The Outsiders (2006 TV Movie) User Reviews

Nigel Harman Festival...AT LAST

[square-eyed · 7/10 · 3 October 2006]

If you absolutely adore Nigel Harman this is so for you, I am one of those people and from the moment he came jogging onto the screen in tracksuits, a nuclear war couldn't make me turn the TV off. The whole programme is well acted though and has some skill shots incidenlty whoever decided to dress Harman in black and leather and hoodies and suits all the way through deserves a medal!

The plot however has so many holes it is ridiculous, seriously nothing is explained to you and the script is hardly skillful and the fact that it was made for drama shows in it's feeble attempts at CGI.

Whoever wrote the script though had obviously been up all night watching pirated copies of James Bond and the Da Vinci Code though, it is a truellly shockingly bad script. I also have no idea why they got Brian Cox in for perhaps a day's filming?! Cut some of the ridiculous close ups of the 'baddie's knowing smiles' and give us some more of him!!

However I am glad I watched it and will try to again, it's a lot of fun if you can somehow block out the plot and just enjoy

Entertaining to a degree

[ken-859 · 6/10 · 4 October 2006]

What can one say about this vehicle for Nigel Harman. It was acted as well as could be expected with a very lumpy script and cliché ridden plot that seemed to have been lifted from a weekend of watching loads of DVD's from Blockbusters. The undeniable talents of Brian Cox were wasted trying to add weight to very thin dialogue. The characterisation relied too much on narrative, IE: "I know all about your history, you were born in 1962, had went to a convent, felt alienated because you were clever, etc etc." The best element of The Outsiders was the very watchable Anna Madeley who despite also being let down heavily by the writing, manages to shine through with credibility in tact. Despite the downs of the script and direction, it should be noted that this was written as a pilot and as such has to lay a lot of foundations very quickly and so a certain amount of spider blinding should be expected. Suspend disbelief. Leave cynicism outside. Have a glass or ten of wine and enjoy.

anyone help/

[yankeedoo · 7/10 · 6 April 2021]

I saw this tv yrs back loved it-but typical itv1 ib them days axed it,,,abtibe know where i can get a copy or watch again.thx.

Don't push me, I'll jump...........

[plg-essex · 3/10 · 4 October 2006]

Where do ITV get their script writers from? this could have been an amazing programme! you have Nigel Harman who's brooding good looks and athleticism could have been put to much better use,Brian Cox who is an amazing actor and who can be incredibly menacing when he needs to be, Colin Salmon who can cut a presence in pretty much any scene, and what did you get? dated, boring, drivel....... I haven't got a problem with ITV trying their "star" vehicles, but for pity's sake, use these people as actors rather than purely faces.

The amount of clichés in this - wife dead, daughter unavailable, dying twin sister, eternal life formula blah blah blah - just went to prove that - and I hate to say this being a brit - the Americans do this kind of drama so much better, where were the fight scenes? (counted a couple, not enough for an hour and a half), the graphics when Nathan was hanging out of the helicopter were terrible, and that stupid woman who played his partner? oh please!!!!!!!!!!! Not impressed,not impressed at all, in fact, my boyfriend was so bored by it he went to sleep!!

Bourne + DaVinci = Unintentionally hilarious spy thriller

[The Movie Goblin · 1/10 · 3 October 2006]

Oh dear. Britain's main commercial channel, ITV, have yet again thrown a load of money at another star vehicle that has gone down in hilarious flames. Ex-Eastender Nigel Harman (good look, shame about the voice) stars as an ex-spy now running a lobster restaurant who is re-recruited by his shadowy former employers to steal a painting that's got some kind of formula on it (the usual kind you can only see under ultraviolet light). Brian Cox texts in his performance as the head of the agency - clearly all his scenes were shot in one day as he probably needed a new kitchen or something.

What else is there to say? It's badly made, clumsily written, flatly directed trash. ITV are clearly testing this out to see if they can get a series which, trust me, they shouldn't. ITV need to take a page out of the Beeb's books and stop making crap star vehicles and develop ideas into decent scripts and THEN hire the actors.

