Stonemouth

Pretty people acting badly... pretty much sums this up. The director seems to be working from Directing for Dummies as we get the various "art" shots so he he can add them to his resume, followed by directing 101shots so we can watch the bad actors trying to act. Then we get voice-overs .. and MORE voice-overs ... and .. well you get my point. Because how else can you explain the plot and characters? ... oh wait that's right .. by acting and directing properly!

When the British get crime drama right, no one does it better, and this is an excellent example

Christian Cooke really is pretty though. I can't tell if it was the dialogue or the acting that was the problem of if it was the pretty people who made it feel so soapy but it was pretty bad if somewhat exciting at a couple points.

Brian Gleason was great, as well as all the older, veteran actors (save the mum). Storyline wasn't fleshed out nor was it compelling, and a better love story would have been Ferg and Stewart. Wouldn't rewatch, but I think I'm glad I did.

Stonemouth

Reasonably good drama set in Scotland, I can quite put my finger on why it isn't better.

Its lack of narrative drive probably rests in the weakness of the crime and the weakness of the investigation and it just descended into a kitchen sink, soap like morass.

The actors were good but the script banal.