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I must begin by saying how highly I rated the character of Captain Shaw. Not impressed by rank (because he remembers the hypocrisies and the glossed over failures), funny and always thrown out to do the dirty work (including engineering at a time he was apparently too unwell have command of his own ship) and ultimately to take the bullets (unnecessarily). Turned over by members of his own crew because of loyalties often not of their own generation. What a pity the writers thought it was acceptable to introduce a new character simply to sacrifice him to keep the older ones alive ('cos you have to kill off someone new). Would have loved to see him fronting his own series. Irritated by how quickly Picard started referring to Jack as 'my son' and expecting everyone to risk their lives to save him. Ryker also referred to the grief of losing his son as an excuse to abandon his wife and daughter. Can't believe that such sexism exists today in the Star Trek universe. At least Jiordi paid lip service to equality occasionally. Can't imagine how the finale will make up for the disappointment. RIP Shaw.

I went to see this with a friend the day after it went out on general release and I have to say that we both loved it. We are both John Le Carre fans (though I had not read this book), and, even though my friend said there were slight adjustments, we were both hooked immediately. I understand that Ralph Fiennes dropped out of the project before filming, to be replaced by Stellan Skarsgard and I have to say that the recasting was a major reason for me (and my friend) wanting to see this film as soon as possible. He gave Dima a warmth that made you understand immediately why Ewan McGregor's Perry (and, eventually, Naomie Harris's Gail) would want to help him and his family. The feeling of foreboding on the Russian side of the story came over immediately, and the tension at some points had me curled up in my cinema seat. There were two occasions where I thought the outcome was signalled too clearly, but only one panned out as I expected and, having only just started the book, I can't say if that is how it was meant to be. I can only say that, as someone who has not always been a fan of Ewan McGregor, I found his character in the film to be believable and very likable, and Damian Lewis (as a Smiley- type figure) was really excellent. I have liked Naomie Harris since I first saw her in Pirates of the Caribbean (though she wasn't given a huge amount to do here) it is always great to see the hugely underused Jeremy Northam, and lovely to see Saskia Reeves in a part that might not be large, but was very affecting. Overall, however, it was Stellan Skarsgard's Dima that stole the show for me. He might not have been the bald, brown-eyed Russian of the book, but he made us care what happened to him and his family. I pre-ordered the film on Blu Ray as soon as I got home. Loved it.

Having used IMDb for years, it took this programme to make me sign up and register to leave a review. As of the time of writing, the series is 2/3 of the way through and I am already mourning the end, though certain that I will not be able to second-guess how everything is resolved (if, indeed, it is). The central character is John River, a Detective Inspector with the Police working in the East End of London. He is a genuinely complicated man, and we are only drip-fed clues to his (Swedish) background, but he has obvious mental health issues he fights to control. In the hands of most actors, I might have been sceptical, but played by the magnificent Stellan Skarsgard, I have been totally drawn into his world and left praying that everything will work out for him. I have never wanted to be able to hug a character in a programme before, but River goes through so many emotions that it is impossible not to be swept along with him. The supporting cast are also excellent - Nicola Walker and Adeel Akhtar as his partners, Lesley Manville as his immediate superior; all warm, likable and believable characters. Finally, mention has to be made of Abi Morgan, who created the series. I can only hope that she can come up with a satisfying conclusion to the series that does not slam the door on a possible second series - but only if the magnificent Stellan Skarsgard can be persuaded to return. I have already begun to delve into his back catalogue and am more impressed with every film I see.