Truly Truly Awful

[chrislynch20 · 1/10 · 4 October 2006]

Watched this last night. Terrible concept, terrible execution. The creators need to go and watch Alias to learn how what a modern OTT spy drama should be like.

One thing that really annoyed me was how much they made of his safe cracking abilities. There isn't a safe he can't get into and the only thing we see him do his come down a rope and step over one laser. Ridiculous. Also, the female character seemed to change job positions in The Establishment (btw, what a terrible name for a secret organisation). One minute she was a femme fatale, cold as ice bitch who brought him back in, then she appeared to be a translator (specialising in Croatian) on her first day at work and then she was his partner in the field. Crazy.

I cannot stress enough how awful this was. Bad acting, script, direction, special effects (which can be done on a low budget - look at the fantastic Doctor Who on rival channel BBC1). I really hope that a full (or even partial) series does not follow.

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

Not an original idea in sight

[JayArfur · 4 October 2006]

When looking at trailers for this ITV Drama it was clearly an attempt at turning Nigel Harman (yet another ex-soap star jumping to ITV) into a Jason Bourne like character. Hell, it even had Brian Cox in it! I thought I'd give it a go. How bad could it be I thought...

But within 5 minutes of watching the programme it was clear that Jason Bourne wasn't the writer's only influence. As noted by others The Da Vinci Code was one of them. The list of rips-offs....or homages continued with Out Of Sight (and Don't Look Now), Alias, the list seemed to go on and on.

It's okay to be like another film or TV show, but at least try to do something different.

The Outsiders was a mess, the plot was all over the place, the characters were two dimensional and totally in-consistent. One minute Anna Madeley our attractive female lead seemed to be in total control of the situation, the next she was the new girl at the office wa-a-a-y in over her head....

The villains weren't anything special.

The few action set pieces were fumbled by the director.

Dialogue was turgid.

The tone was all over the place, was it meant to be a bit tongue in cheek or was it meant to be a down and dirty action thriller? It wasn't either.

It was a below average Sunday tea-time show put in a post-watershed time slot for no good reason.

Even the shows title made no sense.

The real annoyance was that only a few days ago ITV1 broadcast a new one-off special of Cracker. Which was 2 hours of TV gold. Proof that ITV can still (occasionally) do good drama.

In a world where shows like 24, CSI and The Shield exist there isn't any excuse for shows like The Outsiders to reach our screens.

I very much doubt it'll be turned into a full series, but if it does it really needs some re-tooling. Getting new writers would be job one.

Avoid, avoid, avoid. Instead put on the DVD of one of the Bourne films.

Unlikely to stick in your mind long after you've seen it

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 3/10 · 21 November 2006]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Nathan Hyde (Nigel Harman) is ekking out a quiet existence in a remote seaside location as a chef, until he starts talking to an attractive woman in the restaurant. One thing leads to another and they end up in bed- but the woman has been a little devious and before he knows it he's taken hostage by helicopter. It's here we learn that Nathan has a bit of an extraordinary past, as an expert evasion expert. Now an organisation known as The Establishment want him to sneak into an island and retrieve a stolen painting. Nathan's doubts are removed when his daughter's safety comes to rest on it...

Long running British soap opera East Enders has never been renowned for it's stellar acting and has yet to produce a Sean Bean or Ben Kingsley. But that doesn't stop some of it's stars, such as hunky Nigel Harman, from trying to avoid disappearing into the realms of panto land forever and so we have The Outsiders, a distracting but totally unmemorable and rather corny take on the spy/world-wide mega-lomaniac premise. The writer is obviously a fan of the sort of spy thrillers that were about a lot in the 60s and the whole idea seems to have been lifted from one that I don't know the name of (it was spoofed on The Simpsons once!) But in trying to make it appeal to a more modern audience, this ITV production has just managed a campy retro feel rather than a trendy new one. **

A good plot ruined

[skidsy-2 · 4/10 · 4 October 2006]

This could have been so much better. The first half hour was wasted trying to link up the main characters around the lobster pot restaurant and a torn photo. Although it took half an hour to achieve it was sketchy and, to be honest, very poor. The plot line was fine but badly executed as was the casting. None of the villains were believable and the investment banker character was just badly written.

