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Original poster

Netflix "Seeing is Believing" Peak Middle class tv

60 replies

Indiependant · 01/01/2026 11:14

10 mins in & every middle.class tv cliche in the book. The rambunctious breakfast scene. The student age child who "spends most.of their time at bars". A husband with a Northern Irish accent to give him an edge. Female doctor mother. Father in finance. Daughter at private school. May as well be sponsored by Gail's Bakery

OP posts:
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CreativeGreen · 07/01/2026 14:04

EasternStandard · 04/01/2026 18:37

Haha vg

Also impressive herbs or chilli plant, something really tall and lush. Can’t remember what it was, nice house, Sarah Lancashire as a head of a private school maybe

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Last Tango in Halifax!

I can't watch any more Harlan Coben after the line 'here's to the best helicopter instructor in the country!' in the last one I saw

KimberleyClark · 07/01/2026 14:04

Indiependant · 04/01/2026 23:42

What would the Ultimate Middle.Class Coben Netflix series look like? Lineup. Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran (although I love her), Olivia Colman playing a middle aged woman exasperated by the men around her. 45 year old couples, some of whom are swingers. BAME detective. Gay vicar with a drink problem. Popular attractive 18 year old twins, one of whom goes missing. An elderly parent with dementia. Surreptitious phone use. Random acts of exercise. And ahitloads of big wine glasses and kitchen islands the size of Shropahire

Plus occasional panoramic shots of countryside, coast or city.

KimberleyClark · 07/01/2026 14:02

Alfred Enoch 😍

Pinkbox · 07/01/2026 09:28

Binged it over past couple of days. Final shot in posh kitchen-diner had our main character sitting in front of their currently on-trend black squared internal glass partition wall.

Original poster
Indiependant · 04/01/2026 23:42

What would the Ultimate Middle.Class Coben Netflix series look like? Lineup. Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran (although I love her), Olivia Colman playing a middle aged woman exasperated by the men around her. 45 year old couples, some of whom are swingers. BAME detective. Gay vicar with a drink problem. Popular attractive 18 year old twins, one of whom goes missing. An elderly parent with dementia. Surreptitious phone use. Random acts of exercise. And ahitloads of big wine glasses and kitchen islands the size of Shropahire

OP posts:
Tomatocutwithazigzagedge · 04/01/2026 21:26

FKAT · 01/01/2026 19:47

I saw Inter Alia at the National Theatre last year and it was exactly this genre. But because it was on at the THE-ATT-ER and had a Latin title it got 5 star reviews despite the fact it was the same as every other Netflix/ITV High End thriller drama.

But fair play to her, she opened a shit load of cupboards in 105 minutes..

Whosthetabbynow · 04/01/2026 21:20

Always a spare key to the squillion pound house under a flower pot

Whosthetabbynow · 04/01/2026 21:18

Shiny cars with doors that “clunk” expensively when closed

Clara27 · 04/01/2026 18:48

Love this thread, very funny. I’m watching the series now, recognised it immediately from the description in the op 😂

EasternStandard · 04/01/2026 18:37

Whosthetabbynow · 01/01/2026 11:16

Did someone grab a slice of toast from someone else’s plate as they shrugged their jacket on and headed out the door?

Haha vg

Also impressive herbs or chilli plant, something really tall and lush. Can’t remember what it was, nice house, Sarah Lancashire as a head of a private school maybe

StrawberrySquash · 04/01/2026 18:31

I'm half way through the first episode. Everything is extremely clean and crisp. Except for the crumpled linen bedding. But why must TV look so shiny?

MimiGC · 04/01/2026 18:29

FKAT · 01/01/2026 19:47

I saw Inter Alia at the National Theatre last year and it was exactly this genre. But because it was on at the THE-ATT-ER and had a Latin title it got 5 star reviews despite the fact it was the same as every other Netflix/ITV High End thriller drama.

Good point.

Original poster
Indiependant · 04/01/2026 17:55

It seems to be compulsory too to have a middle aged female.character say they fancy Idris Elba

OP posts:
Whosthetabbynow · 04/01/2026 17:26

I’ve just finished the series. Loved it. Didn’t want it to end

Augustus40 · 04/01/2026 16:23

Just watching this today. I luv James Nesbitt.

KimberleyClark · 02/01/2026 18:57

StandFirm · 01/01/2026 20:00

Those Harlan Coben adaptations are always set in a nondescript US/UK setting (British accents and school uniforms but houses only affordable to multimillionaires here, with the large kitchens and front lawns already mentioned). I think it's done deliberately to appeal to both audiences.

They don't really work in British settings. That Stay Close for example, a group of people who were at school together living on the same road very close to their school? That might work in small town America, but not here!

tattime · 02/01/2026 18:50

I think this might weirdly be my comfort TV.

Women are in strong jobs actually getting the work done/owning businesses etc.

I work in the NHS so I’m ignoring the absolute nonsense in the hospital scenes!

Itiswhysofew · 02/01/2026 17:42

There's an audience for everything.

TartyTara · 02/01/2026 17:42

Whosthetabbynow · 01/01/2026 11:16

Did someone grab a slice of toast from someone else’s plate as they shrugged their jacket on and headed out the door?

🤣🤣

DarkEyedSailor · 02/01/2026 17:40

Does someone wake up earlier than their significant other, lying neatly on the pillow with hair tidy and hand under their face, before looking at their sleeping significant other and sloping off with their car keys?

arabella2026 · 02/01/2026 16:59

Side Note - I met Richard Armitage earlier this year, what a lovely man.

Firefightress1 · 02/01/2026 16:57

Loving this thread.... must watch with my large gold fish glass of wine 😂

Original poster
Indiependant · 02/01/2026 16:51

The programme is indeed called Run Away. Yes, Richard Armitage appears to have been given some time off. Fair play to the person pointing out the gilet and hoodie running scene.
There shows also seem to show a preponderance of minor, somewhat feisty female characters with northern accents, often working as morticians/ forensic CSI police whose role is to speak earthy wisdom to and make personal observations to main middle class male characters. Think Laura Hobson in Lewis but with a northern accent. And yes to the massive fridges in massive kitchens.

OP posts:
DarkEyedSailor · 01/01/2026 20:41

Elmrosie · 01/01/2026 19:18

It’s James Nesbitt’s turn this year, Richard Armitage has this year off.

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Ah, maybe they have it on some kind of rota.

StandFirm · 01/01/2026 20:01

Basically LOTS of cliches and American-friendly tropes.