The Poison Tree

This was a good and tense thriller.

Centred around Karen Clarke, who finds herself being stalked and blackmailed after the return of her husband, Rex, from a 12 year prison sentence. From the start there a good amount of mystery and intrigue around the reason Rex was in prison and also for the secret that they can't tell their daughter Alice. From this was see Karen struggling to hid the stalking from Rex and protect Alice from the truth.

The mysterious is revealed through flashbacks to 1999 where a 19 year old Karen meets art student Biba and later moves in with her and her brother Rex. We see how the three grew close and then when Biba and Rex's estranged father tried to sell the house and started to throw out their belongings, it was Biba who accidentally pushed their father over the balcony and then shot Lenny in order to stop him calling the police, instead of Rex. I thought that this was built up well and the reveal was done in a very good way to leave a question of who shot Lenny at the end of the first episode.

The secret emerges that Alice, was the daughter of Biba and Lenny, not Karen and Rex, who was left with Karen after Biba's apparent suicide. This aspect was well written and handled, with it being seen from Karen's perspective. The use of the flashbacks works well to build up tension and allowed me to connection with Karen and see how she was pushed into being part of the cover up and taking care of Alice. When the second mystery stalker is revealed, it was aurprise and the action that Karen takes was very shocking.

MyAnna Buring, Matthew Goode and Ophelia Lovibond all gave great performances as the three central characters, while newcomer Hebe Johnson gave a strong performance as Alice.

The Hour - Series 2

This series saw police corruption and organised crime take centre stage.

So in the wake of the previous series' revelations and a gap of 9 months, this series opened with the Hour facing competition from ITV's Uncovered, Freddie's absence, Hector's entrance into celebrity and a new conspiracy. With these elements it made it intriguing and compelling from the start to see how they would develop and gave new areas for development for the characters. This was also seen when their source, Rosa Maria Ramirez is murdered and Bel's guilt and Freddie's apparent indifference comes into conflict.

As with the last series, historical events are used as a background to many of the episodes. For instance, it shows the space race, the attitudes to immigration, the cold war and the corruption among police and socialites. These all help to build a continually intriguing storylines and create a tense and well pace piece of drama. Moreover, I like how Bel's emotions for Freddie have been amplified, but must be hidden in the face of Freddie's marriage to a French woman,  Camille Mettier, during this time away. In contrast, it's interesting to see how Freddie struggles with married life and his relationship Camille is tested by Bel's presence, which later leads to the ending of it.

I also like how the characters, Lix Storm and Marnie Madden, have been give more development, with Marnie carving her own career in TV and it being revealed that Lix had a daughter she gave up for adoption and is trying to find her along with new character Randall Brown. This development showed a stronger side to Marnie and a softer side to Lix, making them more in-depth characters.

The main cast, including Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai and Dominic West all gave great performances, while Anna Chancellor and Oona Chaplin gave strong performance with their character's new development. Peter Capaldi, Hannah Tointon, Lizzie Brochere, Tom Burke and Vincent Riotta are all great additions to the cast, allowing their character to make their mark and grow well throughout. This has been a great series and the cliffhanger of the last episode was so good and very tense.

Last Tango In Halifax - Series 1

This is a warm-hearted story of an elderly couple reunited after 60 years apart.

This was the feel good story of Alan and Celia who, after knowing each other when they were teenagers, are reunited through Facebook and start the long awaited relationship that they should have had 60 years earlier. The show works well to keep these two characters as the central point, while bringing in the complicated lives of their family, including Alan's daughter Gillian's affair with Paul and relationship with her son, Raff, and Celia's daughter Caroline's failed marriage to John and her relationship with co-worker Kate.

All the characters are well developed, with Alan and Celia's growing honesty with each other feeling quite natural and really good. Moreover, I think through the lively and strong characterisation, it really helped to shine a more positive light on old age and shows that the elderly shouldn't be taken for granted or portrayed as weak as they often are. As a side note, it also allowed for a good light to shine on social media as it showed how Facebook can be used in a positive way to reunite long lost friends.

I liked how the relationship was tested in the last episode, with Alan being disappointed by Celia's harsh reaction to her finding out about Caroline's relationship with Kate. This set up a very emotional and powerful episode and I thought that Celia's change of mind was down in a very smart way. Furthermore, when Celia reconciles with Alan after his has a heart attack, it was very powerful and allowed for a very happy way to end the series.

Anne Reid and Derek Jacobi gave wonderful performances as Celia and Alan, with Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker supporting them with strong portrayals of Caroline and Gillian. There were also good performances from Dean Andrews, Tony Gardner, Josh Bolt, Nina Sosanya, Louis Greatorex and Edward Ashley.

Merlin: Series 5 - The Drawing Of The Dark

This episode saw Mordred join Morgana.

Mordred came to centre stage in this dramatic episode, which saw him switch his loyalties from Arthur to Morgana. I think it was done in a very good way with Mordred being seen as a very caring and loyal person, whose turn to Morgana's side was as much as a result of his friends betrayal, as it was because of Kara's influence. The use of the character of Kara, who was a fellow druid and person that Mordred loved, helped to act as Mordred motivation, especially in the event of her death after she was put on trial and sentenced to death by Arthur.

This betrayal by Arthur, especially after Mordred begged him to reconsider, does show how Mordred's loyalty is tested and allowed him to sympathise with him as I could see the difficult he faced. Kara also was an interesting character, representing Morgana's growing influence and how Arthur's continuation of the laws against magic have turned people against him and made them see him to be the same as his father. This was then contrasted by Arthur's offer to Kara to free walk if she repents for her crimes and showing that her fate was her own fault as it was Arthur's.

