User reviews

Some rather pessimistic reviews on here. I thought it was pretty good and with a cast like Nicola Walker, Hermione Norris, Paul McGann et al you can't go far wrong imo.

Good plot and acting and in the same neck of the woods as Liar for intrigue and excitement.

Certainly worth your time.

Brilliant writing with lots of twists and turns and great acting too. On reflection, there is a wonder as to whether there was any need to show the police scenes at all. We don't see a lot of Nicola Walker. With her not doing any scenes with the main characters. It left me wondering whether this was a reduced version of something much longer or her scenes were added to fill the time in. As it is, it is kept tight, you care for the characters and up to the last few minutes, you are left wondering if the story will twist yet again.

A Mother's Son is a very good two part drama series. It deals with the murder of a young girl, the prime suspect, a young man, who's mother had her doubts.

The premise is a very good one, you have the doubts of mother Rosie, and you have the conflict of the two aspects of the family.

It's a good, solid mystery, it doesn't really have the twists or any suspense, it relies more on doubt, and the conflict that's arisen in the family.

I'm not sure if anyone else did, but I got a Broadchurch vibe, particularly in the early stages, the small gripe I had was the involvement of the Police, they were there one minute.....

Very well acted, Clunes, Norris and McGann are all great. Young Alexander Arnold is terrific as Jamie.

Well worth a watch, 8/10.

I have just finished watching 'A Mother's Son' on the ABC in Australia. It was shown as a single 2 hour story and I think that helped maintain the tension. I am at a loss to work out what program one of my fellow reviewers was watching, perhaps the fact that he remembers 'Billy Cotton's Bandstand' is an indication of his age (we are talking 1950's here), but the plot was certainly not 'East Enders' and 'over the top'. The other review pretty well sums up the movie, it was tightly written and extremely well acted. It is typical of the current crop of UK drama, good casts, good scripts and a big dose of conflicting emotions. In many ways it was similar to another excellent production "Broadbeach", although that was a much longer drama and more complicated plot-wise. Room for a lot of extra red herrings. I agree that the tension was well maintained, I could understand the mixed emotions which Rosie felt, although I was pretty sure by half way through that she was backing the wrong horse; her son was the culprit, or at least an accomplice.

I'm afraid I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviewer. I found 'A Mother's Son' to be very compelling viewing. I thought Chris Lang's script was wonderful - natural-sounding dialogue, and for one hour fifty minutes of the two hours I was unsure who had actually committed the crime, so deftly did he hint at the possible guilt of first one, and then of another character.

The casting was just as good. Martin Clunes revealed acting skills I hadn't previously seen him display as Rosie's second husband, and his character, Ben, was a wonderful contrast to David, her first, superbly played by Paul McGann.

The drama focuses on the suspicions of the mother (Rosie) that her son from her first marriage may have been involved in the murder of a local schoolgirl, and her dilemma as to how best to deal with those suspicions. Hermione Norris, who plays Rosie, has a real talent for portraying women on the edge, and she uses it to its fullest extent here. Only once does Rosie completely lose her composure; the rest of the time her torment is repressed and, with increasing difficulty, held in silent check. Ms Norris, however, can do more with silence and a slight change of expression than others can do with many pages of script, and I sometimes found Rosie's anguish almost too painful to watch.

Alexander Arnold, who plays her son Jamie, is equally good, moving seamlessly from sullenness to anger and then fear, and all the time seeming to me to give a very accurate portrayal of a wayward teenager.

Yes, it isn't an all-action drama, yes, the build-up of tension is slow, but it's steady, relentless, and, I thought, very effective. Perhaps it's the kind of thoughtful, thought-PROVOKING drama that isn't likely to be wildly popular with a mass audience, but it certainly left an impression on me. Two days after watching it I was still wondering 'What would I have done?'

This had the potential to be great. But it stopped long before it should have. It was like cutting it off half way through. Very disappointing and ruined what could easily have been an 8*

Great to have a sparse, lean and pacy drama that only runs for 2 hours. No padding, no stupid red herrings, no plot lines full of holes. Excellent characters and acting. Hermione in particular. She wasn't bothered about how she looked, wild hair, no make up, very real. The best thing she has done. Doc Martin wasn't bad either! Really enjoyed it. So much better than the recent Blood series.

Would have changed one thing... at the end... Mom says; "I think you did a bad thing and you know you must be punished." Would have been more appropriate to say, 'and you know you need to take responsibility'. Also included I think should have been, 'you can't be a bad person, or you wouldn't be feeling sorry... that says you did a bad thing, but you are not inherently bad.' Heartwrenching show. Well played. Hard to know how it would play in real life. Really, really, hard, and heartwrenching. Acting was all very good. The way the story developed was very realistic and provided just enough suspense and doubt. I can imagine every parent would dread such a thing ever happening to them, and pray that it never does.

What a horrible ser of parents! The primary characters are divorced and easy to see why. Two of the most dysfunctional, horrible human beings ever! It's no wonder the kids are such a mess. So disrespectful and haven't a clue about basic human behavior. The parents along with the kid should spend the rest of their life in prison.

Wow! What an impactful drama. The premise and the performances were powerful. You can't help but ask yourself the same questions. I give this 2 part series (and I think they chose the perfect length for it, rather than drag it out) an 8 (arresting) out of 10. {Crime Drama}

This was just boring. No real suspense, just boring

Spoiler alert! From start to finish there was nothing new about this drama - it was obvious how it would end - despite thinking that it was so apparent what happened that we must be being tricked with a red herring. I understand that the idea was to demonstrate the mother's unconditional love for her child, but the crime leaves you cold and unsympathetic toward the heroine and her offspring - just the opposite in fact - angry. There are no surprises in this one whatsoever. It is exactly as it says on the wrapper.

A cast of utterly unlikable characters - with the sole exception of the ex-husband, played by Paul McGann. And the mother is the worst - she has evidence that could possibly help the police confirm that the suspect they have in custody is in fact the killer, but that's not her responsibility - just let them muddle through on their own! She's irresponsible, irrational, and utterly undeserving of the viewer's sympathy. Yes, it's an excellent cast - all of whom would have been better off staying as far away from this miserable hack job of a soap opera as possible!

And, for Martin Clunes fans who want to see him in a dramatic role, watch Manhunt instead - it's excellent!

Mother overacted, Step father under acted until the last 30 minutes, Paul McGann as the real father best of the show. But not worthy of even a 6. Martin C could be asleep through most of it.