35 reviews
Stir Well and Serve Cold
This program has very fine actors doing their best with woefully inferior scripts. Every character is a stereotype of others we have seen before. Time and time again they behave stupidly in order to advance the plot and intensify the false sense of drama. Sorry, but it just rings hollow and false. There are precious few honest steps taken through the course of "Land Girls." Instead, the audience is manipulated, often with the use of modern PC sensibilities. I have forced myself to watch all fifteen episodes, and it has not been an easy chore. The scripts of Dominique Moloney, Dale Overton, Paul Matthew Thompson, Jude Tindall, Joy Wilkinson, and even series creator Roland Moore fall flat, dumbed down to the shallowest of viewers.
And then, in the midst of all this mediocrity, there comes a single brilliant episode that shows what might have been. Rob Kinsman has written a terrific script for "The Enemy Within," which is episode 3 of series 3. Here the dialogue crackles with intelligence. Suddenly, we are confronted with real people, not television templates. After watching "The Enemy Within," I thought perhaps "Land Girls" had finally found its stride. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Back to the same old predictability we go, and our patience is tested by stupid characters behaving stupidly. Clearly, this production should have hired Rob Kinsman from the start and stayed with him for the entire run. Then they might have really had something to be proud of. As it is, all too often the result is embarrassingly bad.
And then, in the midst of all this mediocrity, there comes a single brilliant episode that shows what might have been. Rob Kinsman has written a terrific script for "The Enemy Within," which is episode 3 of series 3. Here the dialogue crackles with intelligence. Suddenly, we are confronted with real people, not television templates. After watching "The Enemy Within," I thought perhaps "Land Girls" had finally found its stride. But, alas, it was not meant to be. Back to the same old predictability we go, and our patience is tested by stupid characters behaving stupidly. Clearly, this production should have hired Rob Kinsman from the start and stayed with him for the entire run. Then they might have really had something to be proud of. As it is, all too often the result is embarrassingly bad.
Reasonable Series but Beware of Stereotypes
- mazinman-1
- May 3, 2015
- Permalink
Land Girls review
Liked the series but they left you hanging without wrapping things up with several stories. One character came back as a different person (the first one was better looking). There isn't going to be a 4th series and again left dangling. Changed the girls too many times. Could have been a lot better, loved the time period, the actors were great, gave insight into a unsung group of women who sacrificed and served during the war. I liked that. Overall enjoyed the series, disappointed that it didn't continue and maybe bring back some stories they left unfinished to wrap them up.
- jackipoulin
- Aug 12, 2017
- Permalink
Watchable but a bit disappointing
Riddled with clichés, this daytime drama about the land girls (women conscripted to work on the land during World War II) is in five parts and boasts a competent cast in a sanitised script - a very PC and simplistic view of a country under siege.
We first meet the four new land girls at the start of the first episode - snooty Nancy (Summer Strallen) who wears high heels and expects a soldier to carry her luggage from the station, sisters Annie (Christine Bottomley) and Bea (Jo Woodcock) - one bitter, one naive, and salt of the earth Joyce (Becci Gemmell) whose family were wiped out in the Coventry bombings. We also meet Esther (Susan Cookson), who keeps the girls in order, black-marketeer and farmer Finch (Mark Benton), and the Lord and Lady of the House (Nathaniel Parker and Sophie Ward).
There's also a Home Guard Sergeant, Tucker (Danny Webb) who likes the feeling of being in charge, and in town there's a group of GIs.
From here it is very much ticking the boxes - there's an illicit affair, a soldier going AWOL, suspected collaborators, a marriage based on hate, and a bit of political correctness about black GIs and segregation. It's watchable enough but somehow I was expecting a bit more.
Although it looks great and as if a bit of money has been thrown at it, Land Girls is historically shaky and very much has the air of 'we've seen all this before'. A bit of a missed opportunity.
We first meet the four new land girls at the start of the first episode - snooty Nancy (Summer Strallen) who wears high heels and expects a soldier to carry her luggage from the station, sisters Annie (Christine Bottomley) and Bea (Jo Woodcock) - one bitter, one naive, and salt of the earth Joyce (Becci Gemmell) whose family were wiped out in the Coventry bombings. We also meet Esther (Susan Cookson), who keeps the girls in order, black-marketeer and farmer Finch (Mark Benton), and the Lord and Lady of the House (Nathaniel Parker and Sophie Ward).
