TWO episodes in, and I’m underwhelmed by BBC1’s much-hyped domestic drama, Marriage. Critics have lavished it with gushing reviews, but many viewers have complained about the plodding pace of the four-parter, starring Nicola Walker and Sean Bean as an ordinary married couple.

I don’t mind the plodding pace and I’ve liked previous work by the writer, Stefan Golaszewski, especially his gentle comedy, Mum. I get that Marriage is all about the silences, the minutiae and the quiet desperation of life, but I find it contrived and unconvincing. A grief scene on a cemetery bench was excruciating but, rather predictably, was hailed by one critic as “a great TV moment”. Isn’t it all a bit Emperor’s New Clothes?

I’ll persevere with it, but so far watching Marriage feels like a long, tedious night at the theatre in an uncomfortable seat.