The first thing to say is that this has almost nothing to do with John Wyndham's novel of the same name. It does take the basic premise of children being conceived and born after some sort of inexplicable event knocks out the population of a town, but there any real similarity ends. The rest of the story, with plenty of attention paid to ensuring all politically correct boxes are ticked, is a new one.
That said, it's not too bad. The story, as rewritten, is a decent one, although some parts are a little incoherent, and the acting and script are fairly good for the most part. There is, of course, an abundance of ethnic minorities who are simply out of place in a small, rural English town and there are nods to various politically correct attitudes, but that's par for the course these days. One or 2 completely unnecessary and unwarranted scenes of sexual activity add nothing whatsoever and could easily have been omitted.
There is plenty of angst, family issues and the like, but the children look suitably malevolent as and when required, particularly the seeming ringleader, Hannah. The dramatic musical accompaniment is often unnecessary and far too intrusive; will directors never learn that silence is usually far more frightening than loud noise ? Some of the dialogue is quite indistinct with the usual mumbling and rapid-fire delivery making it hard to understand it at times, particularly with the background noise.
As the end approaches, the story does seem increasingly contrived, illogical and confused. There's no doubt that it's much too drawn out and could have been far better if restricted to 3 or 4 episodes rather than 7. That said, it's not terrible and I watched to the end, which wasn't much of a surprise. A mark of 6 is probably fair and many will no doubt enjoy it greatly.
That said, it's not too bad. The story, as rewritten, is a decent one, although some parts are a little incoherent, and the acting and script are fairly good for the most part. There is, of course, an abundance of ethnic minorities who are simply out of place in a small, rural English town and there are nods to various politically correct attitudes, but that's par for the course these days. One or 2 completely unnecessary and unwarranted scenes of sexual activity add nothing whatsoever and could easily have been omitted.
There is plenty of angst, family issues and the like, but the children look suitably malevolent as and when required, particularly the seeming ringleader, Hannah. The dramatic musical accompaniment is often unnecessary and far too intrusive; will directors never learn that silence is usually far more frightening than loud noise ? Some of the dialogue is quite indistinct with the usual mumbling and rapid-fire delivery making it hard to understand it at times, particularly with the background noise.
As the end approaches, the story does seem increasingly contrived, illogical and confused. There's no doubt that it's much too drawn out and could have been far better if restricted to 3 or 4 episodes rather than 7. That said, it's not terrible and I watched to the end, which wasn't much of a surprise. A mark of 6 is probably fair and many will no doubt enjoy it greatly.