Nothing much to get excited about, nor to retain my interest. Sure, they are clever but it is just another pseudo-crime 'drama'. And we know that they are going to succeed. The intervening process could be better done? The acting is good, as is production and directing. But it is the writing that lets the concept down. The idea of flashbacks to the real Bletchley story is clever.I would be more interested in more about the Bletchley days. There would have been plenty of weird events and happenings then, in spite of war-time secrecy and the prevailing attitudes. Replacing clever guys with clever girls is not really enough.

Many things come together to make a show good, and more are needed to make it great. But to elevate a show to near-perfection requires far more than just great scripts, direction, settings, and acting, all of which TBC possesses in abundance. It needs attention to the smallest details, some of which are painfully, and obviously absent from many shows across the Atlantic.Obvious details like selecting actors who actually look like offspring of a parent are often ignored in many US shows. The period sets look realistic enough to make me nostalgic for the land of my birth. Careful watching of shows like Mad Men, sees props that have had a hard life when they're supposed to be new, harming the overall effect of an historical setting.On the topic of Mad Men, the gentleness of the sexism in TBC is a welcome subtlety, unlike the former show, where it is not just blatant, but at times brutal.Also absent (thankfully) is the mix of races that - along with sexual orientation - is increasingly common (if not mandatory) in many US shows. So too is the boyfriend/lover that provides little or no value to a script. There are four central characters, each with their own lives, and in some cases, husbands, but the males are of only superficial value to the scripts and have accordingly minor roles, only providing opportunities for the leads to develop their roles.The actors also bring to life the characters with superb conviction and credibility; the pace is just right, and so too is the idea of them taking a bus to get to a location. Not many had cars, early post-war.When expressed, emotions are conveyed with realism, and in sufficient quantity to move the viewer. At no stage have I felt like I was watching actors, it was more like being given a glimpse into the lives of real people. Again, this is something only the best of teams can achieve.This is a wonderful show and might well be a treatise on how to create entertainment that is endearing and bound to be enduring. Writers, directors, producers, and actors should all take note.

"The Bletchley Circle" from 2012 is about women who worked on cracking German military codes during the World War II. They are described as "Alan's girls," meaning Alan Turing, whose tragic life will be the subject of a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch later this year. After the war, though they were all very smart, they settled in everyday life that sometimes was less than satisfying.When young women start disappearing and wind up dead in 1952, one of the code-breakers, Susan (Anna Maxwell Martin) becomes interested in the case, sees a pattern emerging, and asks her husband to use a connection to get her in to see the Deputy Commissioner. Unfortunately, her idea -- the location of the currently missing girl's body -- is incorrect.Discouraged, Susan is sure that she and her old code-breaker friends can find the killer using their code-breaking skills. She gets the old group together: Jean (Julie Graham), Millie (Rachel Stirling), and Lucy (Sophie Rundle) who are resistant at first, then agree. It means using information supplied by other code-breakers. It also means putting themselves in danger.I thought this was a suspenseful, intriguing, and interesting story, with the '50s atmosphere, clothing, and hairstyles intact, with strong acting from the actresses. Because it's a feminist story, meant to show that post-World War II, England didn't need its women any longer, the men in it are annoyed, angry, suspicious, and in one case, violent. I would say the Deputy Commissioner, despite finding Susan a bit of a nuisance, does follow up on what she says, knowing the job she had during the war and her intelligence; and Susan's husband, though not particularly happy, knows she's a good woman and in the end, has patience with her long hours away from the house.My only question is, where is season 2? Can't wait.

Although much of the visual period detail is authentic, the background has been very poorly researched and the viewer is treated as a simpleton.Specifically: it is implied that a 17-year-old would be liable to be hanged-in 1953??!!!! Also, there is reference to trial of a civilian by a secret military court. Civilians would only have been tried by military court had martial law been declared. What I presume the writer meant was trial in camera: a very different procedure, the verdict of which would have been public. There are other similar flaws.Also, the protagonists often reach conclusions without it being clear to the viewer how they have done so, and there are gaps in the logic of the plot.Another sorry example of how mainstream British drama has been dumbed down.