There's also a Home Guard Sergeant, Tucker (Danny Webb) who likes the feeling of being in charge, and in town there's a group of GIs.
From here it is very much ticking the boxes - there's an illicit affair, a soldier going AWOL, suspected collaborators, a marriage based on hate, and a bit of political correctness about black GIs and segregation. It's watchable enough but somehow I was expecting a bit more.
Although it looks great and as if a bit of money has been thrown at it, Land Girls is historically shaky and very much has the air of 'we've seen all this before'. A bit of a missed opportunity.
I loved it but I am a hopeless romantic.
I am not sure why some people here gave it such a low rating. People have forgotten that it's television. I found the stories very rememerble and touching. It did end abruptly but shows get canceled all the time and never finish their story lines. I would watch any further stories about the land girls.
- magicman195705
- Apr 17, 2019
- Permalink
WARNING: It's a daytime soap opera!
Relax and Enjoy!
What a bunch of wingers we have in here!
People need to chill out, relax and stop nit picking.
This is superbly acted and very entertaining.
Thank you to all involved.
I've just got Netflix and loved this series - hurry up with Episode 4 please!
- admin-55780
- Jan 4, 2018
- Permalink
Watchable but with flaws
- sarahhg-77460
- Nov 8, 2019
- Permalink
The Ahistoric Historians
The series is well acted. The complaint here about "cliches" is itself one. Look up the history and look it up from first-person, eye-witness research. The events are based on real-life experiences and the protagonists being women should not frighten away legitimate historians who understand the time period and the sacrifices British women had to endure. The shape of the events are far closer to real history than some of the bleating-heart (not a typo) critics imagine. Yes, it is a soap opera. That was a given, by the way, to anyone who started watching it. But the position of women in Britain during the war and the dynamics that could and did occur are a part of history that also shapes the future for that society. For that focus, alone the series deserves respect.
If the negative critics of this series are Americans, they can be forgiven for their ignorance. If the critics are British, they can only be apologists for the behavior of officials who had totally lost their moral bearings.
Cute period piece
A fun series following the lives of women left behind during the war as they work on a farm.
- Calicodreamin
- Dec 30, 2019
- Permalink
Very disappointing.
- jamison0601
- Feb 1, 2018
- Permalink
Period satisfaction
This is a period piece which I thoroughly enjoyed. It has drama, adventure, suspense and an era that I am very interested in. Not sure how true to life it is, but there was "land girls" that took jobs at farms during WW11 and I imagine some of this drama went on! The acting was great in my opinion, I was able to "get lost" in the era. For period lovers, its a must! It is clean and no worries of inappropriate scenes.
Entertaining but could have had some more (spoilers!)
- markmonkhfx
- Sep 12, 2020
- Permalink
How many clichés can you fit into one series?
How hard is it to get medical facts right?
I've watched Land Girls to the bitter end, and feel several IQ points less intelligent now. Really, as other reviewers have said, the series is rife with historical inaccuracies. But as one BBC spokesman said, period pieces don't have to be accurate. Really?
Most annoying to me, though, were the episodes in which Martin, the young boy, gets hit in the face by a barn door. He gets up and walks home, with a bit of a headache. But later, he mentions that he "can't see" a page of writing, although somehow he has no problem getting about.
Some days, or weeks? later, he goes to the doctor and finds out he has "detached retinas" (although he can still see), which means he'll go blind without an operation.
Apparently no one did a blind bit of research on this: In order to have both retinas detach, you'd have to be hit extremely hard on the back of the head, and would have not been trotting around soon after. Also, if your retinas are detached, you simply would not be able to see, and after waiting for weeks for the "operation" it's unlikely that there would still be any viable tissue left. 20 years after this period piece, retinal surgery was still in its infancy, with low rates of success.
Of course the "operation" was a plot device that had consequences that took the series through several episodes.
