Flesh and Blood

By the end of the third episode, almost everyone has got motive, and they are all warped humans as well, except the pot-someking falsely accused of being a philandering spouse and dad. He's the only one on an even keel, so am thinking, since the others are kinda obvious suspects, plus there is no butler, it would be a real kick in the nads if it turns out Mr. Goody-goody is in fact SOB who did the deed. But then that would be kinda over-egging the story. Well, what am saying, this show has a good pace, which is naff, but it sure keeps ya guessing. And with all the lead characters well-drawn and great performances all around, my spider sense says 8 stars.

Happy Families? Definitely not, they are a family of secrets, lies, deception and hypocrisy, so when seventy year old Vivien falls in love with a man just eighteen months after the death of her husband, her children are worried.

It is a very good series, for my money the best ITV have given us for a little while.

The best episode is the finale, the unveiling as it were, it's excellent. The storytelling is great, and done in such a way that you simply have to watch the next episode.

Terrific cast, all perform superbly, you can't put a pin between Francesca Annis and Imelda Staunton, the pair are terrific.

Were left hanging at the end, with a possibility of a second series, I hope it's left at just the one.

Very good, 8/10.

What better way to warm you up on a cold winters night than a murder mystery set on the Sussex coast in the height of summer. Francesca Annis is a recently widowed mother of a dysfunctional family who seem more worried about there inheritance when the mother meets and falls in love with retired surgeon played by Stephen Rea. All the children have relationship problems of there own, and throw in to the pot a nosey neighbour from hell played superbly by Imelda Staunton and we have a delicious mix of mystery and mayhem spread over four nights. 8/10

Like a lot of serialised dramas, although this was a good watch with a well-known cast, it ended with more questions than it did answers. I almost always try not to build up to some catastrophic ending because rarely is there one and this was by no means an exception but I still enjoyed the tension. It's just a shame the ending didn't honour all of the lead up.

Thankfully, the producers knew what they were doing with the length of this... it is only 4 episodes long, and the story is fully told, with a nice flow.

Imelda S is gripping in her role. In fact, the entire ensemble was convincing.

Mr. Rea (always committed) was good, but he missed the mark a bit. In certain roles, his face does some silly overreaching (grimacing, awkwardness), and for me, it becomes too much.

The music was effectively subtle, and the production design was lovely and understated. Editing was fairly tight. The somewhat pensive tone throughout was punctuated by a few dark humorous moments.

If you enjoy contemporary British dramas with a mysterious overtone, you'll probably like this.