This is a 3 part mini-series. I almost stopped watching after the first show because it was so annoying to expect viewers to believe that the main character was completely stupid, clueless, and spineless. If the makers could only have tightened up the plot to make it believable, this would have been excellent - good acting, interesting relationships, fine settings, etc.However, it is just so annoying to have a woman living alone who breaks it off with a really creepy guy who had the audacity to take a key to her flat and go through all her things to NOT change the locks. Or to not really explain to her sister why this guy is so creepy once sis starts dating him. Or to let the creep & her sister move into her flat with her.... and then to not lock either the bathroom door or her bedroom door when creep lives there. Or to not say anything when he completely rearranges her flat and takes half her clothes away. Etc, etc, etc. One thing this movie is good for: reminding everyone that there can be serious negative consequences to jumping into bed with someone you don't really know.

The previous review is grossly unfair. It's a reasonably good drama of its type, some normal people and a disruptive presence suddenly appears in their lives, how do they all react? Sure, some of US may have reacted differently and said different things, you could say that of any film or play! The police appear terminally dim? Well, goodness, that's hardly a novelty on film or TV either?! Tennant is suitably nasty as the evil presence, nicely persuasive and threatening when he can't quite get his own way. The parents are well-played, many people want to see the best side of friends and acquaintances, and the sisters are also good performances. There'd have been lots of different possible endings, go with the flow and see what the author chose!

I agree with Jane Dow, except that for "interesting" I have to substitute "predictable"! I missed the first 20 mins of part 1 of this last night (which didn't seem to matter ...); part 2 is on tonight and having looked at the reviews, I now know that there is a "surprise" end. But, that doesn't change the flaws in this story, too many to list here - and Jane Dow has nailed most of them. But from what I've read, the "surprise" is equally flawed and unrealistic.This reminds me vaguely of another 2-part TV film that was shown on the BBC last year: it was called "The 7.39", starring David Morrissey and Sheridan Smith. This was very slow moving but equally predictable - no surprise ending so less flawed because it was so mundane. What I find amazing is that "The 7.39" got a lot of hype before it was shown (... following which it got a lot of flack!); I only came across Secret Smile on TV last night by chance, but I have to say that judging by the quality, or lack thereof, of programmes like this, I think I need to get my pen/computer out! If TV companies are happy to continue to make TV films that are implausible, I can come up with some good story lines: to make them more exciting and appealing they too would be a bit flawed and thin on research (I would be a bit more diligent in having my characters having COMMON SENSE though!), but if anyone's interested, I'm here :-)

Miranda meets Brendan, a charming bloke, beds him in an instant, and then is amazed to find out he's a cad! Excuse me dear, in this day and age that's self destructive. He gets royally ticked off when she dumps him and gets his own back by dating her sister and ingratiating himself with her clueless family.There is her brother, mentally ill, and a certain foil for Brendan's evil influence. He mugs Miranda's next love, apparently at Brendan's urging, who then departs the scene when he thinks Miranda is too obsessed with Brendan's manipulations. Miranda discovers Brendan's past is full of "crazy" behavior and dumps it all out at a family gathering, but no-one believes her, the silly saps all go against her "evidence". Why? Because Brendan has a bombshell of his own to drop. Miranda slept with her sister's former boyfriend back in God knows when! How does he know: he read it in her diary.Does anyone, including Miranda, point out that her "evidence" come from a source that can be contacted and verified whereas his "evidence" comes from underhandedness. No! Mom and Dad go with Brendan's obvious "cattiness", because that drives on the drama! Then her brother kills himself, and we are left to believe Brendan had something to do with it, but he's so cloyingly self effacing at the funeral that everyone - except Miranda - falls for it.When Brendan dumps the sister and marries Miranda's best friend, are the parents chagrined by their disloyalty? There is no sign of it. The sister even blames Miranda for it! What did Miranda do to deserve such a clueless and uncharitable lot? Then Brendan's new bride shows up dead in her bath tub. The police, evidently without any access to CSI technology, declare it as an accident! Another plot device to drive on the drama: make the cops look like idiots! It goes on and on, with poor old stupid Miranda being out foxed at every turn by this evil SOB! She's so stupid that when he manages to convince a Judge (who also does not seem to have access to evidentiary procedures) that she is a menace, and has a restraining order placed against her, she goes running off to his home when his latest bride calls her! Hey, it's effective to most of the female audience! By now they're so wrapped up with him getting his come uppance, that they don't care if the usual detective work goes missing! In the end she gets her revenge and poor old Brendan is hauled off to Jail for something he is innocent of, namely her murder. She lets her family believe she's been murdered, until Brendan is safely ensconced in Jail and then shows up to meet them at the airport in Australia! The dim witted couple are so pleased to see her, and evidently so pleased that Brendan is in Jail on trumped up charges, that they all live happily ever after! The plot is exasperating yet enthrallingly bad, It's enthralling if you accept that everyone has to ignore the obvious, and that is: The authorities are all stupid and incompetent! The main protagonist has a past, as our heroine uncovers. Do the police check it out: NO! Does the Judge check it out? NO! Do her parents check it out: NO! Does her sister: NO! It's all a typical BBC production, predicated on the audience being interested enough in the unfolding drama, that they accept that this guy is going to continue to fool everybody, so that our heroine has to take justice into her own hands. Roll over Agatha!