This England

There is so many takeaways from this, but the stand out is the realisation that Dominic Cummings is just not very bright. In fact, I'd suggest that he is a bit of a twonk.

More generally, this is well done - it is well written, well performed, maintains a decent pace, covers the key moments of the pandemic in way that is very easy to follow. Dramatically, it generally delivers.

However, whilst Branagh, as Boris, captures the voice, the prosthetics are a problem. Winterbottom, et al, would have done well to consider Anthony Hopkins' performance as Nixon. Whilst they look nothing alike, Hopkins captured the physically of Nixon very well and built the performance up from that. I suspect that the prosthetics were an impediment and, sometimes, the physical performance, the hunch of the shoulders, the wave of the hands, the shake of the head, comes too close to parody to quite work.

The dream sequences, just to cement that Boris is a bad Dad, detracted. It was off point, added nothing, it should have been cut.

Finally, Contagion. In the first or second episode, Carrie and Boris are sat watching TV and there we find Kate Winslet explaining the reproductive properties of an imaginary virus, which just served to remind me how much better Soderbergh delivered all of this. Where this was baggy - multiple characters introduced, just to kill them off - Contagion was rigorous, tight, taut, and all the better for it. I understand what Winterbottom was trying to do: to give the hidden victims a voice - but, ultimately, Contagion delivered a greater punch through maintaining focus.

Oh, and some of those politicians - Hancock, and the like - really do belong in prison. That Tory Government really is stained in blood.

This England is an excellent dramatic series, perhaps too close, that portrays a very difficult period of time not only for England but for the whole world, in which some governments were incompetent, they did not know how to face the pandemic.

Being honest I have to admit that I watched the series to see Kenneth Branagh work, it's fascinating how he gets the voice, the gestures, the physicality, he becomes Boris, but what makes his performance perfect is that he doesn't judge the character, he doesn't ridicules not condemns him, Branagh shows Boris for the viewer to judge. The rest of the cast and crew also do a great job. It's worth the time, sometimes a little hard to watch but it's important not to forget what happened and where everyone was.

Branagh as Johnson is fantastic, after 15 minutes in you forget you are not watching the real Boris. The pace and style of the series reminds me of 2011's Contagion. The music and sound design leaves me with a continuous feeling of tension hanging in the air. The hospital scenes looks authentic, you can clearly see how misled and thus desperate the medical personnel is at times. The whole series takes you back to those days back in February and March 2020 when the whole world came to a standstill. And when noone knew when, or if this pandemic will ever be over again. A must-watch with great acting!

This series is so raw it's hard to watch at times. I had to pinch myself that only 18 months ago we were in lockdown, stuck at home, despairing at panic buying and praying for a vaccine. This dramatization is extremely well acted, all the main players are well represented, and there is a superb portrayal of the behind-the-scenes pandemonium as the pandemic progresses. The episodes covering Care Homes are especially harrowing, as is the sense of despair in the NHS. The flaw I think is that we learn very little of the virus itself, the molecular biology, the cause, how it spread, vaccine development etc. Instead the focus is on suffering, loss and political ineptitude. So it's part of the picture but not all of it.

A look at The UK Government's handling of The Covid 19 pandemic, from the point of view of then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

If it were a totally fiction based drama, it would have been quite amusing at times, with Boris shown as a somewhat jovial figure, however, as we all know this was based on actual, real life events, and here you get to see some of the suffering.

One thing that was well portrayed, was how utterly Clueless The Government were, unprepared, incompetent and slow to react, I defy anyone to say they handled the situation well. What worries me, is that during the current financial crisis, lots of these people are there, it's a sobering thought. It was an impossible situation, but one that overwhelmed and consumed those that were responsible for the day to day running of the country.

This was a truly well made and well acted drama, I subscribed to the service, for one reason only, I wanted to see Kenneth Branagh playing Boris Johnson, and he did so quite brilliantly, he is one awesome actor, and as always he nailed it. Lots of strong performances, I look forward to seeing more of Simon Paisley Day, hopefully we'll get to see day trips to Durham.

Very good, thought provoking drama, 8/10.