good back-story, and good acting

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This series may not be a good one for the people who are in to the history, it may be misleading to those who don not have idea on history, but it gives an idea about History of Australia for those not in to history.Apart form that, it is not always possible to show "as it is" the history while reproducing the Movies and Shows. It is required to deviate a little bit but not too much, and introduce the romance, fun, foreplays, etc., bits to make it more entertaining. Other wise no will watch and no one will sponsor. One need to understand that.I have watched first season, to me it went well... Actions, Story is perfect, maintained Thrill & Kick through out the show. The Good script is always the one, which goes beyond the imagination of the viewers, that is it, it has got and it is more than enough to get 8 points. Sad it is cancelled, I don't see any reason to cancel this show.

despite shortcomings good take on imperialism. well done in terms of locations, characters and story, but somehow fails to gel. never the less, it is another in the long line of exposing British brutality. it often takes eons to probe into a nation's past and to expose the crime and cruelty perpetrated on lower classes.Downton Abbey, Mutiny on the bounty etc all paint a picture of British cruelty and jimmy mcgovern hits this message. if you read "fatal shore" by Australian writer/critic robert hughes, you find that most people were deported were poor, disenfranchised irish.I look forward to seeing more of this admission of guilt on the part of the British empire in Ireland, Africa, India, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia. There is such a rich, dramatic history of cruelty and perhaps this will serve as an introduction. perhaps McGovern's writing's subtext is that so many have have suffered for the benefit of so few. This holds true for Belgium, Holland, Germany and France. Today this story plays out with Amerika and China exploiting poor folks in ways the more devious than the British could not even imagine.

Absolute crap. Not in the least bit historically accurate. Dying of starvation after 2 days? Convicts being married and allowed to sit together every night? Soldiers picking 1 woman each? Asking the woman for sex, instead of the usual rape of those days?? Is this a moralistic and PC take on this period of Australia's history. Wolfe Hall was Oscar material compared to this to-sh, and Poldark is shaping up very well too.Horrible unappealing but very "wordy" characters. Absolute mince. For the common people who have never read a bloody book in their lives.And another historical note that is incorrect and jars is the fact that everyone has fantastic teeth! I have watched 2 episodes of this and I've wasted 2 hours of my life that would have been better spent staring at my navel or watching paint dry.

This sounded promising and so I began watching the first episode. I say 'began' because 15 minutes later, I'd switched off. Its truly one of the worst things I've seen aired. The characterization is hollow and, whilst Jimmy is a good earthy writer, his style of prosaic musings doesn't work here. The dialogue is stilted and the acting truly bad. Its miscast as one can see when a 20 something with highlights drifts past in her gown as though getting ready for a commercial for shampoo. The flogging scene was utter tosh. Badly scripted and offering no realism. Actually, its almost an insult to the intelligence of the viewer to air nonsense like this. Lets leave the historical accounts of this episode of history to those who know something about casting, filming, direction et cetera. The script is not worthy of a first year creative writing student ( they'd get a D...) its contrived and sheer unadulterated hogwash of the most boring kind.