This was a wonderful series, and I found many of the issues that the characters had to deal with actually reflecting the issues facing a number colleagues and friends. While the situations were not of course fictional the emotions and ways to manage issues are no different to the way we have to manage in real lifeI loved the wide range of interactions that so realistically reflected real life in its many layered complexity. The writers had managed to portray how we try to live and survive in our hectic world.I did feel however that as the series came to the last part it seemed to me as though the actors were starting to get out of character and a different director was at the wheel, or a new writer was involved . This meant for me a great series sort of tapered off in quality at the end of the series runCome on series 2.

Reading other reviews for this series confirmed in my mind that one would either hate it or love it. I expect that women would like it and men would generally hate it. (Perhaps I'm bisexual in giving it 5). The cast is as good as could be expected in an Australian drama. The failure comes from the plot and the script. The story went nowhere. It is a typical soap. The comparison with the never-ending series "Days of Our Lives" is apt. Added to this is the stultifying political correctness that hangs over the series. Children have baths in clothes!! We have the token Asian woman. All the main men are Sensitive New-Age Guys whose characters must have been defined by the women who produced the show. The men are one-dimensional. Only some of the female characters have any depth and then not much. One outstanding feature of the series is the standard of the acting by the children. The twins, Carmody and Luce's daughter are stars, believable and natural. The show's scenario could have produced some excellent episodes but the promise was never realised.

I can't remember when I've enjoyed an Australian series so much! The show is well written, and perfectly cast. All the characters are believable, Shane Jacobsen and Justine Clarke are outstanding in their roles, as are William McInnes and Claudia Karvan, to name a few. I haven't seen Michelle Vergara Moore perform before but she is excellent in this. I wouldn't miss an episode, and family, friends and colleagues I've spoken with share my opinion ... favourite topic of conversation Monday lunchtimes is discussing the Sunday night's episode! The actors pretty much portray a cross-section of issues facing any Australian community, and do it with class. (This is the first review I've bothered to write here ... I felt I had to share my enjoyment of this show).

Despite some big names (in Australia at any rate) this fails to deliver any kind of emotional or dramatic punch. Formulaic characters, meandering story line and a clunky script make for an uninteresting and downright boring offering. Surely Australian scriptwriters can come up with something better than this! I tuned in with the hope of seeing something along the lines of "Sea Change"......perhaps because of William McInnes?. No such luck. The dialogue seems forced and wooden, and even the likes of the aforesaid W M, Claudia Karvan etc, can do nothing to bring it to life. In fact, I have to wonder what the producers were intending with this series....whatever it was, I'm afraid they failed.