Strife

Well made, funny, captivating and I love how if you followed Mia's story you recognise certain characters and events and her polarising character but it is not over or under done. Just what this tired old feminist needed plus Asher is amazing and the perfect casting choice. Honestly I just loved it and would have said no notes if it was allowed. Australian television gets a bad rap but this is an absolutely gem. I am so desperate for a season two, I could even see it continue on for many seasons! I watched it all on a day as I could not help myself, I had to finish it but then I was so sad it was over when it was.

A caveat: I'm not a fan of Mia Freedman or her ouevre, but I tried to be as objective as possible.

I really wanted to like this. Asher Keddie is a goddamn national treasure. Her work in Love This Way and Offspring was great TV. But Strife is not worthy of her considerable skills. The writing is clumsy and, unusually, the main character is the least compelling in the whole cast. Evelyn Jones is simultaneously self-aggrandising, condescending and hypocritical, not to mention exceedingly unlikeable.

Tina Bursill, Emma Lung and Matt Day are all great, and it's refreshing to see young unknown actors get a shot, but this could have been so much better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I'm not normally a massive fan of Australian productions. Although I've definitely been wonderfully surprised in recent years. We've turned out some great stuff and it's a really exciting time for Aussie shows.

But what drew me to this was the premise being somewhat inspired by Mia Freedman. I remember Mamamia when it was just Mia, and I loved it.

Anyway, I can't really fault this show in any way.

The characters, the story line, the issues being tackled. It all felt very authentic whilst also being entertaining. I binged this over 2 days and I really hope we got another season.

... eight episodes less than half-hour each, you can get through entire first season in one evening... a fun program with lots of very good performances... not for all audiences, those very critical are never going to like this type of work

... there's family-friends-relationships-divorce-work.environment-feminism-et al... lots-to-tackle, and for the most part all handled exceptionally well... good promising series have been shut down many times before after only one season... we can only hope that is not the fate of this very worthwhile little production from down under... .. trending towards fewer episodes, wish this time were more.

Asher Keddie remains in my top 3 favourite actors of all time & her performance in Strife doesn't disappoint! I wasn't sure I'd get to see her play a character more endearing & awkwardly hilarious than Nina in Offspring again. I'm still up at 2am binging the entirety of season 1!

I loved seeing her portray Evelyn; a feisty, funny yet vulnerable & authentic feminist based on MamaMia & Mia Freedman's book. (Another absolutely fab Aussie woman!)

It was also really nice to see lesser known actors that haven't been "recycled" in heaps of other Australian TV shows. Really hoping for a season 2! Well done to all cast, writers & crew. <3.