Somewhere Boy

Some wonderful acting here, without a weak link, but let down by two big failings. First, it was totally incredible that an intelligent young man wouldn't have questioned this isolated upbringing. Apart from anything else, where were the house's electricity and TV transmissions coming from? And secondly, at over three hours it was far too long. A two-hour span, comprising four half hour episodes, would have made for a tighter, more coherent drama. I thought this was a great shame, because as a coming of age drama, focusing on the three young people brought together by these painful events of the past, it would have been excellent viewing. Loved the old songs, a technique borrowed from Dennis Potter but no worse for that.

Somewhere Boy?

Where, exactly?

In a rambling, daft old tale, that's where.

With such a silly storyline that meanders so much it loses its way into a ditch, one cannot forgive the half baked script and sheer dullness of the entire proceedings. And yet professional (paid!) TV critics loved this. Intriguing... Don't forget, they were paid. By the show's production company, perhaps??

Yes, the plot is mildly intriguing if totally asinine. Yes, the acting is decent, but no better than your standard drama school student couldn't knock out after an afternoons rehearsal. This show is simply too dull overall to maintain a steady interest, particularly over 8 episodes. The writer should have taken the best parts of his script and combined them into 4 episodes and ramped up the tension in the areas where it was needed.

No spoilers for you because, really, whatever plotlines l give away really wouldn't spoil anything. Go outside and kick a football around; you'd enjoy it more, even if you don't like football.

When Danny's mother dies, his father Steve decides to hide him away from a world of monsters and evil, when Steve dies, Danny is forced to confront the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish, a thought provoking, captivating, fascinating watch, it's a rollercoaster ride, Danny's journey is amusing and heart breaking at the same time. It's almost as if Danny has arrived on Earth from another planet.

It is never dull or flat, there isn't a single lull in quality, it's well paced, and very well made.

Lewis Gribben and Samuel Bottomley are both superb in their respective roles, genuinely acting that will have you captivated, it's the relationship between these two characters that's the most interesting element.

A great watch, 9/10.

This is a highly stylised and unusual drama from the makers of C4's 'The End of the ****ing World' which it resembles in tone. If you enjoyed that series as I did then 'Somewhere Boy' is probably going to be for you or vice-versa.

The series follows a teenage boy who has never been out of his house as he learns to become part of a society he's never known and is forced to reappraise his upbringing by his Father and what he taught him.

With each episode about thirty minutes or less it feels pacey and it intrigued me. Production values were good generally and it was well cast, the lead Lewis Gribben was just perfect in the role.

If you're looking for something a bit different give it a whirl, writer Pete Jackson has created a dark and interesting world to explore. Lovely period music too, which reminded me of writer Dennis Potter's works, like 'The Singing Detective'.

I ended up feeling really annoyed that this was relegated to a TV series of eight half-hour episode. The performances deserved far better than this. I honestly feel that if it had been made into the feature film it so richly deserved, Oscar nominations would surely have been beckoning. Lisa McGrillis was absolutely incredible.

My only gripe was that episode 7 was unnecessary and completely broke the spell. There was no need for it at all and it seemed merely like a box-ticking exercise, forced upon the writer by a mis-guided producer.

If you've ever watched Dead Man's Shoes, this was almost like an alternative take on the story, although pulled off with far more aplomb. For a while, I even thought that the boy's father was being played by Paddy Considine, nut a few years down the line.

Perhaps it's too late now, but I really wish somebody would re-shoot this with the same cast and treat it with the respect it deserves. If they did, I feel sure it would be regarded as a major British film and pick up a bucket load of awards.