The Street watch online HD

Just watched the last episode of series two. My thought's?..Stunning! This is not cobbled together tacked on drama this is seminal in the context of British drama. You are drawn in to each character whether that character be good or bad, wrong or right, lucky or unlucky. We see the effects lifelike individuals can have on others. Even on people they have never met. The acting from well known to lesser known actors in each episode is consistently compelling. The presence from each of these, perfectly cast actors, fully compliments each episodes script. The subtle episode plot joins assist the viewer in quickly settling into each story lending more credibility to each new characters situation. Sure there are some weaknesses however, this is as good as British drama gets so don't miss out just because of bad (or good!) reviews. Settle down and enjoy the drama!

Just when it seems that almost the entire world is churning out small-screen drama the televisual equivalent of Danielle Steel's finest, or buying in formulaic, standardised American drivel, thank God for the likes of Jimmy McGovern and the BBC for producing something so classy and original as 'The Street'.

Beautifully written, superbly acted and tightly directed - a glimpse into a real world, populated by real people, that just about any cogent Brit will empathise with.

Yes it aims high, but that is no bad thing: real quality, in anything, is never destined for either mass consumption, or appreciation.

The bar has been raised again; by the only ones who seem to know how.

Well thank goodness the reviewer "howTVshouldbe" doesn't have a say in how TV should be, quite frankly though an American calling this series "a dud" can only be a ringing endorsement for how good this show is.

Mcgovern has done it again, with a breathtakingly honest and sometimes brutal portrayal of the lives of ordinary people in an ordinary town. I found each episode absolutely compelling viewing. I did not find it overly depressing at all, many of the episodes are very heart warming with satisfying endings.

I especially like episode 2 & 3. Broadbent is excellent as a disillusioned man finding himself suddenly retired.

I thoroughly recommend this series to anyone that likes a well written, gritty, British drama.

Any individual episode of THE STREET is comparable to a solid feature film. The casts are filled with some of the best actors in the UK, the scripts are made up of memorable and pointed scenes, the visuals are vivid.

But watching several back-to-back, I can't help but notice that in every show a central character makes a mistake that he/she has to keep secret, the consequences of trying to maintain the secret become increasingly difficult, and finally there is a cleansing confession. It's as if every episode were designed to illustrate the maxim, "Honesty is the best policy." There are many other story structures, and Jimmy McGovern's record past work is more than enough evidence that he knows it. I'm glad to see there will be a season three; I hope someone will keep an eye out to keep it from being bogged down by the repetition that has marred season two.

I loved the street it was brilliant drama i especially found episode 6 compelling viewing (even though it had me crying most of the time).The actors were great even the young ones.The little girl who played Leah O,Neil in episode 6 reminded me of my daughter and had me crying lots she was very believable.congratulations to the BBC for getting it right for once, any one i spoke to could identify with at least one of the characters they were so real to life if you go down to your local you could easily bump into a Sean or Yvonne.I've heard that there is going to be a second series (cant wait )it would be brilliant if they included some of the families from series 1 so we could find out what happened to the likes of yvonne and her children.

This is without doubt deep & dark at times, but such a joy to watch with brilliant portrayals from everyone. Jimmy McGovern hits home with strong, gritty writing as usual, and the sheer class of the whole production is superb.Episode 3 has been the standout for me (I'm still watching the series in NZ). The story based around a teacher caught short in the park, and accused of "flashing" was performed with such intensity by Neil Dudgeon and Lindesay Coulson. It threw every emotion at you. The final scenes where he was finally vindicated, made you realize just how easy mistakes can be made, and how traumatic that can be for so many people-simply brilliant! No doubt our "astvshouldbe" is still happily watching reruns of Friends, along with the other myriad of American trash, that passes for entertainment in USA

Nobody does drama like the British. Their use of "real people" like Timothy Spall and other character actors make the stories more believable and plausible. Not all actors look like they've stepped out of the pages of a prominent fashion magazine. I would imagine that many of those offering negative criticism were brought up on mass-produced, pasteurised, plasticised, sanitised, computerised and irradiated drivel, and were shocked at being exposed to real life. Real life, ad-lib, spontaneity, remember that? Not everything comes with a step-by-step instruction manual, so try not to get too disappointed when you can't guess the end 5 minutes into the show. That's what story telling is all about. Dud? I don't think so mate.

