Having just retired recently after 32 years in the Fire Service, I settled down to watch the first episode of "The Smoke".
Your fire adviser named in the credits is Nick Warner. What is this guys fire service background? As the procedural aspect of the incidents are alien to me and the on station antics and dialogue hark back to the 1970s. Not up to date at all.
London's Burning at least had an operational adviser who was working with the LFB at the time which although pandered to entertainment actually portrayed station life pretty well and used up to date procedures and story lines.
I also am enjoying "Chicago Fire" which knocks spots off "The Smoke" for production values, though they may have a bigger budget. The scripts for "The Smoke" are poor, the acting wooden and the stories not worth watching. I can imagine the "public" would view it as entertainment along with the titillating nudity. Surely this drama can be good without this kind of stuff. It comes across as any other drama with a bit of flame and uniform to help it fit the title.
What is it with so many characters smoking their way through the programme. My experience of people in the service is that on a watch there are almost no smokers any more, like there used to be.
It just seems that stories are fed into a fire service time warp from the past. Because of the poor advising by Nick Warner, this programme falls short and after watching the second episode tonight, I'll not be watching any other episodes.
This could have been so good, yet it has been let down in so many ways. Sorry for this criticism, but having been a professional firefighter, feel it doesn't do me or my colleagues justice, or in a good light.
