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

[Blondeshavemorefun]

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 ……

Apologies - I was watching it going in out of the room, it must have gone onto episode 2 without me realising. I've given up with it anyway. The storyline is just too ridiculous.

It's worth watching - I really enjoyed e1

Spoilers

The plot with the author (and dog) is probably partly informed by Helen Bailey.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Bailey

why do you say that

I knew Helen

She was a wonderful woman

Her books fantastic. Esp the bikini ones 🥲🥲

Her husband was a sick fuck who murdered both his wives

@Blondeshavemorefun she was a successful author in her own right and he is a golddiging parasite kind of way

Ah right

Thought you meant this was based on Helen

I've just watched episode 2. I loved it! I'm going to watch episode 1 before next week. I'm doing the opposite of a spoiler by going backwards like this! I thought the acting and the visuals were wonderful. I read that the writers are sisters but I've not heard of them before.

If she had told the truth about the dog and stalking Rob she wouldn't be in this mess now

She is def being preyed on thi as a widow

If his company doesn't exists as such then how does he manage to wrote cheque or is that from the money he's conned off other people

Surely he won't donate 50% of costs and she will end up paying for it the other sponsorship

And All the crap about missing the flight and booking another and then staying

Are people that gullible or stupid

Surely he won't donate 50% of costs and she will end up paying for it the other sponsorship

he might. Standard technique for con artists is to stump up some cash 1st so you feel indebted to them. You saw it with the way she was apologising already for feeling she "made" him cancel his trip

Are people that gullible or stupid

Unfortunately yes! I remember reading recently about a university lecturer who lost everything to a con artist.

I think it's very clever the way the author clearly has doubts, but can't stop herself being manipulated.

🥲🥲

I too was frustrated with her not telling the author about what actually happened, but I can see why with what she had her husband tell her what people thought of her. They didn't, but he wanted to erode any confidence she had. Sadly, I think with lying about who she is, where she works etc, I think she is the one who is going to come across as the con artist.
The actor playing the con artist is so good, he really gets across the smarmy self absorbed person of the character he is playing.

Lots of very savvy , intelligent people are scammed. It is frightening how good people are at it

I've only watched the first episode but fear that Alice will somehow get dragged in again & do something that makes her complicit in her attempts to expose Rob.

I watched the first episode. Thought it was a bit naff (the harpist and singer and all the candles when he leaned in for the first kiss ) and trying rather hard to be like that first great series of that Mark Bonner show Guilt. Even down to the dark quirky-interior 60s house and the mother in the cast. And the incidental music too.

Preposterous that she found that bag in the lake!!

But I'll reserve judgement and watch another episode.

Yes I did the same

Was the policewoman Kim from Eastenders?

I don't think the policewoman was Kim from EE.
I did look up the cast list and Tameka Empson was not listed. Although it was a fleeting moment, so might have been her ?

Did look a lot like her

It did look like Kim I must admit.

Not on cast list either or character listed as police officer

I think the police officer is listed as Sharon.

In which case it's Satura Gayle-I think she played Simone's grandmother(?) in Silent Witness.

I binge watched it all and thought it started really very good but became disappointed if I'm allowed to say that?

Oh well done - I tried to check the cast list but it's so rushed these days because they assume everyone is listed on IMDB when they're not.

I'm all primed for Ep 3 on Tuesday now.

Oh well done - I tried to check the cast list but it's so rushed these days

I did have to pause it!

They were listed after "duty officer" so I thought there was a good chance it was them.

Top marks for them shoehorning Self Control by Laura Brannigan into this