But really, is it that difficult for script writers to do a bit of research? I think they must count on people being so ignorant about history and other facts that they don't notice glaring errors. Perhaps they think we all have retinal detachments.
Most annoying to me, though, were the episodes in which Martin, the young boy, gets hit in the face by a barn door. He gets up and walks home, with a bit of a headache. But later, he mentions that he "can't see" a page of writing, although somehow he has no problem getting about.
Some days, or weeks? later, he goes to the doctor and finds out he has "detached retinas" (although he can still see), which means he'll go blind without an operation.
Apparently no one did a blind bit of research on this: In order to have both retinas detach, you'd have to be hit extremely hard on the back of the head, and would have not been trotting around soon after. Also, if your retinas are detached, you simply would not be able to see, and after waiting for weeks for the "operation" it's unlikely that there would still be any viable tissue left. 20 years after this period piece, retinal surgery was still in its infancy, with low rates of success.
Of course the "operation" was a plot device that had consequences that took the series through several episodes.
But really, is it that difficult for script writers to do a bit of research? I think they must count on people being so ignorant about history and other facts that they don't notice glaring errors. Perhaps they think we all have retinal detachments.
- douglasscarol123
- Apr 3, 2015
- Permalink
Great drama-filled series
I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Perhaps those looking for historical accuracy will find faults, but if you are looking for a well-developed drama and superior casting and acting, this series is really one of a kind. I didn't know any of the actors prior to watching, but really appreciated all of them even the vilains.
Wonderful piece of drama. I've watched the series twice!
Heartwarming, although inaccurate
- Roughmusic
- Jul 27, 2020
- Permalink
Love BBC
- sassygirlw
- Sep 2, 2017
- Permalink
Good Lord, this is bad.
I tried, I wanted to live this but the script is just awful. I don't know if the "Yanks" are really American but the accents are horrible. The real Land Girls deserve a lot better than this.
- elizabethdnorris
- Jan 4, 2019
- Permalink
Great show
I liked this show. It goes about the history of England during war, that really impressed me.
I recommend this show for you, but you have to see for yourself what you think about it.
During the show the actors are undergoing different events, like drama and the characters act very good. Good show with quality. Unfortunately this show doesn't exist of many episodes.
- Netflixfan1912
- May 1, 2020
- Permalink
Cliche ridden hokum
- billcarr31
- Jan 7, 2020
- Permalink
Far better than I would have thought
Well, despite what has been written I thought this was a smashing little series, or three. It is a bit 'soapy' but I don't like soaps yet I like this. It does lean on sentimentality, but in my opinion not too much. More than anything it's a character study, where few characters are either all good or all bad. Mark Benton provides the comic relief and it's something he expertise's in. It does stand as a drama though, the trials and tribulations of a set of decent women in an harrowing time. I've just watched it daily on bbc, and have felt cheer for the characters at a personal time where I need something to believe in. The acting is excellent, the story lines strong. It can be disappointing when characters or actors drop out between series'. But I presume that's a testament in itself. As with all wartime dramas (as opposed to war dramas) it shows the best of British resolve. All I know is, when good things happen to the main characters I feel glad, and when bad things happen I feel sad. And if a drama manages that, it's more than halfway home.
Give it a chance
- chipsdipsanddorks
- Feb 25, 2021
- Permalink
Women helping England fighting the 2nd Word War
The motivation for creating the British series entitled Land Girls (2009-2011) was due to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War (1st September 1939 - 2nd September 1945). The episodes were filmed in and around the city of Birmingham. The 15 episodes that make up the series, divided into three seasons, focus on the lives of women who joined an English civil organization, Women's Land Army, whose objective was to supply agricultural labor, since many of the men who worked in agriculture went to serve in the army during World War II. Some of the many stories that unfold during the three seasons ended poorly. The series is very good, has very interesting characters and a wide variety of personal stories. To our satisfaction, it could have gone well beyond its 15 episodes.
Land girls doing everything but working on the land
This series is repeating on The BBC. Whilst watchable it is ultimately a bit silly with very little farming to be seen. Ultimately if their efforts were replicated throughout the nation everyone would have starved
- warrior-93176
- Sep 9, 2020
- Permalink