This is billed as a drama, but it seems to be played as a light comedy with a very shallow dramatic foundation.
Some of the comedy staples are wheeled out in the first episode: Alice's horrible mother; Harry's money-grubbing family; a bantering mortician. What's missing is any sense that Alice is actually grieving for the loss of her partner, Harry. It's as if the writers weren't confident enough to write a straightforward drama and so the characters aren't allowed to behave in a serious, non-comedy, way.
The first episode didn't give me a single character to care about -- especially not Alice, who I really should have been drawn to feel some sympathy for -- so I won't be investing another 5 hours to watch this to its conclusion.
Some of the comedy staples are wheeled out in the first episode: Alice's horrible mother; Harry's money-grubbing family; a bantering mortician. What's missing is any sense that Alice is actually grieving for the loss of her partner, Harry. It's as if the writers weren't confident enough to write a straightforward drama and so the characters aren't allowed to behave in a serious, non-comedy, way.
The first episode didn't give me a single character to care about -- especially not Alice, who I really should have been drawn to feel some sympathy for -- so I won't be investing another 5 hours to watch this to its conclusion.