I was completely engulfed during each episode. Definitely a travesty that they did not continue this series. The casting, acting, and story line was spot on.

This is a period piece that takes place in 1800 Australia. Filmed on location, the setting is beautiful. If you haven't been to Australia this gives you a chance to enjoy this beautiful continent... The story is pure enjoyment...Up there with The Boardwalk Empire, Rome and a few others... the acting is great, the writers are fantastic! It is easy to buy into the story and you are gone on a wonderful vacation from reality....and isn't that the best in entertainment? I just discovered it...just finished it..and then found out there is not to be a second series...However, the story has a natural ending even through there is much more that could be done with such a script. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

So surprised about the negative reviews of this. I think this was an excellent piece of scriptwriting, so emotive and interesting. No, it may not have been 100% historically accurate but it is drama not a documentary, so should not be expected to be. In fact, I had never heard much of the story of the Australian convicts before, and given that this was based on many true stories, I found it very interesting; usually this time period does not normally interest me but the exploration of power, duty and morals of this period were great. After such good character development and acting, I was in tears after the events of the last episode. Beautiful portrayal of humanity.

Well what can I say about this new series? Awful, terrible or a waste of time?All of these descriptions are correct. I only managed to watch 2 episodes. It's historically inaccurate , cast is very small and acting is very bad. It is actually a very good idea for an historical costume drama but BBC got it very wrong this time. If anyone had read The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes, you would know that 25 lashes from a whip would render you bed bound for days, starvation and exhaustion would leave you no time for flirtations, marriage and love. The whole 2 episodes were about sexing up the show. Completely ridiculous! A shame really because it's a great idea for a series.