Better

Good cop gone bad variation. A good cast, especially the lead roles. Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch) is particularly excellent in his role as drug gang leader. Not seen much of Leila Farzad but she does well as the detective Lou Slack who is playing both sides. Also nice to see Anton Lesser (Endeavour) in a different kind of role.

It all starts off a bit on the slow side but picks up in episode 2. This is not a shoot em up cop drama but more of a slow slide into a moral dilemma. The deeper detective Slack slides into the vortex of corrupt cop the tenser it gets.

My only gripe with the programme is that, for me, it should have ended at episode 4.

That, to my mind, would have been a perfect and more realistic, ending.

Episode 5 tried too hard to tie up loose ends and ended up unnecessary and unrealistic.

That said, it was definitely worth a watch.

Ignore the unfair critics who have rubbished this programme.

Did she ever do a days work?

Good series but plot holes all over the place. And the script kept twisting making the characters act completely different from episode to episode. Poor Ceri didn't know if he was coming or going.

But there was some rough justice and gritty plot lines. Makes you realise there is an underworld out there and if you get caught on the wrong side your life can get dictated and controlled by it - no easy options.

The final scene was UK police all over.

If I was watching this again I would focus on the non main characters because they are the ones that played their parts so well and didn't have to flip flop.

The first 4 episodes were excellent, great production and acting all round. It wasn't anything new that hasn't been on before, hints of Line of Duty & Happy Valley storylines being woven in.

Also great to see Leeds having a huge part of the story, and about time West Yorkshire again got some screen time.

It's just the ending. I felt heavily let down as it built up to the final 10 minutes, as you kind of knew how it was going to wrap up. It could have gone many ways, but chose what now feels like an easy way out. It's worth a watch, only 5 episodes.

It just didn't get the ending it deserved in my opinion.

Well worth a watch. People saying the acting is poor are speaking too broadly. Most performances are good, except the cop's son who is not great. Anton Lesser is excellent as the retired bent cop; but then he is always good. It is a good story, some complexity to the characters, nobody is one dimensional. I don't really understand the really low raters. Not sure why Anton Lesser does not even feature in the IMDB cast list as he is the best thing in it. I didn't feel the accents were forced, I don't think any of the actors were using anything but their normal speaking voices. Make your own mind up.

The only thing wrong with Better is that the BBC pitched it as "the new Happy Valley". And because they did, the show got a weird audience and critical reception.

Line of Duty is incredible, right? But if someone promised you Happy Valley and you sat down to watch Line of Duty, I don't think you'd like it much. That's what's happening here.

This isn't Line of Duty. It isn't Happy Valley. Better is in a category of its own, and it stands as tall as either of those shows do.

Leila Farzad is astonishing, like she is in everything. But this is a brilliantly written game of chess that has you emotionally invested in all the pieces on the board.

You haven't seen this character arc in a cop show, and you haven't seen this story in a drama before.

(Also, I don't know how you even begin to write a second season after that ending, but my god do I want to see it.)