Latest news with #ScribblyGumIsland
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BBC viewers break down in tears as all episodes of 'masterpiece' family drama hit iPlayer - and they 'binge every episode in one day'
BBC viewers broke down in tears after all instalments of a 'masterpiece' family drama finally hit iPlayer - binging 'every episode in one day'. The Last Anniversary, which hit the on-demand platform on Saturday, follows journalist Sophie (Teresa Palmer) after she inherits her ex-boyfriend's great-aunt's house on the remote, fictional Scribbly Gum Island. As she settles in, she also attempts to solve a 50-year-old local cold case that has haunted the island - and drawn in true crime tourists - for years. The Australian six-part comedy-drama, first released down under in March, is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, the author behind Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. Alongside lead Teresa (The Fall Guy), it also stars Oscar-nominated British actress Miranda Richardson (Good Omens) and Australian actress Danielle Macdonald (The Tourist). Co-produced by Nicole Kidman and Liane herself, among others, it has impressed critics and viewers alike, whose reviews and comments online sing their praises for the high-quality show. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The Australian six-part comedy-drama, first released down under in March, is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, the author behind Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers One viewer said on X: 'I just binged The Last Anniversary on iPlayer, that was good.' Another added: 'I'm three episodes deep and I'm loving this! Phenomenal cast and the story is really well written too.' Someone else wrote on Rotten Tomatoes: 'Sitting here absolutely crying my eyes out because this show is a masterpiece.' One user also said: 'Excellent show. I'm really enjoying it.' The Guardian 's review read: 'The tone of this gracefully crafted adaptation of Liane Moriarty's bestselling novel is tender and mysterious, imbued with a soft literary quality.' The Independent similarly gave it high praise, dubbing the literary adaptation 'thought-provoking, hilarious and scrumptiously well-acted': 'This new six-parter isn't milking a franchise, it's launching one.' Common Sense Media, meanwhile, said: 'The mystery is mostly backdrop to a patient, lovely drama that delves into the complexities of family, motherhood and relationships.' The BBC synopsis reads: 'When Sophie Honeywell mysteriously inherits a house on Scribbly Gum Island, her arrival threatens to unearth secrets held close by three generations of women.' It has impressed critics and viewers alike, whose reviews and comments online sing their praises for the high-quality show It also bills the drama as a 'gripping mystery about family, motherhood and the women who define the generations that come after them'. Sue Deeks, head of BBC programme acquisition, dubbed the show 'an entertaining drama full of vivid characters, comedy and romance, with a compelling mystery at its heart'. She continued: 'I'm sure BBC viewers will thoroughly enjoy their visit to beautiful Scribbly Gum Island.' Though the inheritance comes as a surprise, and the islanders give her a somewhat frosty reception upon her arrival, Sophie quickly realises it could be the fresh start she has been looking for. Single and nearing 40, she is also drawn in by her elderly benefactor's promise that the island may well bring her romance at last. We learn the mystery somehow concerns two sisters - one of them being the elderly woman Sophie inherits the house from - along with a couple who went missing and a baby who was abandoned. But exactly how it is all connected remains to be seen. It is another victory for the BBC, after it announced last week it was welcoming back a legendary sitcom for a brand new series - to fans' delight. First released in 2006, it follows unambitious layabout Lee, played by the funny man (pictured), and his best friend's sister Lucy (Sally Bretton, pictured), who is also the landlady of his London flatshare Not Going Out, the award-winning popular show created by comedian Lee Mack, is set for a comeback for a six-part series 14, around two years after the latest episodes aired. First released in 2006, it follows unambitious layabout Lee, played by the funny man, and his best friend's sister Lucy (Sally Bretton), who is also the landlady of his London flatshare. A will-they-won't-they romance between the two unfolded over several series, until the unlikely couple married in the season seven finale, just before having a baby. The eighth series jumped eight years into the future, with all subsequent instalments following their chaotic family life with three children. And now series 14 will move the story on several years more, when the couple are empty nesters and moved out of their suburban family home - but still up to plenty of antics.