What topped the whole thing for me was being too familiar with the locations used for the opening half hour around the Wirral coastline. After the helicopter stunt, the running through the fields, the hiding in the caravan and the getaway in the stolen car they ended up back on the coast about five minutes walk from where they started! The idea would be good for a series but it needs better scripts and better casting in the lessor roles to get away with it.

Wonderful

[StevinTasker · 8/10 · 5 October 2006]

I rather enjoyed this highly derivative piece of action adventure. The references to all before it were great to pick off. They really threw everything into the mix; Bond, Bourne, the Da Vinci Code, 3 days of the Condor, the Persuaders, as well as The Saint to name but a few. Personally, I loved it, particularly the 60's throwback stuff, the title screen reminded me of the Time Tunnel and lines going across the screen in place of a fade out were great. It's the latest in a long line of TV action and reminded me of stuff like the Sandbaggers, Department S, Callan and the Professionals. Even the gardens of the Stately home reminded me of the Village from the Prisoner as did the scene when the lead woke up in his room! The choreography they used in the fight with the Ninja assassins came straight out of the Bourne Identity movie but I really enjoyed watching it, especially the elbow smash! The perfect antidote to a soap filled Tuesday night! Just wonderful! There was a load of bad writing on offer, such as the schmovie goers guide where the female lead explained the male leads back story for the benefit of the viewers and the Ninja assassin carrying a calling card! I can forgive this because of the short run time. The CGI was a bit poor in places and I could just about forgive putting place names on scenes showing world famous landmarks. In short, if you like any of the above named shows then this is for you, albeit with a tongue in cheek approach. If you like Spooks / MI5 this is the other side of the coin. I hope they make more.

Clichéd and awful!!

[the_it · 2/10 · 6 October 2006]

I watched this the other night because I'm a huge fan of Brian Cox, one of this country's most talented actors ever. The rest of this cast, however, stunk the place out! It was a mixture of the Da Vinci Code, The Bourne Movies (starring Brian Cox) and a throwback to the halcyon days of 60s and 70s espionage/crime series. But this couldn't cut the mustard and Nigel Harman brought the same character from Eastenders to The Outsiders, ie, moody, broody, a hidden and troubled past, blah, blah, blah, yawn, yawn yawn! How many times is ITV going to raid the cellars of the Queen Vic and take Eastenders cast-offs, give them their own shows and kill their careers dead? With this kind of mentality, NO WONDER ITV is in such a bad state, churning out dross like this! And the concept of this kind of organisation, minus 12 or whatever they were called, operating in Britain was absurd- this country is just too small for this kind of team stepping on the toes of MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the rest. And as for Colin Salmon- how many times is he going to accept these god-awful roles, where he's little more than pretty wallpaper that doesn't do much or say much? it's a shame, because we had high hopes for this guy, and it seems to have gone to waste. He should be a leading man, not a supporting actor, especially in sh*t like this! This should be give a -12. It was truly shocking in every respect!!

Another Jason Bourne?- I think not

[alan-tuson · 3/10 · 4 October 2006]

Touted as being in the genre of " The Bourne Identity" (and Supremacy), this film had a lot to live up to, but failed miserably. Nigel Harman plays a former spy now running a lobster restaurant. He is seduced into bed, and wakes up chained to it. He is "kidnapped" into going on the very clichéd "one last job". The task is to steal a painting from a very secure place. The idea of this provokes thoughts of a good action thriller, but the film was almost 40 minutes in before any action took place. After 55 minutes I was getting bored, so went for a bath. My wife stuck it out till the end , and assured me that it didn't get any better. Prime time TV? Sorry but this one really did disappoint. What made it worse was the TV guide giving it an unmissable rating. If ITV do screen further episodes (as previous reviewer mentioned), then I may give it a second go, but if it was no better 15 minutes in, I would turn over without question.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

[garyl1966 · 2/10 · 3 October 2006]

In the mad dash to give Nigel Harman a starring role post "Eastenders" TV producers have given us a threadbare super spy caper. The actingly challenged Harmon can be forgiven for jumping at the chance to play a bargain basement Bond (right down to having Colin Salmon as a background operative) but the entire production was laughable.

