True Love (tv series)

I heard about this from Tumblr, and decided that I'd give it a go. I don't usually watch TV drama series, but I noticed this had a great cast - some I've never heard of, others I was dubious about, and some which surprised me. I originally didn't know this was entirely improvised by the actors, an unscripted drama, but that changed my view of it dramatically. (warning - possible spoilers, especially concerning episode 4.)

1 - The first episode, Nick, seemed like the writing was just bad. Learning the actors were improvising made my opinion take a turn for the worse. It was David Tennant being... David Tennant, and Vicky McClure being Vicky McClure with a dash of Lol from This Is England. Nonetheless I still enjoyed watching her on the screen, but in this episode, the real surprises came from Nick's wife, who I thought was excellent, and Lacey Turner, who I'm so used to being Stacey that I didn't expect her to seem like a breath of fresh air to the pointless story told in this episode. I honestly can't say why the writers of the show, or the actors, chose to tell a story like this, which really didn't show any changes in either relationship.

2 - The second was also a waste of time. I didn't particularly like the character of Paul, because again, he didn't seem to change after his shenanigans had taken place. Lacey Turner seemed to stagnate more in episode two. But that does bring me onto something that I like about True Love - the fact that all the episodes are linked together. I'm assuming the girl from episode two is somewhere in the third episode, but I didn't spot her.

3 - Holly's episode was probably my favourite, (until I saw Sandra). I'm not a big fan of the actress who plays the school girl but she was very convincing in this and their story was a lot more believable and realistic. Perhaps I identify more with the setting as it's in a school, given my age, but even still this was one of the more convincing episodes with great performances by all the actors.

4 - Sandra's episode presented itself to me as the best so far. This series seems to get better as it progresses, and with each episode only half an hour long, it doesn't take long to get through the drudge and pointlessness of the first two. I think Sandra's actress does an amazing job. The way her husband treats her screams 'loveless marriage', especially when she's sitting at the kitchen table crying her heart out over the fact all her children have moved away now, and then he walks off without a hug, a pat on the arm, any kind of contact, other than the words "I have to go to work." Interestingly her husband was the one who Billie Piper was in a relationship in episode three, and even then he seemed like, wanting a better word, a wanker. I also loved the part where Sandra was looking in the mirror. She began looking sad, empty, but then her eyes light up and she expresses this tiny smile. The change in her face is amazing and I love that the camera captures the moment, where it seems as though a fire in her soul has been lit once again. I also like the fact that when she's sat in the café with Ishmael, her hair is wild, windswept, but she doesn't care. But then the scene changes to her sat at home, hair brushed and perfect... it's just a beautiful detail that really captures the essence of difference between her feelings around Ishmael in contrast to her feelings around her husband. It was the ending of this episode which unfortunately left me disappointed, again. These episodes don't wrap themselves up in any sense of the word. They just end. Which makes me think that perhaps they're a little too short - they could do with an extra five minutes or so sometimes.

5 - Adrian's was the one that I couldn't really get my head around, although it probably was the one with the most obvious happy ending out of all five. I didn't particularly enjoy the story because the characters, apart from Adrian himself, weren't fully explained. This was the weakest in terms of story for me (apart from 2) but also happened to be the shortest.