The Syndicate: S1 Ep1

On TV: Tuesday 27th March 2012

Channel: BBC One 9pm

Episode Type: 1/5

In 1 Sentence: Interesting first episode to what looks set to be a gripping series...

The Syndicate

BBC Summary: Five-part drama by Kay Mellor, following five supermarket workers whose lives are turned upside down when they jointly win the lottery.

Ep1: A supermarket in Leeds is threatened with closure, sending its five staff - Bob, Stuart, Denise, Leanne and Jamie - spiraling into an uncertain future. Assistant manager Stuart Bradley and his younger brother Jamie are forced to take matters into their own hands, with dramatic consequences. Just when it seems that things cannot get any worse, the unthinkable happens - 18 million pounds falls into their laps.

My Review: I’ve been excited to finally see this series for weeks now and so I was glad when I finally got to see it on Tuesday! For acting talent alone there are some fine people involved in the project; Joanna Page, Timothy Small, Matthew Lewis and Matthew McNulty being my favourites! Right from the word go I was reeled in to the character’s plight and the episode was much more exciting than I was expecting.

I fell in love with the fantastic premise of following five friends who win the lottery together and it was played so truthfully, with some great comedy and real emotion in there too. Each episode focuses on one of the winners and this week it looked at Stuart, who has worked at the supermarket since he was 16 and, after his girlfriend gives birth to a new baby girl becomes desperate for money in order to find a place to live. He feels he is owed by the company, but after he’s told they’re shutting down, his brother (played fantastically by Harry Potter’s Neville actor Matthew Lewis) persuades him into staging a robbery at the shop. Things go horribly wrong and the drama is so high you couldn’t predict where it would go next! We also got to meet some of the others and we leave them as they’re just about to go public about the win. So far I’m really loving the series and I can’t wait for the next episode. But that’s the BBC for you - first-class quality British drama!

Score: 9/10