I really struggled with this series. Although not a huge fan of Rowlings boy wizard books, I mostly enjoyed her writing style. I haven't read the book this originated from, but found the series unenjoyable and full of the most obnoxious group of characters. The only half decent character doesn't survive past the first 30 minutes.There is very little that is recognisable as a storyline or plot, and seems to amble along on the strength of people being unpleasant to each other and pursuing their own ends. I Found it jaded, dated and reminiscent of an old midsummer murders plot.

Good but not great BBC/HBO series, should appeal to fans of Penguin Classics—there's a bit of Trollope (many pairs of knickers in a twist over a parish council election), Dickens (broad social satire, mostly aimed at the snobbish, hypocritical bourgeoisie), all the way up through Margaret Drabble and Jane Gardam (class conflict and social pathology in a microcosmic village). The script has the usual problems of a long, populous novel that's been sliced and diced for television. The first two eps were quite involving, the third kind of rushed; prob'ly should have had a fourth to fill out the backstory and tie up some loose ends. I felt sorry for some of the minor characters, like Gaia and Sukhvinder, who had to hang around forever waiting for their one or two tiny scenes. Good work by the usual suspects—Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear as the goodhearted lawyer whose death creates the casual vacancy (on the local council—it's complicated…), Julia McKenzie as a real-life Miss Marple (i.e. sneaky Thatcherite grandma). Abigail Lawrie is amazing, in her first professional role, as the series's secret heroine, a tough girl called Krystal. Haven't read the book, but I agree that what another reviewer called the "water downed" ending was not very satisfying.

This series made me want to weep - at the senseless waste of acting talent and script material. For this is not a TV dramatization of "The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling. It's a TV dramatization of the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of The Casual Vacancy. What's more, it appears that slashing it down from a full series to a 3 part synopsis was done after filming already started, probably by the director tearing pages out on the set, rather than by intelligent script writers. How else to explain the presence of all the characters from the book, yet no role - not even dialog - for some of them? How else to explain all the setups in Episode 1 that are just left hanging with no follow-up? What does remain is excellent, completely capturing Rowling's characterizations and the petty snobbery of English village life, but the ruthless editing leaves too much out and too many loose ends. There's no exploration of the interaction between children and parents that is core to the book. There's no hint of who is behind the "ghost", a major plot device. Sukhvinder, who has a life-changing experience in the original, is literally seen but not heard. There's no resolution for the dysfunctional Price family. I don't know why the scriptwriters even bothered telling us Gaia's name, since she's reduced to a walk-on extra.What's left, basically, is an excellent performance from Michael Gambon and Julia McKenzie as the Mollisons. It's worth watching just for that. But that's the tragedy of this series - these are the canonical Morrisons, nobody will ever do it better. And that means the series will never be remade, and the full story will never be told.

What a gem of a drama from the BBC. What makes this, and what it is at root all about, is a study of human nature, or rather natures. The characters are beautifully drawn: subtle, complex and deep. Relationships are intricately woven and multi-faceted.There is a delicious comedic element that only adds to the bite over real issues. The PCC meeting in episode 1 and the library scene in episode 2 will live long in the memory. Colin's comment about the Philosophy section and Kierkegaard was a moment of genius.The tension between the village and the neighbouring estate is a microcosm of life that seems very pertinent in today's Britain. For 'estate people' read almost any group of undesirables that the established residents don't want. Many of the settings, for example the secondary school, could be straight from almost any comprehensive: yes some kids really do speak to teachers like that.The Casual Vacancy is a fabulous drama which is all-too- rare these days. Human nature painted for television. Superb.