Apple Tree Yard

Ms. Emily Watson gives the performance of a lifetime in this raw, jagged story of a middle-aged woman who discovers her fiery sexuality with a stranger and suffers a trauma of incredible profundity. Watson sets the screen on fire with her presence and her smoldering sexual power. Her beauty is mesmerizing and her eyes speak more than a thousand pages of intricate dialog. This a showcase for a truly great actress and all that she brings to the part she plays with such passion. Watson is a treasure and one of the finest actors Britain has ever produced. Apple Tree Yard is a fine piece and what Emily Watson achieves in it will leave you gasping for breath and stunned with wonder.

I really enjoyed this. It tugged on my heart strings at times. It had some good twists and turns. Didn't go too long with only four episodes. There was some really good acting, and nothing was far-fetched. Recommend if you're in the mood for a good drama/thriller.

I wish one could respond to specific reviews here. Some (many) are so judgmental you'd think we were watching news reports. Yes, sometimes people are illogical and naive. Yes, sometimes people (men AND women) aren't as intelligent as they should be ... People. Soon as someone (a male) talks about intelligent women or naive women ... I just shake my head and generally try to ignore it.

But the criticisms I'm seeing are about some mythical perfect story about perfect people and apparently the reviewers know it all! I find it a good story, keeps me interested. Yes, I'm sorry people make bad choices and get themselves into very sticky, stupid situations. But again ... human. And if the human race didn't act irrationally and out of form and all the rest .. wow, lots of boring shows to watch and we'd all know the end from the beginning (as some reviewers claim they did). I'm really tired of these know-it-all reviews that are so condescending and rude. Gosh, if I enjoy it or like it or can empathize, surely something must be wrong with me. It's drama. It's not the news. We can let people make unwise choices. We can find comfort in our humanity.

This is not your usual thriller. This is a deliberate psychological drama about how easily one can go down the wrong path. Main character falls into what is a pile of crap and doesn't know it until too late. She is homely and vulnerable. Bad things can happen to good people and one mistake could be too many. The very end is a social study in the human id.

The main thing to know is that Emily Watson is playing the main character. It is a top notch BBC production and a script from a novel that is engaging ,dramatic , suspenseful, unpredictable and well conceived. This 4 part TV series is one of THEE best, if not the best, things I have streamed on TV in the last two years. It is not easy and rare indeed to watch a production that is flawless at every turn in the telling of the story and the acting delivered. I loved it.