The Smoke

When I saw the trailer for 'The Smoke' it looked promising. I remember watching London's Burning as a kid and when I became a firefighter the series was just ending and not to soon as it had become very unrealistic.

So a new British firefighting drama on Sky, this must be good as Sky have produced some cracking dramas. As a serving firefighter for 13 years now I want the public to see a good representation of the UK fire service but in a drama that will win awards. The fire service has gone through a lot of monumental changes since I joined and unless you are in the job or know someone who is then I feel the general public will not appreciate what happens.

'The Smoke' so far has been a disastrous representation of the UK fire service and makes me and other firefighters angry. The procedural errors and wholly inaccurate work environment really doesn't show the UK fire service in a good light, and makes us look like a bunch of incompetent buffoons.

Firefighters of the UK Fire Service are highly trained and highly competent professionals and whom strive to serve their local communities.

Unfortunately 'The Smoke' gets a big thumbs down and is a huge disappointment, at least 'London's Burning' had the backing and technical adviser support of the London Fire Brigade.

I was a firefighter in the States for 18 years. Imagine my excitement to see such a high quality show where they clearly strived to make the calls and the station life so realistic. They nailed it on both counts! This show is very well crafted and the acting is superb. Everyone involved does an excellent job, especially Taron Egerton. This puts other modern-day series about the fire service to shame. My only regret is that there aren't more episodes. A very big "Thank You" to everyone who worked on this, you've successfully captured what it's like to work in the Fire Service, and you've done so with honor by showing that every person alive has their own demons to battle as well.

This series is fantastic, gripping with an underlying story running the whole way through along with different story lines each week. It is also very funny. It contains great characters and addresses many issues, abuse, relationships, racism, sexism, adoption etc. The relationships between the characters is very well portrayed and believable and I like the various situations fire fighters are required to attend rather than just showing fire after fire each week which a lot of previous shows have provided. The gritty situations particularly between Kev and ASBO are heartfelt but passionate which makes for a great central story. I will be sad when this finishes, I have loved every moment.

Honestly, I found this because of Taron Egerton and I wasn't planning on making it past episode one, but wow. Binged the whole thing. I'm not even a fan of medical/firefighter dramas, but what can I say, I loved it. Unique plot with suspense, excellent acting (especially between Asbro + Kev). All the characters had dimension, which is probably not easy to do with only 8 episodes, and it wasn't predictable, not at all. It's too bad there isn't more.

Read the other comments with interest.

However, I would point out, this is an entertainment programme, not a factual documentary on firefighters.

Chill and enjoy!

Programmes like The Smoke are not meant to reflect real life.

They are there purely to entertain.

I think The Smoke does entertain and not for one moment am I daft enough to think it is a true reflection of our fire service.

I guess there are those out there who believe aliens haven't come to Earth because they think Torchwood exists!!

Or does it?