Death and Nightingales

With so many first class actors (with the exception of the female lead who was pretty dire throughout and couldn't even manage a Northern Irish accent) this mini series should have been great, but sadly it failed due to too slow pacing and an unsympathetic and unfathomable main character (Beth).

Matthew Rhys and Jamie Dorman were excellent. The period detail was great. It was atmospheric and engaging - up to a point, but really this could easily have been condensed into 1 hour 30 minutes (instead of 3 long hours). Having the main character Beth talking aloud to herself to explain plot points/feelings was clumsy and lazy scriptwriting too, by the third episode the character had lost all believability. A real pity, as this could have succeeded with some major editing and a more skilled female lead.