tmorris-75696 Most inept cops, corrupt cops. They continually go into situations alone, and make one mistake after another. Bad guys are seen by everyone except the police who are looking for them.

rallen-34923 If this series had been made by the English, it would have been slammed for catering to all the worst stereotypes of the Irish. The only characters with any backbone are the women, who are divided into Lady Macbeths and Cordelias: determined and psychopathic (the matriarchs), or determined and saintly (the young ones). The men are with one or two exceptions simply weak. Driven by greed or just fecklessness, they lie and cheat to get out of current difficulties, with the inevitable result that they land themselves in worse problems. There is a clear overall theme to the programmes so far (one to five): it is that old standby of desperate writers, Romeo and Juliet. For the Montagues and Capulets read the Kielys and the Hennessys. For Romeo read David Hennessy and for Juliet, Katie Kiely. Mercutio is Darren Kiely, who in the first episode is already comatose and dies by the end. A small change in Shakespeare's plot is that the dead lad is from Juliet's family not Romeo's, but otherwise this tired old boy-loves-girl-but-their-families-hate-each-other device is clearly destined to be flogged down the road for as far as it will stagger, together with variations on a theme of "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!"The series has just begun showing on BBC and iPlayer. My partner is unaccountably besotted with this series, so I guess I will have to watch it proceeding along its humourless way to the bitter end. I just hope for my sanity's sake that it picks up some wit or originality in the meantime.NOTE ADDED AFTER EPISODE TEN: the series really has picked up as the writers (and actors) get into their stride. It's not exactly Brookside yet but it does hold a story-line very competently, and is not nearly so predictable as the first few episodes led me to fear.ADDED AFTER EPISODE 40: OK I admit it, I am hooked. Just as you think the series is getting silly or boring, something happens to jerk you awake again. Upgraded to 8 out of ten. Ibsen it isn't, but who would want to watch Ibsen twice a week anyway.

NHLiptak Why do I watch Red Rock? Why do I look forward to the next episode? Well, this show is crisply paced and it's fairly well acted. Ultimately, I have to like (at least one of) the characters, and I have to root for someone. Here, Red Rock is solid. From Garda Cleere to Det. Tyrell to Supt. McKay, Red Rock features regular folks -- they all have issues, just like I do -- whom I'd want as neighbors here in New England, folks I'd be honored to sit down and share a pint with in Ireland.Of course, there's evil in Red Rock, and the police, plus some of the other townspeople, do battle in back alleys and hallways, on street corners and mobile phones, sometimes with criminals and sometimes with each other. It's the details -- looks of anguish or triumph, phrases packed with anger or angst, with big, broad troubles like murder and pedophilia sharing the canvas -- that make this drama pop. For a soap opera, it surely seems real to me, so I care. Well done. There's room for growth to be sure, but I want to see more. (nearly 8 out of 10)

David O Brien Before I started watching Red Rock I had seen a headline using a quote from an actor in the series saying they couldn't wait to be "knocking Fair City off their perch" with this new show. I taught this was mad as Fair City bad and all as it is, is still the main Irish soap opera around. After watching the first 6 episodes of Red Rock, I am sure it will knock Fair City "off their perch". As the show opens with the death of a young man from a local feuding family we are drawn into every detail going around about the death as if we were members of An Garda Síochána. The show has so far shown how close the community is and has indicated at what the future holds with locals in corruption, law breaking Gardaí, the re-igniting of feuding local families the 'Kielys' and 'Hennessy's', behind closed doors relationships and the hopes and dreams of some members of the Gardaí being crushed. While the show is still in it's early days and TV3 has commissioned the continuing drama for the next two years with 160 episodes to come. I hope to be for a long-haul of excitement, with every episode already ending on the note of the typical soap cliffhanger.