Our Girl suffers from aftershocks of Doctor Foster
Michelle Keegan returned with her army drama Our Girl facing a couple of tall orders. First, the latest twists in the life of medic Georgie Lane had to be thrilling enough to fill the hole left by fellow Corrie graduate Suranne Jones’ Doctor Foster.
Second, Our Girl needed to match last year’s viewing figures without the considerable advantage of following The Great British Bake Off in the BBC1 schedule.
On the basis of this opener, I’d say it has little chance of succeeding in either mission. That’s no reflection on Keegan. She does her best.
There simply isn’t that much for her to get her teeth into on this second time around.
Our Girl can’t decide whether it wants to be a gritty military drama or a soapy melodrama.
It ends up failing to convince us it will ever be either of those. On paper, there’s nothing wrong with the Nepalese earthquake storyline.
But, sadly, Our Girl clearly lacks the budget to do it justice.
As Lane’s colleagues rolled off their camp beds during an aftershock, it was like William Shatner and the Starship Enterprise gang throwing themselves around the set of Star Trek in the 1960s.
As for Lane herself, last night’s climax – which left her trapped in a collapsed building – had unfortunate shades of Abi Branning getting bonked on the head by that falling pipe in EastEnders last month.
Will Lane survive? There are 11 episodes to go and no other big names in the cast. So I know where my money is going.
Is it a gritty military drama or a soap? Sadly, it’s neither...