In 1970, Richard Matheson wrote a short story called "Button, Button" (after the kids game - Button, Button - Who's Got The Button?) The plot involved a dilemma - would you kill a stranger for a large amount of money.A woman is given a box containing a button - all she has to do is press it...In 1986, the story was used as an episode of the revival of "The Twilight Zone".In 2009, it was expanded to movie length, for a Cameron Diaz vehicle called "The Box".Two years later, the idea resurfaced in "The Reckoning". This time, the woman was Ricky Gervais' little Scottish chum in "Extras".The problem with all this is that the original source material was a SHORT STORY. And within those confines, it works fine.But by trying to develop it to movie length, the idea becomes submerged.And in "The Reckoning" it DROWNS. The improbabilities and illogicality of the development kill the spark of the original concept stone dead.One to avoid.

I was looking forward to seeing this, I loved Ashley Jensen in her role in Extras and totally believed in her ability to transfer from comedy to serious TV. I was wrong! Ashley doesn't get it, the same way a great actor on TV, doesn't 'get' the move to theatre. There are far too many times that her expression and action do not justify the action or drama that is unfolding. This sounds forgivable, but as a lead, its painful to watch, for example, in one scene where she is devastated, she sleeps in the bed with her Daughter to hold her, yet it looks like she wants to put on gloves and is as distant as possible!! Or in another, she sits at a murder scene watching it unfold without any fight or flight action. As far as I am aware, its either not neither! I would say, I don't think this is bad just because of Ashley, Max Beasley is wooden throughout and very bad, he really needs to think as an actor, I say that because he has had a successful role in a long running TV show, and it seems he thinks that he doesn't need to put effort in, and he just appears lazy throughout.In addition, the plot was silly, it gives you all the indication, then tries to steer you away to another direction, but because of the lack of actors/actresses in it, the plot is easily uncovered.If I was to lay blame for this show not being good, it would be the writer/s, it was an awful script, though I also want to add, a script is what you make it and in this day and age actors/actresses have a lot of say, if Max or Ashley had any decent acting within them, they would have suggested better ways of doing this show, but they obviously didn't!! Don't waste 90 minutes, find another show to watch!!!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Sally (Ashley Jensen) has been called to a London solicitor's office to find out how much she has been left in a will...only to find it's conditional on her cold bloodedly murdering a complete stranger, who allegedly deserves to die. Her ex policeman husband (Max Beesley) does some research, and finds this holds true. But, even with her severely ill daughter to think about, can she find it within her to go ahead with her task? And, even if she does, is she just unknowingly acting as one part of a bigger, more sinister picture? ITV have a fine drama production team that can churn this kind of thing out on a more modest budget at any time. Lead star Jensen I recognised pretty much straight away as Ricky Gervais's chum in Extras, and in the supporting role we have Beesley, most well known at the moment from the Jobsite adverts, and between them they carry this off without any complaints.Despite feeling a bit far fetched and pretty implausible at times, this is still an intriguing thriller, running at a sprucely ninety minutes rather than the two parter it's been billed as, that genuinely keeps you hooked until the end, which is bizarre but surprising. Yes, there does seem to be an ode to Saw in it, with the voice on the tape at the beginning sounding not unlike Jigsaw, but it's in no way a rip off of that film, for such a modest production admirably holding it's own and refusing to be shackled by the limitations of it's making. ***

From the moment the CD recording of a SAW-style voice is heard on screen, solemnly informing the confused listener that she has a task ahead of her you know this is going to be a familiar type of thriller. And, indeed, everything that follows is entirely predictable and poorly written, with big chunks of exposition regularly dropped into the storyline.Take, for instance, Beesley's line "I've only known you a year". There's no discernible reason somebody in real life would tell their wife/girlfriend this to their face, as it's unsaid knowledge. But THE RECKONING is full of such heavy-handed explanatory lines.It's a two-part drama commissioned by ITV and one of their lesser efforts. Ashley Jensen, hot from her success in America, is cast in the lead role but struggles with the emoting required. She's full of strangulated noises and expressions of mock horror straight out of acting school. Beesley is better, but appears to be sleepwalking through a character whose motivations never ring true.The plotting is the worst aspect, and although the pacing picks up in the second half the logic and editing fall apart. And I can't help finding it slightly distasteful that they fall back on the old cliché of a kid with a brain tumour to garner audience sympathy. One to miss.