Change Your Image
wbaird-05466
Reviews
Shetland (2013)
Enjoyable and unique.
I have always loved Shetland, the atmosphere and location makes it unique in my view. Although i really liked Douglas Henshall it was possibly time to freshen it up and i enjoyed series 8 which proved to be a rather dark story and i thought episode 6 was especially good which kept you guessing.
Yes,like previous series,there were too many red herrings and it was too convoluted but enjoyable. It would possibly have been better over three or four episodes rather than six.
I thought that Ashley Jensen made a solid start and it made sense that her character had been born on Shetland, it will be interesting to see how they develop her role. However the mainstays of Tosh,Sandy and Billy really anchor the programme and it would be nice to introduce a new colleague for Sandy.
I really hope the programme can run and run but in a three/four episode series format.
Payback (2023)
Disappointed.
Was looking forward to this, the cast looked good and i particularly like Morven Christie and Peter Mullan, however i was left disappointed. There were more holes in the plot than a string vest and although some acting was good, some of it was dire, the police in particular never convinced and most were miscast to be honest.
I don't think that there was any originality in the six episodes and Morven Christie appeared to sleep walk through it, although to be fair to her the script was rather poor with little real believable suspense. It will not live long in the memory but could have been a lot better, all a bit of a waste to be honest.
Rain Dogs (2023)
Charmless nonsense.
No real point to this rubbish. It appears to be some posh persons idea of poverty. There is little humour and Daisy May Cooper is,i think,miscast and she has one expression throughout the entire series. All the characters are charmless and it is hard to invest any emotions in any of them. If this is what they call "edgy" then god help us. It would not have been so bad if it had worked as a comedy but it sadly does not and i would suggest it is rather patronizing to real people living on the edge of society. I am sure some middle class people will enjoy this "poverty porn", they will probably think it is a documentary. The main problem however is that they seem very unsure about what type of programme they were making and therefore ended up with a mess. A second series would be even more pointless as the characters have nowhere to go.
Guilt (2019)
What a mess.
This was recommended to me,it had a good cast and was set in Edinburgh where i live so i looked forward to it. It actually started well and deteriorated fast. The script was a mess and did not make much sense,even yet,i am unsure what the American woman was doing in the programme.
Bill Paterson,who i love,is many things but a gangster he is not. If it was a drama it lacked drama and if it was a comedy it lacked humour.
I enjoyed the Mark Bonnar character becoming increasingly desperate but apart from that it was really a waste of time and effort. Could also have been set anywhere and would still have been rubbish.
I had to buy this on DVD as i could not find it on any channel, may ask for my money back !!!!
Doc Martin (2004)
Charming.
I have watched Doc Martin from the start and the location is one of the main reasons it works so well. Although Martin Clunes plays the main part well, there is nothing likeable about him but the other characters compensate for this, great escapism and mostly well written. I think it ended at just the right time as it was becoming a bit repetitive and several of the later episodes were rather weak. In the last series there was,i feel, far too much of Mrs Tishell which just started to annoy me. However, i will really miss it as it dared to be different and a great antidote to the many so-called social realism type programmes on TV. I think it will date rather well in the future.
Paterson (2016)
Beyond dull.
Saw this film several years ago and even now i can't believe i stayed to the end. It may be arty or whatever but my god it is pointless, dull and repetitive. Of the hundreds of films i have watched this is certainly one of the worst ever. You keep waiting for something to actually happen but nothing does. It has no charm and as a character study it does not work on any level. It does not work as a comedy or a drama and you invest no interest in any of the characters. Adam Driver's wife had potential but it is really an underwritten role and i have had a more enjoyable time watching the grass grow. Surely films should intertain you on some level. I know that some people enjoyed this film but i have absolutely no idea why, i may be missing something.
It would be difficult for any review of this film to contain spoilers as nothing actually ever happens.
Two Doors Down (2016)
Not as good as it was.
After series 3 i would have gave it a higher score and most of the cast are extremely good especially Elaine C Smith as Christine. However the character Cathy just becomes increasingly obnoxious and cruel and this just becomes repetitive and annoying as she has no redeeming features or softness.
Of the new couple Michelle is very good and fits in well but her husband Alan is totally miscast and is unnecessarily crude which is all rather pointless.
I know that it is only TV but there is absolutely no reality in the Michelle / Alan relationship and absolutely no one would put up with Cathy for five minutes. I feel that the writers have nowhere to go with some characters and the really good cast members can only sustain the programme for so long. The writing has to be more focused, funny and less cruel or it will soon end.