It is also good to see how Merlin tries to fight against the tide of fate and how all the things he does in the episodes, including betraying Mordred to Arthur, are all done for the greater good. Although I can see how Merlin's past suspicion toward Mordred has not helped the situation and comes ahead in this episodes in a big way as Mordred reveals Emrys' true identity as Merlin to Morgana. This added to the sewing of the seeds of Camelot's doom that have been growing in the last few episodes and now it will be interesting to see how the two-part finale will shape itself.

I thought Alexander Vlahos and Alexandra Dowling gave great performances as Mordred and Kara, and their chemistry works well to develop a believable relationship that I could invest in and feel sympathy for how it tragically ended. Also I think Colin Morgan gives a very strong performance as the out of depth Merlin, who realises he can no longer fight the path of destiny.

The Secret Of Crickley Hall

This was a great and thrilling drama.

Centring around two periods of the same house, Crickley Hall. The first being the present day, where the Caleigh family have moved in for six months to get away during the one year anniversary of parents Eve and Gabe's son Cameron going missing. The other is the house used as a orphanage in World War 2, where the children are mistreated by brother and sister Augustus and Magda Cribbins and events around the tragic deaths that took place there.. And the connection of the two periods acts through the character of Percy Judd, who worked for the Cribbins and remained as the caretaker of the house through to the present day.

The show does well to show underlying themes of child abuse, through Nancy Linnet's campaign to free the children from the grips of the Cribbins, and bullying of Loren Caleigh because of her brother's disappearance. The attitudes of the Cribbins toward German orphan Stefan Rosenbaum, also reflect on how German refugees may have been treated by many people during the war. And with these underlying themes came the mystery of what happened to Stefan and Maurice Stafford whose bodies were never found.

The three-part drama works well to shift smoothly between the two times and it keeps the mysterious of both times twisting and turning in a very good way. Also the way the ghostly happening are filmed with close up shots helps to add to their potential realism. It was interesting to see how the stories became more darker as they develop, with the sweet romance between Nancy and Percy and then her later murder by Maurice and Magda, and the deaths of the orphans apart from Stefan at the hands of Augustus.

With this in mind, the final episode saw a great deal of tension and heartbreak, as Percy discovered the truth about Nancy's disappearance and the Caleighs found out about Cameron's accidental death, which was handled in a very affective manner. Furthermore, we later find out that Maurice, now known as Gordon Pyke, is under the control of the ghost of Augustus to kill one of the Caleigh children, which he finally gives up doing when confronted by the ghost of Nancy.

Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Olivia Cooke all give great performances, adding a lot of emotion and strength to the story. Other cast members including Douglas Henshall, Sarah Smart, Iain de Caestecker, Susan Lynch, Donald Sumpter and David Warner, also give good performances, allowing their characters to develop well. I also have to give credit to young actors Maisie Williams, Pixie Davies, Elliot Kerley and Kian Parsiani, who did a great job at showing their great potential.

Merlin: Series 5 - The Kindness Of Strangers

This episodes saw the build up to the two-part finale start.

This episode saw Morgana stepping up her campaign to found out the identity of Emrys and soon it turned into a cat and mouse chase as Merlin was given the knowledge of the Old Religion by Finna that is needed for the coming battle. Within this it was good to see Merlin and Gaius's relationship, like that of a father and a son, come into focus, which shows the amount of growth that the characters have gone through together.

There was a good contrast between the loved up scenes between Arthur and Gwen and the capture and later death of Alator of the Catha by Morgana, who previously appeared in series 4. It helped to give shades of light and dark to the episodes. Also the use of Alator again adds to the strength of Morgana's conviction to find Emrys, as Alator had been previously employed to haunt down Emrys by Morgana.

It was also good how the script made it unsure whether Finna's loyalities were initially with Merlin or Morgana, but this soon turned out to be the former. I was thinking that with the mention of Saxons, not just in this episodes but in others seemed to be the show trying to tie its historical narrative into established history. It very much felt like a build up of the continuity and narrative as Mordred's importance in future events start to pick up, Finna's warning to Merlin about 'the druid boy' and Morgana's declaration of war.

Gary Lewis makes a good return as Alator and Sorcha Cusack gives a great performances as Finna.

Merlin: Series 5 - With All My Heart

This was a good episode, where Gwen was fixed!

It was a really good story, with a nice mix of humour and drama.  I'm glad to see that Gwen's recent evil activity has now been explained as being down to powerful magic from the Old Religion that causes the victim's soul to be replaced by the demands of their master. Then I really liked the bit between Arthur and Gwen, where only the line 'With all my heart' is able to bring back some of the old Gwen and allow her to be cured. I also thought it was done in such a simple and effective way.

I thought that Merlin in drag as the Old Woman worked as a humourous tool and I supposed was used because of how serious the upcoming episodes will be. Furthermore, this I suppose helped to show the Merlin of previous series, compared to that of him as the Old Man Merlin threatening and actually injuring the Dochraid, which I wasn't that sure of really. But I did like the bit where Gaius and Merlin have to smuggle Gwen out of Camelot and it was good to see Richard Wilson providing a lot of the humour.

As we near the end of the series, Mordred came more involved and showed a strong sense of loyalty towards Arthur, which is a very contrasting image to that of him killing Arthur in Merlin flash forward. Also Morgana appears to be starting to lose control and it'll be interesting to how her and Mordred's alliance is meant to emerge.

Credit goes to Angel Coulby and Bradley James for their strong performances and Colin Morgan brings out a very good comical effect in his. Maureen Carr also gives a good performance as evil Dochraid.