User reviews

This is a great drama show from Australia. Modern family drama with good writing and great cast! I'm not happy that there are no more than 2 seasons 😔. A must watch!

I can't remember when I've enjoyed an Australian series so much! The show is well written, and perfectly cast. All the characters are believable, Shane Jacobsen and Justine Clarke are outstanding in their roles, as are William McInnes and Claudia Karvan, to name a few. I haven't seen Michelle Vergara Moore perform before but she is excellent in this. I wouldn't miss an episode, and family, friends and colleagues I've spoken with share my opinion ... favourite topic of conversation Monday lunchtimes is discussing the Sunday night's episode! The actors pretty much portray a cross-section of issues facing any Australian community, and do it with class. (This is the first review I've bothered to write here ... I felt I had to share my enjoyment of this show).

I wanted to watch this show when it debuted, but it conflicted with "A Place To Call Home" (another fine, real, addictive Australian Drama) which was already half way through its season.

Thanks to whoever thought of catch up TV via the net.

I've just watched the entire series this week on ABC Iview in between work projects. Today I let the phone ring out three times so I could watch the last episode.

Some posters / reviewers have said that the acting was wooden, sugary. That the writing / dialogue was shallow and predictable.

I don't agree with those statements / terms, but, this show is meant to portray real life. How many of us have friends and family that are wooden, sugary, shallow, predictable ? Maybe it's my age (50) but I found the characters, just, simply real ! I've experienced some of their dramas, I have friends who have experienced some of their dramas. I was finishing lines from personal experience before the characters spoke them. Some characters annoyed me. Some characters made me cry.

For the Characters to draw me in like that means that the Actors and the Writers have done their job well.

And They Have ! I Hope We Get Season Two !

If you look at the premise of this series - one more examination of the daily lives of a bunch of suburban characters, most of them somehow related, chronicling their triumphs and disappointments - one could be forgiven for thinking that it's just another soap. After all, the line between upmarket soap opera and quality drama can be confusingly thin at times.

For mine, this definitely falls into the latter category. It's true that the story lines fall into the usual run of spousal tensions, generational issues, affairs, blended families and how the kids are affected, with associated logistical problems. But then, that's life, innit? You don't need to be in a train-wreck to have at least one phase of your life that resembles one.

The trick in making such well-worn stories worth watching anew is in providing moments of genuine drama, with authentic emotional reactions and dialogue that rings true for each character, with sufficient nuance to let us feel that we are they, and we know exactly what they're going through. Yes, perhaps some of the situations here are a bit familiar and obvious, but at least they don't all say the bleedin' obvious.

In the end, the main differentiator between the two genres is a well-wrought script coupled with an ensemble cast that's capable of doing justice to it. Not to mention having the restraint to avoid a closing shot of a character staring into the middle distance with the expression of a stunned mullet. And resisting the temptation to include an explosion or inferno to ramp up the stakes a bit.

On that basis, this is a fine effort. Good, thoughtful scripts, and excellent performances all round.

It is fair to say that the quality of the cast gives the show a big lift. The cast are well chosen for their roles and, mostly, familiar faces. It is also fair to say that the script does let the show down, however, not very often fortunately. The overall story is believable while being meaty enough to stir up the emotions from time to time. I have found no difficulty in following the many interwoven stories of the characters lives. The realism of relationships between friends and families can be sometimes annoying and sometimes warm and fuzzy, and there are bits for most people to relate to. I have heard many friends and colleagues talk of the show and discuss the characters or plot lines that seem to get them going, so I always have someone to share my favorite bits with, or bag the characters that are annoying me. The show has that multi faceted look at life feel, similar to 'Love My Way'(which Claudia Karvan was also in). It is different in that it's not as edgy or "sexy", perhaps a little more appealing to a wider audience. Go Aussie drama !!

This was a wonderful series, and I found many of the issues that the characters had to deal with actually reflecting the issues facing a number colleagues and friends. While the situations were not of course fictional the emotions and ways to manage issues are no different to the way we have to manage in real life

I loved the wide range of interactions that so realistically reflected real life in its many layered complexity. The writers had managed to portray how we try to live and survive in our hectic world.

I did feel however that as the series came to the last part it seemed to me as though the actors were starting to get out of character and a different director was at the wheel, or a new writer was involved . This meant for me a great series sort of tapered off in quality at the end of the series run

Come on series 2.

