CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

jonathan-747-46162 Tim Roth plays the notorious serial killer John "Reg" Christie with bone-chilling eeriness, a masterly performance to no small extent aided by the cinematography and lighting, which would have had Hitchcock nodding in approval, and which borders as closely on the exagerrated as it gets without overstepping the line (in my opinion). The set design provides the appropriately grim backdrop of the poorer areas of 1940s and 1950s London, and the soundtrack is certainly enough to make anybody lie awake wondering what might be lurking under the floorboards of the house you just moved into. The story is very well told, leaving enough for the viewer's imagination to add to the horror as the ghastly details creep into your mind. But there is a piece missing at the very end, as if the director suddenly realised that the allotted running time was quickly running out, and had to cut out a large chunk without forethought. That, unfortunately, takes away a few stars from what would otherwise have been a little masterpiece, but which is now left marred by an ending that seems oddly thrown together with too many loose ends dangling. Nevertheless, it's well worth a watch - you'll never look at your balding uncle the same way again.

Leofwine_draca RILLINGTON PLACE once again sees the BBC come a cropper with their reworking of period-set drama. To my mind, the Richard Attenborough film version of 1971 is pretty much untouchable, an acting masterclass with matter-of-fact direction that makes the depicted events all the more shocking thanks to their gritty realism. By comparison, this 3 hour marathon is all about directorial style: ominous music, gloomy interiors, desperate attempts to build suspense. And none of it works.The only person who comes out of this with any shred of credibility is Tim Roth. He's acceptable, but underplays it and mumbles a lot. No patch on Attenborough, of course, but at least he's acting. Samantha Morton isn't bad either, but given very little to do aside from the usual 'downtrodden' role she so often plays. The pace is languid and unhurried, and the depicted events are played out surprisingly subtle. I never felt shocked or repulsed once, just bored by the endless tedium. The entire first episode does nothing aside from setting up the main characters, and the film version contains about ten times the amount of atmosphere, realism, and power. By contrast, this one's a dud.

Simon Firth If only to provide some contrast to the slightly negative reviews, I must say I thought this was a superb production.Roth's whispering was as intentional as was the shifting accent of a character who was wanting to 'fit in' with any environment he found himself in.A thoroughly unnerving performance by Roth, admirably supported by Morton's portrayal of a character seemingly unable to find her voice all contributed to a very unsettling, but rewarding viewing pleasure.It too lead me to Wiki for a round up of the historical facts and travesties of justice.

Khun Kru Mark One aspect of making a drama based on actual events is that we mostly know what's going to happen. This has the disadvantage of removing some of the apprehension needed to make good dramas work but it has the benefit of letting the viewer focus on other things.And in this case, there are plenty of 'other things' to absorb. The exquisite attention to detail on the sets, the (sometimes odd) writing, the inconsistent accents of some cast members and the masterful performances of Tim Roth and Samantha Morton.For some viewers (like me) it's worth re-familiarizing yourself with a little backstory about these characters and the events that happened, as they give some reason and motivation behind some of the strange decisions that are made.There is probably too little material for a three-hour miniseries to satisfy a young audience and the violence of the events that unfold are implied rather than displayed... which leaves the drama somewhat lacking in suspense... especially in a story where such inventive ways were used to dispatch the victims.In the end, this BBC drama is drab, uneventful and too long. What makes it even more difficult to digest are the choppy and confusing (and entirely unnecessary) flashbacks and flashforwards.