This is my first review on IMDB. Ordinarily I avoid like the plague these kind of gritty dramas on TV, however much had been spoken of Stephen Graham's performance in Line of Duty (another drama I have bypassed) that I thought I would give this a go expecting to watch 15 minutes and then move on with my life. How wrong was I. My wife (who hates depressing stories on TV!) and I couldn't take our eyes from the screen for all 4 episodes. The acting from all the cast including the young children was so authentic and real. Anyone who has come across some of these issues (alcoholism and the historic attitude to Catholic unmarried mothers) inside their own family will know how uncomfortably close to the truth this story is. The final episode was absolutely compelling and needs no more explanation. I would give this 10 but the sound quality at times could have been clearer and the back story to Joseph's own child and family could have been explored a little more. A lot of understandable strong language but nonetheless a must see.
Review of The Virtues
