This smart, dark UK comedy series showcased the fabulous Anne Dudek a couple of years before she made her bones playing meanies or crazies on American TV (most notably the hyperintense Dr. Amber Volakis on "House"). Here she's Clare, a prickly American expat and the instigator of the book group; another heavy hitter, Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane, "The Hound," on "Game of Thrones"), is exceptional as Kenny, a sweet-natured giant now confined to a wheelchair by a climbing accident; James Lance is suitably repulsive as Barney, a temperamental grad student, in the first season and again as Lachlan, Clare's overattentive boyfriend, in the second. Inspired by the group's first book, Kerouac's "On the Road," Clare and Kenny start writing novels (or pecking out their romantic fantasies) on their laptops; the fantasy sequences don't always add much, but Anne Dudek looks great when she lets her hair down as a tweedy Dryden scholar. A lot of the stuff aboot the fitba' went right by me, and the sexy soccer mamas are a bit over the top at times, but Michelle Gomez has some nice moments as Janice, a Real Housewife of Glasgow who goes all out for self-improvement, and Derek Riddell is adorable (if not always comprehensible) as Rab, a shifty guy in a tracksuit wha disnae much care for buiks. The first season has real momentum as the characters get involved (mostly in pursuit of unrequited crushes) in each other's lives, the second's a lot less focused, though partly redeemed by the presence of comic Karen Kilgariff as Clare's tough-talking sister. The second season ends on an ambiguous but upbeat note, and Anne D. gets to show her softer, gentler side with a little karaoke number in the series closer. Final grade: eight stars for the first season, six for the second, docked one star for the unsubtitled Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and Arabic. Finally, this is a bit off topic but how many would like to read a fanfic about a coed kickball league in Hell featuring rival captains Amber Volakis and Sandor Clegane (he must be dead by now, right?)? No longer available on streaming Netflix, I'm sorry to say.

One of the funniest shows I have seen. The characters aren't likable nor are they particularly realistic. But the show still got me hooked. When I moved away from england, i truly missed it. All the sarcasm and black humor in it are so hilarious. but only because it seems so sad.. it somehow makes it funny! This show might not find much viewers in America as its humor is not obvious to everyone and it does take some commitment to watch it because the storyline does evolve (although nothing much happens!)I just had such a laugh, when seeing the American coming to Scotland and being so lonely she starts to meet up with people she doesn't even like and ends up not being so negative about Scotland after all. i definitely enjoyed it

I don't usually start my contributions like that, honest - but it's entirely merited. I've just watched the whole of the first series on DVD and been perhaps even more impressed coming back to it after a long gap. One of the things I love about the programme is that although the books they're reading aren't that important, the book group setting itself *is* crucial to the programme.There are several laugh-out-loud scenes in the first series, none of them revolving around standard gags or punchlines. One scene gets its laughs from repeated use of the "c" word, which is an extremely hard trick to pull off!The characters are beautifully drawn, starting with the pivotal figure of Claire, who is at once hugely irritating and sympathetic. All the actors are fine, though I particularly liked the louche and laconic Rab. The minor parts are well done too, for example Ben Miller as the writer, the guys who play Fist's and Dirka's husbands, and the vicar, whom we see in one episode.One other thing: it's really exquisitely filmed.I can certainly imagine myself getting more than one viewing out of this DVD (I am intrigued to know what the audio commentary will be like), and will certainly look to get the second series eventually, if nothing else for the interplay between Claire and her sister.

The premise is so simple that it would seem likely to be a snowballing success.The fact that the first episode was such a well structured, delicately written and well acted piece, meant that it appeared there was every possibility it could be a well thought through character study over a six week, or however long, period.Perhaps I am missing something as I have not read all the books that have so far been discussed by the group, but in any case the first episode was the only one that even touched upon the book at any level.Since then the programme has descended into the characters outside of the group. More about how they react in other environments and the experience that the book group may have had on them. The episodes appear to have been cut very harshly. There are great wapping gaps, with no explanation.The stuff about Kenny and Claire and the kiss has been forgotten. Barney and Claire and their immediate chemistry. The female obsession of Kenny's hands.It has to be said that the acting is very accomplished and it is a pleasure to see new actors proving their worth. Perhaps at the end of the run all of the loose ends will be tied up and it will make sense as a whole?Even so though it needs to be judged on each episodes merits, and doing that is so hard as each episode is so vastly different in genre and style.It feels like it should have been a two part series, just like Men Only which is one of the best things Channel 4 has ever shown.