AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
Casey Duggan
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
rhiwderin_ray
A TV-land version of the harsh reality of the first Australian penal colony. The women look like middle class housewives who have just stepped out of a fancy-dress shop. The governor is the model of care and democracy, afraid to venture inland while the reality is far from the truth. Everyone worries about the lack of food, yet nobody thinks of killing any of the wildlife. It is a pity that more research wasn't done regarding the actual historical characters. As usual, the criminals are portrayed as moral, upstanding citizens while the guards are deceitful and corrupt. The acting is OK and as a fictional drama it is passable. But will I worry if there isn't a second series - probably not.
prosper1
despite shortcomings good take on imperialism. well done in terms of locations, characters and story, but somehow fails to gel. never the less, it is another in the long line of exposing British brutality. it often takes eons to probe into a nation's past and to expose the crime and cruelty perpetrated on lower classes.Downton Abbey, Mutiny on the bounty etc all paint a picture of British cruelty and jimmy mcgovern hits this message. if you read "fatal shore" by Australian writer/critic robert hughes, you find that most people were deported were poor, disenfranchised irish.I look forward to seeing more of this admission of guilt on the part of the British empire in Ireland, Africa, India, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia. There is such a rich, dramatic history of cruelty and perhaps this will serve as an introduction. perhaps McGovern's writing's subtext is that so many have have suffered for the benefit of so few. This holds true for Belgium, Holland, Germany and France. Today this story plays out with Amerika and China exploiting poor folks in ways the more devious than the British could not even imagine.
jonnithomas
This isn't a documentary and cries of 'she has perfect teeth, she shouldn't have' are laughable. What should the producer do then ? Get the teeth remodeled to show how bad dentistry was in that period ? if you view it as a drama set in a period and location which isn't strictly accurate then you may well enjoy it. The characters are not fully developed yet as it's early in the series. However, the acting is OK and the storyline is entertaining. I enjoyed it as I watched it in the spirit in which it was intended (as entertainment).Don't watch it if you want to see signs of realistic brutal rapes, scabies and actors and actresses that are rather liked walking skeletons. I don't think the BBC can expect that from their cast.btw the uniforms all look rather too clean too :)
peter-2749
Dear America (and anywhere else that Auntie Beeb tries to sell it)Sorry.Our BBC normally produces better than this. This time it failed and on behalf of Britain I apologise. I can allow for "bending" of the facts to help a better drama but historical inaccuracies in an "Historical Drama" are just not acceptable. As well as these glaringly obvious errors, victims of floggings recover amazingly quickly, others are "starving" because they have not eaten since breakfast and the female lead has such perfect teeth. Most of us in the UK in 2015 still don't have teeth as good as this let alone in 1788!As for us Brits. This is being on BBC2 - BE WARNED it is NOT a BBC TWO drama! At best this is BBC1 fare but more likely this would be something that you would find on "the other side" (and I don't mean Channel 4).It is a reasonable yarn and the idea is a good one (and why I have given it as high as 4/10).Admittedly my opinion is based on the evidence of the first episode only but so far it is soap-opera tosh. I WILL give the second episode a chance in the hope it is improves but for me this show is very much living on borrowed time.Sorry, we are so sorry.
