The Moorside

[NancyDonahue]

BBC dramatisation based on the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews. Starts Tuesday 7th February 9pm, starring Sheridan Smith.

Obviously a horrendous crime against a young child so I wasn't sure I'd want to watch, but it looks like it focuses on friends of the mother who headed up the search and barely features the child herself.

I love Sheridan Smith too so will give it a go.

It looked like Julie resented the lady vicar for trying to steal the glory or something.

I thought it was terrific, very compelling TV.

I agree that the resemblance with Karen and the actress playing her in this was amazing. I bought the exaggerated performance as Karen had learning difficulties (and presumably the actress did research on her), also for most of this episode the actress was playing Karen playing someone else - a performance within a performance, if you see what I mean, deliberately inauthentic.

Siobhan Finnernan is always good whatever she is in.

I've seen Karen Matthews many times and I agree that the actress had studied her intensively, but for me I think that's what made it clunky- it was almost like a series of impersonations, rather than a flowing performance

I thought it was very good and a very accurate portrayal of the people involved.

That is what i thought South Karen was pretending/lying being Karen she was putting on a happy family front.

I was quite gripped by it, but like others on here I felt Karen was something of a caricature, I remember that speech about the "princess daughter" and she wasn't as weepy as that. Sheridan S. is doing a good job though. What does seem unlikely is that Julie and Natalie would have been close to Karen, they seemed much sharper. Must have been like that, though.

I was amazed when I realised that the actress playing Karen Matthews is Yara Greyjoy in GoT. She must have done a real character study, she's unrecognisable!

Oh and the best friend (Natalie?) is the actress who played Sherlock's sister.

I was fascinated by the actor playing Karen. The actor playing Craig was good too, never questioned for a minute that he was anything other than a total waste of space. I think Sheridan Smith had the sympathetic but much less interesting role. Maybe next week she will be more impressive. I was pretty gripped by the story.

Was it only me who was distracted by sheridans botox? It was compelling viewing overall. I wish the second part was on tomorrow though rather than next Tuesday!

Poor Shannon was she drugged that whole time?
Thank God she got out of there & is hopefully happier than she would've been with her mum

I laughed the whole way through. Which I'm sure wasn't the desired response. It was absolutely dire

I think it's pretty obvious that Julie Bushby was the most involved/forthcoming with the production company for this programme. Unsurprising if her role during the actual disappearance was as represented in the show. She comes across as someone who very much wants the limelight and I think it comes across loud and clear in the show that this is the event she from her perspective and it's supposed to be flattering to her. If accurate I don't think it's flattering at all.

I thought Sheridan Smith did quite well, portraying a woman believing her own hype as a "community leader", trying to find some sort of redemption for her shitty life on a shitty estate by romanticising its residents as salt-of-the-earth types with hearts of gold. She desperately wants to believe in that community spirit, but there is nevertheless as much of the deluded busybody about her as there is of the mythic Strong Northern Woman. The reality is that there is little nobility among the deprivation: neighbours are vying for media attention, some would almost literally sell their granny, and for many of them caught up in the temporary spotlight, this is the most thrilling thing that's ever happened to the place. There is goodness too, of course, but not enough of it to make the story a triumph over adversity. The candlelit vigils descend into drunkenness, and so many residents live down to the media's expectations of them that the community, if anything, is left more dismal than before.

I thought it conveyed what happened with depressing accuracy.

I was impressed that SS seemed to have ditched the Botox for the part. She had frown lines and forehead wrinkles in most scenes.

The real Julie has been saying she and sheridan smith are now mates

I thought Sheridan smith was a bit unbelievable tbh. It all seems 'odd'.

Agree with everything BoF said so well up there^^ (except I don't think it's a particularly good SS performance)

BoF Nail on head, there.

Julie didn't 'look after own' though. Her own were neglected while she revelled in the limelight of 'leading the community'.
Her intentions were basically good but her efforts didn't lead to Shannon's release, the police did that all by themselves.

Oh Bitoffun i missed what you said but yeah that .

I've just watched that link provided upthread. (Thanks desolate) i see that it took another 3 weeks after she was found before her mother was exposed?? What the hell? How on earth did the police not work that out? I'm assuming the uncle/secret boyfriend just stayed silent in interviews? I'm really astonished by Karen Matthews ability to dupe the police for so long.

That's a good point Mrs jay, if this is done as The Julie Show she may, shall we say, misremember conversations. I'd like to know just how many points of view were used and how the vicar remembers things.

Not saying she was one way or the other btw, just that the vicar's presence seems to be crowbarred in a bit rather than following the natural narrative. Would those conversations have been filmed if she was another neighbour?

I have a nasty suspicious mind when I think someone has an agenda.