I have been loving so many shows from Australia the last few years. I first saw Claudia Claven in her show Spirited and really like her. Since then I have seen she basically plays extremely unlikable characters that are real snobs and bitches and seems to win many awards playing the same role over and over. She plays the bitter character of Caroline in this show. And that has been annoying. I like all the actors in this show and I enjoy the story lines, but there is one kid they need to replace, the actor who plays "Carmody". That kid is so bad and so obnoxious, I cringe every time he is on the screen. Every time his mother says "Carmody" in her horrible snobby voice I want to throw something at the screen. What kind of name is Carmody? Now if they do not want us to like him they have done an excellent job of it. He talks in a sing songy way, and feels like he is reading his lines and is so unlikable. Then Claudia Klaven plays his mom who thinks he is a little prince and she is so obnoxious. If those two characters left the show would be more enjoyable for me. She makes her douchey husband Matt in the show a sympathetic character! I do enjoy the show very much other than that little family unit. Claudia Klaven- now when I see she is in something, I cannot handle watching her play so many dislike able characters. She has that nailed for sure. Also I was impressed with how realistic they made the Grandpa and his fake leg, so I looked it up and that actor really did lose his leg and they incorporated it into the show. Great job.

Lots of emotion and such amazing characters! I wish it would continue for another season!

... brought to this series after watching Justine Clark in Tangle... first couple episodes of Time of Our lives were underwhelming.. was set to quit-watching... not sure why yet did keep with-it & it did get continually better

... then middle of S2 most-annoying-character in the series once-Lisa (Jessica McNamee) tells-this-looser she-loves-him... he blows her off... THAT would never-be-possible... all-rest was-just-perfunctory.

What a very pleasant surprise when I turned the channel that day to find this outstanding Aussie show. I found myself wrapped up into their daily lives. I could not get home fast enough from work to find what was in store for the families on the show. ( That does sound as if I have no life ha-ha ) The stories each family told was amazing. I loved the comedy and the true to home bits of the episodes. I was truly saddened when I read that there was no more episodes to watch. The show will be missed by this fan. The cast was amazing well done job to all. The creators also amazing. thank you thank you please write more very soon I loved it.

I was fully expecting to love this show. It has a cast of fine actors doing a fine job, but unfortunately the clumsy script lets them down. The thing has no heart or direction, just a lot of not very interesting, one-dimensional characters going nowhere, who seem to function only as stage props for each other. Their relationships have no depth or form, their thin history known only through awkward anecdotes. The dialogue is laughable. ("Do you remember that trip we did to Nepal last year?") The motion set up in the first episode fails to gain momentum, though I guess there's still time for something meaningful to happen. I've persevered through three or four episodes but can't face another one. I'd like some insight, some depth or maybe some lively plot development, but it's just limp. These are people I find hard to care about. If this is the time of their lives, heaven help them through the decades of excruciating tedium ahead.

pretty good pedigree of writers and producers, very likable characters. The show is not overly predictable and hits all the right notes, nothing controversial or groundbreaking unlike some of its predecessors (secret life of us ,love my way etc) - probably the main downside is the farcical / not even real jokes the pretend stand-up comedians give at the comedy club that is a regular hangout for the characters on the show. The actors are all great fits with some more than others (Karvan for example) are riveting to watch with the real emotional quality they bring to their respective roles but even the short term characters for subplots are excellent . Im waiting patiently for season 2 now that my favourite characters are intertwining and others are on equally interesting trajectories

Great insightful writing, characters we care about. This beautifully written and perfectly cast show show teaches us how adults are supposed to be. I want to meet Bernadette's parents because she deals with challenges with honesty and decency that we all should strive for. This is a feel good show that doesn't pull punches or sugar coat problems or personalatiesc to us to make us feel good. It deals with hard truths in a way thatv s realistic and inspiring. Not only does it make us want to be better people it shows us how. I want to see so much more about these people.

Binge watched and really enjoyed it - why wasn't it continued?

Reading other reviews for this series confirmed in my mind that one would either hate it or love it. I expect that women would like it and men would generally hate it. (Perhaps I'm bisexual in giving it 5). The cast is as good as could be expected in an Australian drama. The failure comes from the plot and the script. The story went nowhere. It is a typical soap. The comparison with the never-ending series "Days of Our Lives" is apt. Added to this is the stultifying political correctness that hangs over the series. Children have baths in clothes!! We have the token Asian woman. All the main men are Sensitive New-Age Guys whose characters must have been defined by the women who produced the show. The men are one-dimensional. Only some of the female characters have any depth and then not much. One outstanding feature of the series is the standard of the acting by the children. The twins, Carmody and Luce's daughter are stars, believable and natural. The show's scenario could have produced some excellent episodes but the promise was never realised.

Despite some big names (in Australia at any rate) this fails to deliver any kind of emotional or dramatic punch. Formulaic characters, meandering story line and a clunky script make for an uninteresting and downright boring offering. Surely Australian scriptwriters can come up with something better than this! I tuned in with the hope of seeing something along the lines of "Sea Change"......perhaps because of William McInnes?. No such luck. The dialogue seems forced and wooden, and even the likes of the aforesaid W M, Claudia Karvan etc, can do nothing to bring it to life. In fact, I have to wonder what the producers were intending with this series....whatever it was, I'm afraid they failed.

I gave up after two episodes. It appeared to be going nowhere and there was nothing of note to get interested in.

Essentially, it was out of the Neighbours mould.