Five Days, BBC One | reviews, news & interviews
Five Days, BBC One
Five Days, BBC One
Tired conclusion to week-long event drama
Friday, 05 March 2010
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/73d7edd1405081e5433c41d9ad2ee18c.jpg?itok=k8grWsX_)
Flags of our Fathers? It's day five in Five DaysJohn Rogers
Benjamin Franklin once said that fish and guests start to smell after three days – and something similar happened to BBC One’s latest “event drama”, Five Days. The odour was that of decaying promise, and, if duty hadn’t called, I probably wouldn’t have hung around until the final episode of Gwyneth Hughes’s week-long saga. Not that it was boring exactly – in an unhurried, linear kind of way, Hughes’s storytelling pulled you in and kept you there. But the longer it went on, the more it felt like being held under false pretences.
Benjamin Franklin once said that fish and guests start to smell after three days – and something similar happened to BBC One’s latest “event drama”, Five Days. The odour was that of decaying promise, and, if duty hadn’t called, I probably wouldn’t have hung around until the final episode of Gwyneth Hughes’s week-long saga. Not that it was boring exactly – in an unhurried, linear kind of way, Hughes’s storytelling pulled you in and kept you there. But the longer it went on, the more it felt like being held under false pretences.
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