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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BASED ON A PACK OF LIES - tue 9pm bbc 1 - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

151 replies

Blondeshavemorefun · 24/08/2023 16:30

this look good. Had a great write up !!!

Starts Tue. For 5w. Yes will be on iPlayer. No I don’t want any spoilers as will watch weekly as you all know that’s what I do 😂😂😛😛

Rob is a conman, and a very proficient and insidious one at that. He enters people's lives, takes their money, their dignity, their trust, and then vanishes.

He already did this to Alice, who he married 15 years ago before disappearing without a trace, leaving Alice and her family penniless.

However, when Alice spots him again one day by chance, she follows him, and finds he is about to enact the same treatment on one Cheryl Harker, a wealthy and celebrated fantasy author who is still grieving her late husband.

As he worms his way into Cheryl's life, she isn't foolhardy - she persistently tries to detect falsehoods and extract herself from murky situations. It's just that Rob has no bones about doing whatever it takes to sell a story.

First things first, this isn't like any other conman series you have seen or are likely to see in a very long while, most crucially because of the way it treats its central trio.

Rob is not a glamorous, impressive figure - sure, he's played by Alistair Petrie, so he has a great deal of charm, enough that you easily understand why it is that so many people fall for his tricks. But he's not in any way idolised. He's a villainous, enraging figure, wholly lacking in empathy and overwhelmed by self-interest.

This is a series ultimately about manipulation, gaslighting and distortion of the truth, and it analyses those themes meticulously, with real depth and clarity of thought.

So that's one big tick in the show's corner, while another is its distinctive visual style. The use of colour is a particular marvel, with bright pinks, greens and bold shades splashed across every frame like pop art.

Because of Cheryl's background in fantasy, the series also draws in iconography and tropes from the genre, helping to heighten the show's reality and that off-beat texture while not detracting from the more tragic, darker sequences. All of this culminates in a bravura, eye-popping finale which really has to be seen to be believed.

We are lucky. Another drama to start this week. That’s 3 now

the woman in the wall
the tower s2
Th following ……

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the80sweregreat · 30/08/2023 20:06

Finally saw two episodes and hooked !
Such great acting
Yes , the mum here was in Motherland !

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/08/2023 20:19

Shush @the80sweregreat 😛😛😛

We are only on e1

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the80sweregreat · 30/08/2023 20:32

Sorry blonds
Lips are sealed

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/08/2023 21:27

You will never get a blondes rare gold star you know

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PriamFarrl · 30/08/2023 22:26

Just watched episode one. I wasn’t sure to be honest. It seems odd to me.
Why didn’t they report him missing at the time? She was about to say but the police woman cut her off. (would a police officer be allowed hair like that?)
How did the dog not drown, and wasn’t even wet?
What was with the musicians and all the candles? Who would light all those candles?

I guess the footage of the man by the caravan and the other woman at the beginning are interviews with other victims.

I quite liked it but it was just a bit odd.

Blondeshavemorefun · 31/08/2023 07:55

Yes not sure why she didn't report him
Missing /stealing /swindling all those years ago

How did she manage to divorce him

Can you divorce someone 7yrs if no contact /they do a runner

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PriamFarrl · 31/08/2023 08:06

Blondeshavemorefun · 31/08/2023 07:55

Yes not sure why she didn't report him
Missing /stealing /swindling all those years ago

How did she manage to divorce him

Can you divorce someone 7yrs if no contact /they do a runner

They said that she filled out paperwork but I don’t know if it works like that. She isn’t married to her new partner so it might be that she never divorced him at all.

Back in the very early days of the internet (about 25 years ago) there was a man like this on a forum I was a regular on. He would talk to all the women and he would tell very convincing stories about his time in the army, as an explorer etc. He would DM lots of the women with pictures of him in uniform and the like. Then one day he didn’t show up and one of the women he had been talking to posted a link to him being arrested. Turned out that he was married but living a complete lie. He’d spun the same stories to his wife saying he was SAS which was why she couldn’t meet his old army buddies etc.

PriamFarrl · 31/08/2023 08:08

And did anyone else notice that the author said to the older guy, Ralph, thank you for the invitation and he replied that he hadn’t invited her. I think that Robert had sent it to get her there and to meet her.

