The Cuckoo.

OurKid that’s so true I watched it all and I suppose it was ok but the storyline was so far fetched …the acting was ok apart from the daughter (I thought she was poor) and the police who were very unrealistic with the detective looking very young and not very police like. The idea of the story was ok but it got too far from reality

It was a tad unrealistic, but also one of those that once you've started it, you just have to keep watching.

I thought TV in the late 70s and early 80s was great.

I loved When The Boat Comes In, Shabby Tiger, Love for Lydia, Tales of the Unexpected etc.

We lived in a tiny village then and my SIL and husband lived in next door cottage. There was a pub across the road and every friday night we sent the men to the pub so we could watch When The Boat Comes In and we joined them when it finished. That was before we had video recorders. Happy Days!

Yes, a huge number of freeview channels nowadays.

Only problem is, they seem to share out the films and programmes between themselves, so you can see it on one channel on a Monday say, then it’s repeated on another channel a day or two later.

DH always saying “I only watched that film at the weekend!”

calendargirl ...it’s a bit sad if we have to watch dramas from 20-30 years ago to get something decent.
I agree it's VERY sad but unfortunately true. I have been switching most new drama off these days and turning the clock back to watch the older stuff. I honestly think the 1990s was the golden age of drama, and into the 2000's. For example, The Riff Raff Element from 1993 was brilliant, and London's Burning from the 1980s/1990s was astonishing with all the fires and dramas. Both had humour and loveable characters you really cared about, nothing like that on today.

Going further back some of the old TV series were very slow and plodding, but often very high quality and worth making the effort for.

The only upside about today is the huge choice of channels and there is plenty to watch even on the free channels. The drama being produced now is mostly very dark and seems to require murder as an ingredient. The humour and loveable characters have gone.

What a load of crxp

We were easily pleased back then welbeck.

The same with sitcoms.

Some which I thought hilarious years ago, and never missed…

Now, if they are shown, I think to myself “ Did I really think this was funny, back then?”

Are You Being Served, Bless This House and suchlike.

There were times in the lives of each of my children as teenagers, I would have not ....rushed.... to retrieve them from kidnap. The kidnapper would have brought them back - fairly swiftly.

yes, i really feel for the actors in Dixon etc.
they were filmed in one take, and sometimes the actors repeat their lines almost, and the others have to ignore, carry on.
must have been so stressful.
i saw one recently where someone said,
dick smith will give you a bashing, dick smith will give you a right bashing.
i thought he could have left it without repeating to include the one omitted word.
but then, the other actors will have learned their cues, so perhaps the line has to be delivered exactly . . .
i never noticed any of this when first watching dixon, z-cars etc !
which proves the point i guess.
then we were lapping it up as entertainment;
now we feel like critics !

Chestnut

Yes, I agree with some of what you’re saying, but it’s a bit sad if we have to watch dramas from 20-30 years ago to get something decent.

So much of the ‘new’ stuff is poor.

Having said that, yes, I often watch old stuff, i.e. Dixon Of Dock Green on a Saturday evening, but that is more of a nostalgia/back to my childhood theme, not for the great acting or superior plots!

“Evening all”.

Much younger folk wouldn't be watching this.

They don't watch much on TV at all.

I enjoyed it. I don't expect a tv drama to be true to life - I want to be entertained - and I was!

Calendargirl

If we switched off everything that is rubbish, there would be very little to watch.

Plus if you stick with it, it might, just might, improve. 🤞

And half the pleasure of GN is sharing our thoughts on daft tv programmes.

If we switched off everything that is rubbish, there would be very little to watch.
I can't agree there.
I'm currently watching several episodes of Clocking Off on BBC which is absolutely brilliant with A List actors. I've also got endless episodes of London's Burning on UKTV Play to keep me going. And more endless episodes of Aussie dramas All Saints and Blue Heelers on Amazon Freevee. These are all free and so much better than anything our main channels are showing these days.

I agree with welbeck that the target audience is probably much younger folk who have limited experience of TV drama. We have decades of experience in watching quality drama so we are very critical. We can easily spot holes in the plot, whereas in my teens these are things I would not have noticed or cared about.

perhaps we're not the target audience, aka too old !
the ending was v reminiscent of something i saw a few years ago.
it was irish, a man ends up having kidnapped a youngster poss a relative, in a holiday caravan park, remote windswept location, and the police are chasing around the vans...
i v rarely watch drama, except on talking pictures or london live, ie made decades ago.

Just been reading some reviews of ‘The Cuckoo’ on Facebook.

‘Amazing acting’

‘Love these Channel 5 dramas’.

‘I was on the edge of my seat’.



Were they watching the same programme as me? It was a Channel 5 review page though. They were thanking everyone for the feedback.

Obv not looked at GN.

Well having been stabbed in the stomach with plenty of blood on show it was good to see him so well at the end. Apparently no questions about Sian’s disappearance over the Cliff top. She certainly disappeared quickly. Not a sign in the sea or on the cliffs.

I watched last night to see how it ended. It all got a bit silly with endless running round the caravans and tbh Alice was a bit chubbby so couldn't really move very quickly.

I still think these Channel 5 dramas are worth a look.

Calendargirl

Primrose53

When Sian came round the side of the caravan and grabbed Alice ……I actually screamed and nearly jumped off the sofa. My husband could not stop laughing and my son came downstairs to see what was going on! 🤣

Miss Marple that I am, I guessed naughty Sian would have double-backed and grabbed dopey Alice. So it didn’t make me jump.

🤣. My husband had said she was going to creep round the caravan but that was a few mins before and she didn’t so when she did i really jumped. 😱

So unrealistic! I couldn't watch the second episode and gave up. I was so disappointed

If we switched off everything that is rubbish, there would be very little to watch.

Plus if you stick with it, it might, just might, improve. 🤞

And half the pleasure of GN is sharing our thoughts on daft tv programmes.

Primrose53

When Sian came round the side of the caravan and grabbed Alice ……I actually screamed and nearly jumped off the sofa. My husband could not stop laughing and my son came downstairs to see what was going on! 🤣

Miss Marple that I am, I guessed naughty Sian would have double-backed and grabbed dopey Alice. So it didn’t make me jump.

I agree that those who don't like it should just switch off and stop with the nasty comments. I switched off Coma, After the Flood and Finders Keepers pretty swiftly. I didn't sit all the way through them and keep posting about how awful they were.

This one I watched to the end, and although the plot has more holes than a Swiss cheese I have no complaints. It is what it is. I enjoy unpicking the holes and appreciate that the actors played their parts well.

merlotgran

So, you’re being chased by a psychopath who thinks she’s your mother and despite plenty of places to hide you go and stand on the edge of a cliff! 😂

My thoughts exactly!

Of course, the deranged woman topples backwards off a cliff into crashing waves, yet lives to strike again (oh no, surely not another series…)

Part of, in fact the only, pleasure in watching such rubbish, is in laughing at it.