The plot was far too moderate to be thrown around with such reckless abandon. The "action" zipped around the world for no apparent reason and the actors all spoke as though they were highlighting plot points rather than actually speaking. Obviously the makers had never seen any of the Austin Powers films, or if they had they didn't quite pick up on the fact that that those films were at least intentional comedies.

Brian Cox turned in his usual mentor role (is money that short Brian?) and the aforementioned Salmon must have baulked at allowing his character to be smacked around by Harmon's character given that the later is half his size. Unfortunately that was as believable as everything else in this production.

I only hope this piece of rubbish is never shown abroad, and we can keep it as a little British embarrassment.

Dreadful

[mark-saxby · 2/10 · 10 October 2006]

Well, the paper said it would be fun, but it was, frankly, rubbish.

I'd agree Anna Madeley was the best thing in it, a very watchable woman (look out for her in the upcoming Mrs Beeton drama), but this was drivel (and I quite like fluff TV on the whole).

The 'plot' didn't make much sense, they shoehorned in every recent, clichéd plot device and the continuity was laughable - In fact, not continuity in errors, but stupid plot development. After Erica had been sent to retrieve Nathan from his hideout, we see her arrive, for her first day at the secret hideout (Obviously a few Man From Uncle DVDs still in Blockbuster's bargain bin...). She's given a book in Serbo Croat to translate, but a second later she's filing AND she knows how the filing system works...

God preserve us from a series, even if it would mean we'd see more of the lovely Ms Madeley...

The New Avengers reborn?

[malcjohnson · 10/10 · 25 November 2006]

I was very surprised by this "pilot" for a potential series in that I actually enjoyed it.

At first I feared that the character Nathan Hyde would just be a cold-blooded killer, but he was rather more sensitive than that and not at all as ruthless as I thought he would be.

It took me back to the good old days of the 70s when we had shows like "The Avengers" and it had great promise. It was different everything else I've seen of late. It didn't rely on foul language and needless violence to get its message across.

Nigel Harman who is anyway a gift actor starred as Nathan Hyde and his character bore a stark resemblance to Dennis from EastEnders, but from my wife's point of view that was a good thing. It was certainly Nigel's mannerisms coming across the screen rather than the character he once played.

It was a little bit corny and unbelievable, but for myself and my wife it all added to the enjoyment of the programme. It was refreshing to see a programme that didn't take itself too seriously. It had elements of "The New Avengers" and even "James Bond," just take a look at that granite island in the ocean for instance.

I was left thinking that Nigel Harman would make an ideal James Bond.

There was more story to be told but unfortunately it seems that the series is not going to happen which is a disappointment.

Although classed as 90 minutes long, it is really only about 78 minutes long if you remove all the adverts, but it's fast paced and witty and has attractive stars.

Anna Madeley is well cast as Erica, the new recruit who lures Nathan out of hiding and Brian Cox is the boss of Minus 12, named Gabriel and has a sinister edge to his personality.

I was left wondering what had gone on between Nathan and Gabriel and feel that this relationship could've been explored further.

It was also an original idea. I haven't heard of a painting before that held the secret of eternal life! It might not have had the ratings it deserved, but for me it left a definite lasting impression. One of those few shows that do.

There is a twist at the end that is worth seeing also. A nice little idea about putting an ad in the lonely hearts columns and a scene at a graveyard in the pouring rain.

If you haven't already seen it, I suggest you do. You might be surprised like I was.

Not bad

[amjpedersen · 8/10 · 17 October 2006]

The Outsiders was actually better than i thought it would be although there was room for some improvement. It was an entertaining 90 minutes and the producers certainly made the Mersey locations believably foreign. The whole premise of Nigel Harman playing a retired 'agent' for Minus 12 was well handled and made for a good start to the story as we picked up on what was going on. I think there is definitely room for a series out of this, but hopefully the producers will drop some of the daft effects that hurt the overall feel of The Outsiders. The wholly unconvincing table based viewing screen and naff looking underground complex for Minus 12 to start with! Overall it was well worth watching and I do hope we get to see more...