sebadee Life is tough for troubled muggle, Vince McKee (David Morrissey). No bed of roses at home and finding it tough making a living as a cabbie in Manchester's rain-drenched streets. His fares either puke on his seats then don't pay or they have no cash and steal his day's earnings. This all changes when Mickey (Ian Hart) - just out after a six year stretch inside - suggests Vince does some driving for his gangster boss, Horse (Colm Meaney). Things start to go belly up soon after as he realizes there's no way back from a life in crime.With so many tough acts to follow - Sherlock, The Fall, Broadchurch, Utopia, etc - The Driver really needs deliver something unexpected to help it stand out; this it roundly fails to do. It manages to be adequate in all domains: The dialogue, the plot, the direction, the camera-work, the performances, the action are all good though there's nothing that jumps off the screen. That said, there are two stand-out performances: Sacha Parkinson as Vince's daughter and Harish Patel as Vince's minicab boss.David Morrissey's character grows ever more annoying as he dithers between his lives at home and in crime. In a way, he's morally gray: He's unable to invest himself in normal family life and clearly not cut out to be a criminal. His big problem is he's just not that interesting, nor are his reactions to criminality very compelling. His best moment comes when he tries to recontact his estranged son who is living in a commune. We get a brief glimpse of fire amongst barely glowing embers.With a series called The Driver it's hard not to look for references to Nicolas Winding Refn's superb "Drive", but there are none. Although there is nothing much to remember about The Driver, the action sequences are well-handled and there are some nifty camera moves in Vince's car. The big question that this miniseries leaves you with is why oh why would a competent gangster trust the job of getaway driver to a civilian cab driver who's scared witless?

mgould23 I rate David Morrisey as one of the best actors over the last 20 years. He has been in some of the best TV drama series and one offs to put this show 'The Driver' not one of his best.It started out looking good, but got worse as it went on. The storyline turned out a bit too far fetched. Vince, the taxi driver gets involved with an old criminal buddy who has just got out of prison. He then gets invited to a game of cards in the house of the 'Horse' an arch criminal who seems to run Manchester's underworld. Without any knowledge of Vince's capability to join the ranks of wheel-man to gang of heavies, he is on the firm.Vince has problems at home, his son has run off with his girlfriend and joined a religious sect...yawn. He drives the Horse a few times and then is invited to be getaway driver on a heist. In between Vince's buddy has failed to dispatch a drug dealer and Vince pulls the half alive bloke out of a twenty foot deep drain with a tow rope, puts him in the back of his cab and drops him off at the hospital. Cops get involved and Vince strikes a deal to nail the horse.Yep, it all ends up with gang getting their collars felt, Vince's son coming home to mum and dad and the credits appear. Sorry but can't say I enjoyed it. Too silly and the criminals were so useless they would have been locked up years ago.

Tony McAlinden Although billed as an action-fest, this is actually a far more cerebral piece. With car chases.David Morrissey seems to have cornered the market in family men having midlife crisis (see also "The 7.39"), but this role allows him to show both his sensitive side and imposing physicality. The acting highlights have to be his scenes with the equally great Ian Hart, who he grew up with on Merseyside but had never acted with until now.The rest of the cast are equally on top of their game; with Lee Ross and Chris Coghill providing much needed comic relief. And the first two parts, with their unrelenting pace, need it at times to allow the viewers to draw breath.By the final episode, the various interconnecting plots have hit the rumble strips a little, meaning this is merely great rather than mind- blowing entertainment. But compared to much of what counts as "Original British Drama" on our dumbed-down BBC, it's top-notch.

Heath Hansbro i really enjoy this show and i hope to see more of it it will be a sad day if they choose not to continue the series it has amazing potential and its full suspense/action IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED IT YOU NEED TO its a total different spin from the main character being a super villain crazy person from the walking dead to a amazing caring worried father/husband just trying his hardest to make their life better and getting mixed up with the wrong people to do so meanwhile trying to keep them all out of it and burring the horrible stuff behind him i give this show a 8/10 just try it and prey it keeps going and thrills us every episode <3333