The Street is gripping, dark, emotional, heart-wrenching, and humorous - all things great television should be. With its revolving cast of characters all intertwined with each other, you feel for each one - either sympathizing, hating or loving them - and you will not be able to pull yourself away from watching them no matter how painful, humiliating, or disastrous the situation becomes. This is a must series for anyone who appreciates great drama. But beware, the subject matter does not pull any punches. The in-your-face storytelling will almost always leave you with lump in your throat and stifling a tear. Buy this, rent it, do what you have to to watch one of the best series that has come around in ages.

Network: BBC America; Genre: Drama; Content Rating: TV-MA (strong language, sexual content); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Season Reviewed: season 1

Jimmy McGovern's suburban England based anthology drama is advertised by BBC America with the slogan "Everyone is connected by something". After watching season 1, each episode telling a catastrophic story from the lives of various families on the street, I can't help but come to the conclusion that that connection is misery.

I don't want my TV to be happy all the time. Great TV lifts up the rock facade of life and exposes the slimy worms and ugly reality underneath. With a wiff of "American Beauty", and not to be confused with the pop American satire "Desperate Housewives", cheers to this show for taking the more difficult path. For committing to entire scenes of couples in knock-down-drag-out screaming fights. Even bigger cheers for going where other shows don't have the care or guts to, up into a child's bedroom as she lays awake listening to her parents fight.

"Street" has all the pieces for another cringing piece of British brilliance, but a slow realization occurs after several episodes: McGovern can only tell the story with such a heavy hand that it becomes a relentlessly unpleasant trial. Dramas like "The Sopranos" contain brutally realistic domestic fights, but also have palette cleansing moments. That isn't all they are, but that is all "The Street" is. It has no other mood. Here, the characters don't have one or two brutally realistic fights; the hour is packed with them. So much so that we become numb to it all and repulsed by the sound of it. Likewise, the characters are broadly drawn clichés that can offer us nothing in the way of originality or insight. Nobody seems reasonable; everybody behaves specifically at the service of the story.

It works like this. A couple is having an affair, a boy steals a pair of tennis shoes, a women is being abused by her husband or, in the relatively best episode, a man peeing in the park is mistaken for a flasher by a young girl. Then we watch for an hour as their lives are taken from them, they spiral out of control, their friends, family and community alienating them, they suffering one crushing defeat after another. Each story hits a single note and then proceeds to keep hitting it for the rest of the hour.

The real kick in the teeth are the unbelievable happy endings. After slogging through an hour of depressing angst, we are given a 30 to 60 second button at the end that is supposed to make us all feel relieved. The endings feel like tacked-on after thoughts. Nothing was learned, no revelations where made.

As much as I tried to give "The Street" the benefit of the doubt, I just can't see a single redeeming quality in it. Ugly, obnoxious, manipulative. It is the opposite of entertainment. A marathon of narcissistic pain and contrived bad luck made all the more punishing by the show's complete and total inability to tell a story on its most basic levels. Dud.

* / 4

Gritty drama? Emotionally powerful? Blah! The BBC has lost out big time to masterful productions such as The Wire, Sopranos and Carnivale from HBO. Okay, so the budget may be a lot smaller but 'The Street' last night was badly acted, predictable, unrealistic, stereotypical, insensitive and a big fat waste of time. TV (British TV) is not as good as it used to be and is falling further and further behind the American productions.

There was no sense of brutal violence from the 'local gangster'. There was no indication that this man was 'insane' enough to beat up a man he has respected for such a long time. There was no remorse when he did it and this shouldn't be the sort of character that would back down when Bob Hoskins called his son a pansy, in a display of 'bravery'.

I wish I was more eloquent to express my disdain for this show, but I am not and although I can't prove my point well enough, believe me when I say that this was rubbish, shock TV, that provides no real inward looking perspective on life.

1/5 stars.