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The Last Anniversary, review: it couldn't be more ‘beach read' if it came with a bottle of sun cream
The BBC has bought an adaptation of a Liane Moriarty novel and stuck it in the Saturday night slot, which is where TV dramas go to die. Moriarty gave us the more-ish thriller Big Little Lies, and while The Last Anniversary (BBC One) is superficially similar – the main characters are all women who live by the sea – it is dull as ditch water. The synopsis couldn't be more 'beach read' if it came with a free bottle of sun cream: 'When Sophie Honeywell mysteriously inherits a house on Scribbly Gum Island, her arrival threatens to unearth secrets held close by the three generations of women who call the island home.' Scribbly Gum Island sounds promisingly funny, but it's not. It's just the kind of name you get in Moriarty's native Australia, where the series is set. Miranda Richardson, wearing a long, grey wig, is the best-known cast member to British viewers, and you may recognise Danielle Macdonald as the quirky cop from The Tourist. It's an ensemble piece, but the focus of the first episode is Sophie (Teresa Palmer), who is surprised to learn that she has inherited the Scribbly Gum house from Connie, the family matriarch. It's mostly a surprise because Sophie is a relative stranger who last saw the brood when she was jilting Connie's nephew. Still, moving onto an island surrounded by Connie's hostile relatives is preferable to her current set-up in the city, where she is struggling through IVF treatment and going on dates with terrible men. A subplot briefly takes us back to 1974, when Connie and her sister Rose (Richardson) rescued an abandoned baby whose parents had suddenly upped and left. This has come to be known as the Baby Munro Mystery and has so intrigued Australians that family members run tours of the house where the child was found. It is now filled with props, including a replica of the marble cake discovered cooling on the worktop on that fateful night. The recipe for it is available to buy in the island gift shop. This tour takes place at the beginning of episode one and suggests that the series will be off-beat, but instead we simply get an uninspired soap opera in which Miranda Richardson does a lot of wild swimming. Multi-generational family sagas can work well in a novel, and perhaps this one does, but as a TV show it's dramatically inert. Scenes are just there to mark time until another skeleton falls out of the closet, One of the characters battles postnatal depression after a traumatic birth and there are dark moments, but mostly it just looks nice, with the pleasantly sound-tracked shots of Sophie moving into her new home resembling an advert for a building society. There is a meet-cute at a funeral. The worst detail of all is that, when Connie and Rose took in the baby whose parents mysteriously disappeared, they named her… Enigma. I confess that I couldn't make it to the last episode without giving up. I googled the ending instead, because life's too short.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: Liane Moriarty's moreish drama about a web of family secrets
9pm, BBC One Cold glass of Chardonnay and wraparound cashmere cardy at the ready: it's another bingeable Liane Moriarty adaptation about wealthy women and family secrets, executive produced by Nicole Kidman. Sophie (Teresa Palmer) is a journalist who inherits the property of an ex-boyfriend's relative. Off she heads to Scribbly Gum Island, where the mystery reason behind why Connie (Angela Punch McGregor) chose her and not one of the women in her own family slowly unravels. Hollie Richardson 6.50pm, BBC One After an entertaining, politicised trip around the cosmos, the penultimate episode means serious franchise-lore business and a grand effort to tie this year's themes and secrets together. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) come home to a changed world. How quickly will they realise the threat they face? Jack Seale 8pm, BBC Two The show is always a blooming pleasure, but it's best enjoyed in this annual highlights show. Monty Don takes a turn round the Grand Pavilion and he's joined by his fellow Gardeners' World presenters Rachel de Thame and Arit Anderson, who stop by to share their favourites. Ellen E Jones 9pm, BBC Two Liza Minnelli has lived a life straight out of a Hollywood script: she tells it herself with vim, candour and delicious wickedness. It starts with her showbiz parents (she cried for eight days when her mother Judy Garland died), then a life-changing meeting with Bob Fosse that led to Cabaret and an Oscar. HR 9pm, Channel 5 His recent BBC interview was just the latest salvo in the war of words between Prince Harry and Buckingham Palace since their uncoupling in 2020. Have they passed the point of no return? A hastily convened crew of royal-watchers speculate. Graeme Virtue 10.10pm, ITV1 Asher Keddie is too good at straddling the fine line between hope and paranoia as she plays Birdie, a fortysomething journalist in a toxic new relationship. We all know she needs to run a mile from skin-crawling Joe (David Wenham) and his grand idea to buy a mansion called Eldorado. But she just wants to believe him so badly. HR Fountain of Youth, out now, Apple TV+ Guy Ritchie channels his inner Indiana Jones – by way of Lara Croft and The Da Vinci Code – in this light-on-its-feet adventure about the hunt for the mythical wrinkle-banishing spring. John Krasinski brings an amiable charm to Luke Purdue, an art thief with a grand plan that involves the reluctant help of his curator sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) and the deep pockets of the 'embarrassingly' rich but terminally ill Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson). There are coded messages in old master paintings, the raising of the Lusitania and, inevitably, ancient Egyptian tombs in their action-heavy global quest, with Krasinski and Portman sharp and funny as the bickering siblings. Simon Wardell Through a Glass Darkly, 6.45am, Sky Cinema Greats A family on holiday on a Swedish island find their lives reaching crisis point in Ingmar Bergman's brilliantly brooding 1961 drama. Gunnar Björnstrand's writer David is reunited with his adolescent son Minus (Lars Passgård), grownup daughter Karin (an exceptional Harriet Andersson) and her husband, Max Von Sydow's Martin. Karen is in remission from a schizophrenic episode, but as her mental state deteriorates again, the quartet's private despairs about love, God and creativity surface in traumatic fashion. SW Men's Test Cricket: England v Zimbabwe, 10.15am, Sky Sports Main Event Day three of the one-off Test match at Trent Bridge. Racing: Haydock Park, 1pm, ITV1 Headlined by the Temple Stakes. Championship Football: Sheffield United v Sunderland, 2pm, Sky Sports Main Event The play-off final at Wembley. Women's Champions League Football: Arsenal v Barcelona, 4pm, TNT Sports 1 The final at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, with WSL golden boot joint winner Alessia Russo the London side's big threat.
