There is a plot here which is engaging enough, but the sub plot is the relationships between the expats and their helpers. As someone who grew up as an expat, I, as a young adult visiting my parents, became very conscious of the old fashioned paternal attitude my parents took to the servants and disapproved.

I've gone on to hire staff in the UK and the relationship is so much different. My sister lived in Asia and had servants herself, and I've seen first hand the tensions that arise between a more modern attitude towards the servants that come from a very different background to ourselves. The inequality is so great and this is truly a study in inequality as much as anything else. You just need to view this from a broader standpoint than most reviewers have done. There is much to be observed, to provoke thought, and to be learned.

For me this is one of the strengths of this series. Whilst people berate it as vacuous and boring - well, you know what, that is their lives. A serious of parties, domestic politics and no engagement with the real world of the country they live in, local politics is a mere inconvenience because it may cause traffic. This series is really true to life in so many ways. If you want to know what life for them is like, I can see it all there, it's so acutely familiar.

I agree that Nicole Kidman trying to pass for at least 10 years younger though is distracting, and there definitely is something not quite right with her face. But nevertheless, as a portrayal of expats, which is exactly the point, it's excellent. Well written and very accurate.