User reviews

Epiosde 1 screened last night - Tuesday 3 October

It was a good start with plenty to develop in the further 5 episodes.

Often in these kind of shows where real people play themselves, the real people lack credibility - They appear to act. But here Kirsty Wark and Peter Snow played themselves with the authority one should expect from the original.

Jane Horrocks was excellent and her beleaguered hubby was entirely believable.

There was also an excellent balance between shabby politicians and exposing the job they do as remorselessly difficult. It is to hoped that this balance can be maintained throughout the production.

Interesting that it is billed as comedy when the laughs were few and far between. Not that that is a bad thing.

Firstly I think the previous comment was perhaps a little harsh. So far this program has operated at a highly interesting angle, by having an initial intense fast pace, and a gradual slow down before throwing a new thing at the audience to consider.

There is continually something for the audience to think about, and about 15 things at the same time. All the concerns of someone running a country, while it is slightly unrealistic with some of the simplicity it makes the point it's trying to make very well.

Much of the policies "Mrs. Pritchard" tends to raise are real life policies. Won't say any more here.

As a piece of Tuesday night viewing it's worth watching, unlike much of whats on at the moment.

I watched this show mainly because it was written by Sally Wainwright, creator of the excellent At Home With the Braithwaites and ITV's recent Jane Hall. She is a fantastic writer with a strong sense for creating 'real' people, especially those in the North and, in particular, women. There was also the added bonus of the great cast. Jane Horrocks is a fantastic actress, anyone who has seen Little Voice knows how versatile she is, and the supporting cast all bring their own strengths. I had never seen either Jodhi May or Carey Mulligan outside of a corset so it was great to see them do something contemporary.

I thoroughly enjoyed this programme. There was something so likable about Ros Pritchard that I found myself rooting for her from the start (although I can't say the same about her husband!). You could say that the two daughters, especially the youngest, were a little too similar to the daughters from The Braithwaites, but I really didn't mind. The characterisations and dialogue was spot on, I laughed out loud several times. As well as being funny and entertaining, Mrs Pritchard managed to make some very serious, and real, points about the state of modern politics and the problem of voter apathy. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

I liked it. As a short series, I found it interesting and more importantly, entertaining and for me, that's what TV is about: entertainment!! I've just read one comment saying the whole thing was so PC and another saying the opposite. I just find this strange and fail to see why every single program on TV needs to tick all the PC check-boxes for some people and needs to oppose all the PC rubbish for others. What's wrong with pure entertainment that's not 'designed' to fit a particular agenda? Sure some of it is fantastic - meant as in pertaining to fantasy - but what the hell in wrong with that? I don't watch much TV, preferring to pick and choose stuff I think might be interesting and this short series fitted the bill nicely.

The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard is a superb performance by a very believable cast. The story is one of hope, against a backdrop of political despair that many in the world today face. The idea that one of the marginal people can rise above the corrupt incompetence that many in national parties claim is just the way things are done, is very inspiring. Jane Horrocks was consummate for the part. Jane's dynamic range gave us a believable character we have to cheer for, from one of the little people to that of a world leader in a couple of episodes, she made this performance most memorable.

The foibles of those around Mrs. Pritchard add the dramatic element found often in reality: it isn't what a person really wants to accomplish, it is how that person reacts to those in the world around them that makes for a charismatic winner.

Newcomer Jemma McKenzie-Brown who played young Georgina Pritchard with enthusiasm, was the innocent yet solid support for Mrs. Pritchard's transition from Mom to Prime Minister.

The entire supporting cast was wonderful.

The story, the cast's performances and direction all are top notch. 10 of 10!

I can't help it. English acting is my opium. It intoxicates me, it enslaves me. They do it better (acting) over there than anywhere else.

The cast is superb, starting with Jane Horrocks in the title role. Don't deny yourself the pleasure of seeing her, and Michael Caine, in the delightful "Little Voice".

I am most drawn to Mrs. Pritchard's chief aide, Catherine Walker, played by the astounding Janet Mcteer. This is a performance beyond mere acting. A woman who can seem mannish, frighteningly formidable, cruel, yet vulnerable, in desperate need of affection, and just when you think she would frighten most men, she goes to bed with a man old enough to be her son.

I reviewed Ms. Mcteer very favorably in the 2000, "Songcatcher", and forgot about it till I looked up her credits, in the wonderful IMDb. IMDb is surely one of the great venues of our time. I would like to thank Mr. IMDb, but this information doesn't seem to be available.

I've only seen the first three installments. No. 4 of 6 is on it's way, and I can't wait!!

By the end of E2 I could only think of one word to describe it - superficial. A shallow plot that even the first rate acting of Jane Horrocks and the other leads couldn't turn into anything convincing.

I was reminded of "The Marvellous Mrs Maisel". Although I did eventually find that rather tiresome, the story was much more convincing.

But Mrs P improved by E4. Or maybe I'd just got used to it. But the dilemma's Mrs P faced were interesting and I was keen to find out what happened.

Hasn't this been done a hundred times? You'd think after Margaret Thatcher this wouldn't be such a shocking premise. I found the whole thing silly and irritating.

I dislike prejudice in any form so it offends me to hear statements like, "Women are better at politics because they can admit when they've made a mistake." I don't think work has a gender, I don't think women are better at politics any more than men are better at engineering. I also dislike seeing women treat their husbands like children and their children like adults.

This might make a nice "follow your dream" film for school girls except for the fact that the film teaches that self-esteem is a more useful career preparation than education or experience.

The later episodes were replaced by football matches, please arrange for us to see them. My wife and I greatly enjoyed the episodes we saw for, though the plot is unlikely, it expressed the feelings of many that politicians pay no attention to the wishes of the electorate and follow their own agenda. I have long thought that parliament should move from London further north. I would choose York or even Manchester or Newcastle rather Bradford in the play. This will never happen for MPs would then not be able to earn large sums decorating City offices. Incidentally I think an MPs job should be full-time so no outside earning should be allowed. I belong to a profession, medicine, trusted by the population and think politicians should get their act together, stop lying to us on Radio & TV and start to earn our respect. They do not seem to realise that lying is easily detected on TV.

This is one of the least realistic,and most annoying, things I have ever seen. The plot is nonsense, the central character smug, the acting second rate,and the setting totally unrealistic. Most infuriating of all, it projects a Britain that is entirely white and middle class. Not only are all the main actors ,and apparently therefore candidates in Mrs Pritchard's party, white , but even the extras seem to have come from old Tory central (casting) office ! The only non white faces seem to be in the background at the hospital-although not,of course, doctors. If this is what television believes the world if like,and what people would vote for, then you wonder why David Cameron is bothering about image change.