To be perfectly honest with you I was amazed by this series. I am an avid Matthew Macfadyen fan and I had prepared myself for almost 4 hours (yes, all episodes in one sitting) of joy. But what I saw or rather EXPERIENCED caught me off guard.
At first, the first couple of minutes, I felt a bit bored, like nothing actually interesting was going on and then there was the ending. That was it! 4 hours had passed without me even realising it. The acting, the story, the scenery, the old photographs and the abandoned rooms had sucked me in like it was the most natural thing in the world. And that is exactly what surprised me really, how honest and down to earth this series was. I found myself able to relate to each and every one of the characters, even the elderly, even the quirky ones (sleazy Irving for example or slightly neurotic Poppy). Because, even though there were some comic features these people were not caricatures, they were all portrayed as proper human beings with all the aspects of human behavior and emotion according to personality.
Growing up, I've had my own share of large family meetings and everything that I had experienced was there, the awkwardness, the embarrassment, the joy of learning a little bit more about the family each time you meet and, most of all, that bond you feel with people that - as it seems at least - are so utterly different than you yet you share the same blood and that, somehow, means something. It's exactly like another reviewer (Cartimandua) said before me (yet in a slightly different context) "It was like looking through a photo album. It was 'familiar' in more ways than one."
The most extraordinary thing about 'Perfect Strangers' is how extraordinarily simple it is actually. Just watch it.
At first, the first couple of minutes, I felt a bit bored, like nothing actually interesting was going on and then there was the ending. That was it! 4 hours had passed without me even realising it. The acting, the story, the scenery, the old photographs and the abandoned rooms had sucked me in like it was the most natural thing in the world. And that is exactly what surprised me really, how honest and down to earth this series was. I found myself able to relate to each and every one of the characters, even the elderly, even the quirky ones (sleazy Irving for example or slightly neurotic Poppy). Because, even though there were some comic features these people were not caricatures, they were all portrayed as proper human beings with all the aspects of human behavior and emotion according to personality.
Growing up, I've had my own share of large family meetings and everything that I had experienced was there, the awkwardness, the embarrassment, the joy of learning a little bit more about the family each time you meet and, most of all, that bond you feel with people that - as it seems at least - are so utterly different than you yet you share the same blood and that, somehow, means something. It's exactly like another reviewer (Cartimandua) said before me (yet in a slightly different context) "It was like looking through a photo album. It was 'familiar' in more ways than one."
The most extraordinary thing about 'Perfect Strangers' is how extraordinarily simple it is actually. Just watch it.