I like to think I’m pretty discerning about drama and I know some here have Netflix or other nefarious means of obtaining the goods so I thought I’d mention these:
Doctor Foster - for those who’ve seen Scott and Bailey this is the mouthy one but now as a GP. She seems off kilter but always brings it back. Clever with a wonderfully cringing dinner party scene.
River - cop drama with Stellan Skarsgard. This is a very smart look at grieving and loneliness/social isolation - we’re only part way through this but it’s already a keeper.
Unforgotton - very nicely constructed murder investigation. Again, we’re part way through but you can’t wait for the next epi …
Intelligent drama - for the top two at least you really have to work to piece things together. Try to check em out
I found Doctor Foster a bit ridiculous at times but thought they wrapped it up really well.
How can you be a senior partner in a GP practice- which are run like small businesses as I understand - and not care/know about your own household finances?!
I see too that both the BBC and ITV are aiming at the swords-and-mud market, the BBC with an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom (Saxons, Vikings, Alfred, gory battles and severed heads, with added rape and pillage), and ITV coming along with a version of Beowulf.
ITV has also aimed at the Sherlock market with a reinvention of Jekyll and Hyde, based on the doctor’s grandson in 1930s London:
[spoiler]Oh there are plenty of business orientated husbands who insist on taking charge of that stuff. Even professional women I went to Uni with who run charites and are Partners in law firms …
What I found about Doctor Foster was, while something seemed off kilter on first blush - it was always a clever piece of writing. Like with drugs ‘bribery’ - which the patient was actually entitled to anyway given the symptoms she presented. There was a lot of that kind of thing. She was actually pretty sly.[/spoiler]
I see River is on Netflix internationally from 18th November.
I can’t rec this enough but with some reservation; it’s intellectually challenging but so rewarding. Don’t doubt everyone involved with the production is doing a top class job.
btw, all of these are 5-hour dramas. Also turns out River is available on Netflix so quickly because they co-funded it. River finished tonight so here’s my scores; On the Broadchurch Scale whenre Broadchurch is 9:
River: 8.25 - loved it, loved it Smart, original and the BBC out scandied the Scandinavians. My only concern is it really isn’t Hollywood, plus
no, those are not ghosts!!!
Unforgotten: 8.25: very good. Basically a page-turning whodunnit. Absolutely worth a punt and it’ll draw youin quickly.
Doctor Foster: 8.0: but possibly with slightly more appeal for yer females. Bit quirky, but goodness did this grow on people - best audience for a drama for a very long time.
Fwiw, we now have an absolute cracker called London Spy with Ben Whishaw and the lovely Jim Broadbent. Only 2 epi’s in but total quality.
A couple of new-ish and decent 30 minute comedies as well:
Detectorists - gentle but golden.
Catastrophe - a couple thing, will, then, do they … not so gentle and a bit rude. As a couple of Americans in it, inc. Carrie Fisher
Loved River, loved it!
Don’t know if this in zombie territory but I just discovered Doctor Foster on Netflix here in the USA. Wow, it’s a train wreck that you cannot look away from. It’s so intense at times I bet the actors needed therapy after filming it. I almost feel like I need it after binge watching the whole thing. Still, I hope a 3rd series gets made. I have my suspicions as to where the story will go next.
Since this thread was revived, I’ll point out that the third series of Unforgotten started airing on PBS Masterpiece Mystery on Sunday. Like the two previous series, it centers around the discovery of a body, the investigation of who it is and what happened to the person. At the same time, various random people are shown going about their lives but eventually we learn how they’re all connected.