I decided to watch this programme when I saw a trailer for it on ITV as it looked fairly amusing and starred Shirley Henderson who has been great in everything I've seen her in.
When Alice and David move to a gated community in South London they learn that getting their daughter into the high flying private school might be a bit harder then just paying the fees. Their new friends tell them that the school is heavily over subscribed and only those who pass a challenging entrance exam which may be a problem for daughter Molly who hasn't had chance to revise and doesn't do well in exams. The couple hatch what they think will be the ideal solution; Alice will take the exam instead. This leads to some amusement as thirty five year old Alice tries to dress in a way that will enable her to pass for eleven.
I found the story to be fairly funny and the cast all played their parts well, especially the always excellent Shirley Henderson as Alice. While I think it was pushing it a bit to think she could pass for eleven I don't think any adult actress could, it might have been more plausible if she was trying to be a teenager. The other characters were good although each of the families seemed to consist of mothers desperate to get their children into the top school and fathers who seemed to be rather more relaxed about it.
I've limited spoilers to things that are mentioned in the TV guide write up for the first episode and not mentioned part two at all so as not spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. It was good to see ITV making a decent comedy drama. I expect this will get repeated on ITV's digital stations, if it does it is well worth watching.
When Alice and David move to a gated community in South London they learn that getting their daughter into the high flying private school might be a bit harder then just paying the fees. Their new friends tell them that the school is heavily over subscribed and only those who pass a challenging entrance exam which may be a problem for daughter Molly who hasn't had chance to revise and doesn't do well in exams. The couple hatch what they think will be the ideal solution; Alice will take the exam instead. This leads to some amusement as thirty five year old Alice tries to dress in a way that will enable her to pass for eleven.
I found the story to be fairly funny and the cast all played their parts well, especially the always excellent Shirley Henderson as Alice. While I think it was pushing it a bit to think she could pass for eleven I don't think any adult actress could, it might have been more plausible if she was trying to be a teenager. The other characters were good although each of the families seemed to consist of mothers desperate to get their children into the top school and fathers who seemed to be rather more relaxed about it.
I've limited spoilers to things that are mentioned in the TV guide write up for the first episode and not mentioned part two at all so as not spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. It was good to see ITV making a decent comedy drama. I expect this will get repeated on ITV's digital stations, if it does it is well worth watching.
