just in a different job eg cop or baddie. That works very in this role and he does it well.

In this cautionary tale he develops a nice little earner and you're not sure whether to feel sorry for him , condone or condemn him but all the time you know it just cant last.

Mixing in family problems, it's that conundrum that gets you hooked and watching to the end to see what happens.

The action and pace never really break into a fast trot apart from the first couple of minutes of episode 1 but it does flow along nicely. There's the odd flash of dark humour here and there particularly one of the thugs describing his girlfriend moving "down south". All well played by a good cast.

Well with a watch.

Taxi Driver Vince feels estranged from his family, keen to better his life, he chooses a path, of crime.

It's taken me quite a few years to get around to watching this, better late than never. It's a good watch, it isn't what I was expecting, but on the whole I enjoyed it.

Brocklehurst has written some fantastic dramas, I wouldn't say this is up there with the best of them, but it's still a very fine watch.

It begins with a very dramatic, high energy scene, and ends in the same fashion, the segments in between on the whole are a mix of very good and solid.

A few times you need to suspend your disbelief, but some aspects feel quite realistic, such as Vince's trials and tribulations at work, and his mental decline.

Three episodes was about the right length, it ensured the pacing was good. It didn't lag at any point.

The best element for me was the acting of David Morrissey, he was terrific as Vince, I also enjoyed Colm Meaney too, he played the part of the villain very well. Light relief came from Lee Ross and Chris Coghill.

7/10.

Although billed as an action-fest, this is actually a far more cerebral piece. With car chases.

David Morrissey seems to have cornered the market in family men having midlife crisis (see also "The 7.39"), but this role allows him to show both his sensitive side and imposing physicality. The acting highlights have to be his scenes with the equally great Ian Hart, who he grew up with on Merseyside but had never acted with until now.

The rest of the cast are equally on top of their game; with Lee Ross and Chris Coghill providing much needed comic relief. And the first two parts, with their unrelenting pace, need it at times to allow the viewers to draw breath.

By the final episode, the various interconnecting plots have hit the rumble strips a little, meaning this is merely great rather than mind- blowing entertainment. But compared to much of what counts as "Original British Drama" on our dumbed-down BBC, it's top-notch.

The driver starts with a thrilling car chase as Vince McKee (David Morrissey) evades the police in the streets of Manchester. You almost feel this could be akin to the film Drive.

Vince life takes an unexpected turn as an old friend Colin (Ian Hart) released from prison gets him to accept an offer to drive for a criminal gang.

Vince a taxi driver, sick with the life as a cabbie finds that he is an ordinary man who is in over his head by being a driver for the criminals. His life has taken a turn for the worse since his son joined some kind of cult and he and his wife have drifted apart.

Gang leader, The Horse (Colm Meaney) is not a man who stands for nonsense, when a job which leads to a man being shoved in a hole and left for dead goes awry, Vince realises he wants his old life back but the police are also watching him.

After a bright opening episode, you realise from the second episode that this three parter has a flimsy plot. Vince is not cut out to be a bad boy, his mistakes lands his friend Colin in a spot of bother and in the final episode the Police have got him and its a case of whether Vince will give the gang up.

A disappointment when you realise that this could had been a good 90 minutes film. Meaney, Hart and Morrissey act their parts well, some of the car chase scenes are exciting, there is a lot of grittiness and the scenes where he confronts his son in the cult's home will make your heart cry for Vince but it needed a more solid script.

The main charactrer Vince is a weak pathetic man who together with his wife has taken no time in teaching their daughter any life or emotional skills. She's expects things like driving lessons even though money is tight but Vince is too weak to say "find some work & i'll help you". Her boyfriend needed a lift so Vince gave him one in the taxi and the boyfriend blatantly disrespecgted him, but had to suck up to his daughter over it.

Even when he gets involved with the criminals, he does no planning/preparing self-development to prepare for the tasks ahead.

He get's pulled by police in the car the ciminals gave him, does a runner & luckilly escapes, and then drives to the crime bosses house without warning him first and when asked if there were any problems, he says "no". So he thinks that the reg plate is not going to get pulled again.

Could have been a really good movie, but Vince just annoyed the hack out of me.