We have Acorn-TV - so, we can stream every season. It is kind of a unique show wherein a blended family also tried to adapt to like in Africa. The photography and scenery are splendid. Some of the family conflicts are needlessly mean-spirited, in pursuit of meaningful plot lines. And the early episodes 'regress' - by which we mean, the characters get over a hurdle, and then climb back over it to repeat the process.In this case, the 'step' family almost breaks up when 'Daddy' of the 2 kids flies in with his new juvenile-looking chickie to stake a claim to his offspring. Such a situation is awkward enough to resolve in real life, but we do get there in this episode.However, in the next episode, the kids cross over certain lines and resolve to depart (again) after outbursts of anger, dredging up hurt feelings and sadness we just got over. Let me tell you how this works in real life: There is NO 'my family, my kids' - there is only OUR FAMILY. No one is leaving. There is husband and wife - the kids in the brood are a STAGE of the marriage - they are NOT the reason for the marriage. Sorry. Sound cold-hearted? Darn right. It works no other way. Once everyone in a blended family understands that they are stuck on this desert isle together with no escape, they will quit whining and get on with the job of survival. Step family survival 101.The writers seem to be sadly lacking in how 'regression' can spoil a series. Soon, in a following episode, we have ANOTHER problem when a nearby plantation owner makes subtle advances on the wife in this little caper, but she fails to inform her husband, leaving HIS daughter to inform him. Oh, boy. She isn't believed - and now, we have 2 difficult problems instead of one. The husband is a great problem-solver (however), a nice easy-going guy - he'll patch things up. I'd like him for my dad. But this isn't what I was expecting him to deal with. Some of the above caught the eye of a few other reviewers.I still like the series and will persevere. Like when dealing with a real step-family, I can look for the good things. 8/10

This story is addicting and was very sad to realize I had viewed the last episode on netflix. I love the story, I love Dulesi. A little on continuity. What happened to Rosies pregnancy? When she and her Husband left she had announced she was pg. Then she show up and is going to get a divorce. But aside from that, I found myself in tears when the animals die or when the original wife died. Feel like I am part of the family.I found this on netflix and could not wait to see the next episode. The style of acting is wonderful. Mrs. Mills has not changed since her movies as a child. It was good to see her character develop. I am glad she came back.

I like this gentle show. First of all, I love animals. Second, I like fish-out-of-water stories. Third, the acting is excellent. I am a fan of Stephen Thompkinson, ever since first seeing him in Ballykissangel.For some, the sentimental nature of the stories is worthy of a roll of the eyes or feigned disgust. Me? I love sentimental stories. They tend to get to the emotional nitty gritty that most of us do not want explored, either in others or ourselves. If we did, we would have no need of therapists, right? And so we denigrate those who explore this psychological ground, using symbols and story lines to tell us something about ourselves. That makes sentimental pieces invaluable, I think. So, I enjoy the emotional region the program explores, and especially the difficulty in having the two families assimilate into one. You see, their difficulties parallel of the overall difficulty in assimilating into the African lifestyle. That makes the story lines a touch more sophisticated than the eye rollers give it credit for.The episode where everybody comes down with an illness (won't spoil it for you) is genuinely well done and kept me riveted.I am dreading the US version, though I like the idea that Rutger Hauer will play the Afrikkaner, Du Plessis.Go ahead and watch. It won't bite. But it will entertain.

One of my least favourite programmes ever. REALLY bad acting (I cannot emphasise this enough) combined with annoying African incidental music at every turn and predictable, repetitive plots do not an enjoyable hour make. This is one of the few shows that I would fast forward on tape through the main part to just watch the adverts. Believe me, hearing about fungal foot-cream from a Z-list ex soap star is a lot more entertaining than seeing Steve Tompkinson give mouth-to-mouth to a lion or Amanda Holden dancing with a zebra. I must also mention the kids who seem to have been brought in from a time machine, because there's no way children of the 21th century would be this polite and well-behaved.Saying it's popular won't wash with me either, because everybody knows Heartbeat is a load of old tosh and this is more of the same undemanding pap. All these scriptwriters do is put in some cute animals, a few really bad stretches of dialogue and a group hug at the end. Warm and fuzzy? Try tedious, monotonous, boring... all words which aptly describe the experience of witnessing this time-wasting drivel. Yes, I know it's a big hit with the elderly, but so's rheumatism. God forbid I should ever turn 60 and this crap is the only thing I can see because my stupid grandchildren won't change the channel for my wheelchair-bound ass. Wonder how feasible it is for someone to purposely choke on their own false teeth...Anyway, I've vented enough frustration over this pile of elephant dung (fitting analogy there, tee hee) so time for a more pleasant mental image. It's every single worthless human character in this waste of airtime cooped up in a cage with the carnivorous mammals who also inhabit it, with nothing to fend off the big cats apart from a saucer of milk and a plastic ball. Oh okay, you can stick a bell in the ball. I'm too kind, I really am... 0/10