Delicious

Great photo shots of food and scenery. Good acting. Good writing. Great break from predictable drama filled with action scenes stuck into simply dumb down.

Yes, it's easy going and slightly predictable, but most definitely watchable.

Women bickering is a huge annoyance for me - and that's basically the entire plot of the show. Also irritating: A man who believes he's god's gift to women and of course they're going to fight over him, with a smug, smarmy narration to match. And a self-indulgent "troubled" child who could not be any less likable.

I've worked in commercial kitchens so on the one hand it was interesting because of the food; on the other a completely silly and unrealistic portrayal of all but a handful of kitchens in the world. (Yeah yeah, every cook on the planet will solemnly proclaim that each and every dish served is perfect - from Waffle House to Osteria Francescana.) Arguing about the high quality of food being served - every single episode - is as boring as a weekly F&B meeting.

Each actor wrapped their part in love. At last! The talent of Dawn French has found a nest, a bespoke fit. Gina Benelli and her perfect counterpoint Samantha played masterfully by Emilia Fox kept the lines and the estrogen crackling. The soulful Teresa and the dapper Mimi rounded the ages of a gquick glimpse of every woman. Writing was excellent and fun. Personally, the weekly walk on of characters and side stories gets a touch predictable. One can forgive this though with the urge to look in on the deeply interesting characters.

Well, it was cheesy, melodramatic, and insanely shallow. There were more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing. But after binge-watching all eight episodes, I did rather enjoy it!

Despite the ludicrous soap-opera dramatics, the soft-focus direction, and the annoying narration from a dead bloke the characters were interesting to watch and fun to follow. The beautiful local scenery was unfortunately underplayed here and we only get to see occasional glimpses of the fairy-tale English countryside.

It was as if a Jane Eyre book had been rewritten by school kids... who then took out the most realistic bits and added an annoying ghost!

But despite all the silliness, I don't regret watching it. This is one of those programs that I would normally love to rain hate on - but in the end, it was a rather charming and fluffy tale of truth and lies... and how they break people apart.

Dawn French is probably a bit past playing bedroom scenes by now, but here she is anyway, candles glowing and legs akimbo!

If you set aside ANY expectation of realism and common sense, there's still enough left on the screen to make this pretty good fun.