The Children

Some difficult issues handled quite well but I found the non-sequential nature of action annoying more than confusing and any programme that repeatedly cuts in slow motion action of any kind is irritating; in this case a child falling back onto glass, indicating that the programme was being dragged out to fill the time available. I am old-fashioned, I just want them to tell the story. Good acting, good characters and the ending leaves you guessing but I feel it could have been better.

Very cleverly written plot that slowly delves into the chaos of divorce and the round-about relationships that follow. Step-children become the flotsam as they get jettisoned.

The characters develop into very selfish and brutal players in their self/centred game. By the time the ending arrives - you're well on the way to not caring! Except for Jack the troubled fourteen year old. Even though the actor turns in at about seventeen, he brings a sweet tenderness to the confused son.

However, the ending is extremely lazy and simply does not reward the viewer for sitting through three hours.