BitOutOfPractice · 31/08/2023 08:15

Yes, Rob had earmarked her as his next victim and sent her an invite specially. Then engineered leaving at the same time too.

I wasn’t sure at first but got more into it as it went on. Im definitely hooked!

the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 09:23

I remember hearing a true story on five live radio around five years ago about a lady business owner who was taken in by a man who told her he was a spy : he even managed to get into MI5 somehow. Even the police didn't know how he managed this ( she watched him go in there apparently!)
He scammed her out of thousands , but they did catch him.

BoreOfWhabylon · 31/08/2023 14:57

Right. I've caved and watched the lot!
My lips are sealed though Grin

Lalgarh · 31/08/2023 16:36

the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 09:23

I remember hearing a true story on five live radio around five years ago about a lady business owner who was taken in by a man who told her he was a spy : he even managed to get into MI5 somehow. Even the police didn't know how he managed this ( she watched him go in there apparently!)
He scammed her out of thousands , but they did catch him.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/sep/06/ukcrime

'MI5 agent' conman jailed for life

A conman who posed as an MI5 spy during a £1m "odyssey of deceit" was jailed for life today.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/sep/06/ukcrime

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 31/08/2023 18:26

Just watched first episode. Found it really frustrating. Why didn't his ex-wife just TELL the author lady who she was, what he was like and that she'd just saved the dog from being drowned!

(It's all a bit like when characters refuse to tell the police about an issue on a soap... any normal person would just call the police and everything would be sorted. But I guess that doesn't string the story out for long enough.)

the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 19:00

I can't do the links, but I've started a spoiler thread
( sorry blonds , I will never get that star award )
No spoilers on here, but all welcome on ' the other thread '!

Blondeshavemorefun · 31/08/2023 19:08

the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 19:00

I can't do the links, but I've started a spoiler thread
( sorry blonds , I will never get that star award )
No spoilers on here, but all welcome on ' the other thread '!

Nope never 😛😛😂😂

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the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 19:09

Thank you for the link largarh!
I often tell people this story , the lady on five live was so intelligent and a sassy business woman , yet she was hoodwinked. These predators , they live amongst us

the80sweregreat · 31/08/2023 19:09

Thanks

longtompot · 31/08/2023 20:53

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 31/08/2023 18:26

Just watched first episode. Found it really frustrating. Why didn't his ex-wife just TELL the author lady who she was, what he was like and that she'd just saved the dog from being drowned!

(It's all a bit like when characters refuse to tell the police about an issue on a soap... any normal person would just call the police and everything would be sorted. But I guess that doesn't string the story out for long enough.)

I just have missed that bit. I thought she found the dog and the author was searching for it, not that she had got it back

PriamFarrl · 31/08/2023 21:48

longtompot · 31/08/2023 20:53

I just have missed that bit. I thought she found the dog and the author was searching for it, not that she had got it back

She didn’t give the dog back at the end of episode 1.

I’ve watch episode 2. I’ll wait for everyone else though to talk about it.

Is the author meant to be a bad actor? She’s so wooden.

longtompot · 01/09/2023 23:45

Thanks @PriamFarrl I thought I must have missed a bit. Annoying as this thread is meant to be in line with the episodes as shown.

The actor playing the writer is an excellent actor. Seen her in quite a few things. I don't think she has been used to her best in this so far though.

PriamFarrl · 02/09/2023 11:00

longtompot · 01/09/2023 23:45

Thanks @PriamFarrl I thought I must have missed a bit. Annoying as this thread is meant to be in line with the episodes as shown.

The actor playing the writer is an excellent actor. Seen her in quite a few things. I don't think she has been used to her best in this so far though.

I never watch broadcast TV so I have no idea when stuff is on. I’m watching ahead but I’ll only comment on where people are up to on here.

SlipSlidinAway · 02/09/2023 23:16

This reply has been withdrawn

Message withdrawn - possible spoilers

GrimGrinningGhosts · 02/09/2023 23:38

Not seen it yet, but I howled at the trailer…… mostly because I married a property developer from Stoke. He assures me he doesn’t have a secret life 😂😂

Blondeshavemorefun · 04/09/2023 14:52

@placemats

@jennalong

E1 was last week

E2 tomorrow

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