Shantaram

I've been waiting for this for a long time, with a little trepidation, it's always in play when books that portray such a complete and immersive world get adapted.

But Shantaram is off to a great start, and so far appears to be a clever adaption with well crafted locations (including some Melbourne landmarks cleverly woven in) and enough of the book's storytelling to provide captivation.

The faux Aussie accent does grate a bit, but I suspect that will diminish over time - and so far all the characters are well realised and strike the right chord.

There's enough revealed after the first 3 episodes to convince that Shantaram was worth the wait and will draw the audience in to its compelling atmosphere and journey.

Update: I can't believe they've cancelled this show - it leaves the story untold, which is a real pain - almost feels like a betrayal - of actors, crew, and audience. Hopefully someone else picks it up and they can see out the series properly and tell the rest of the story, but I won't be holding my breath. The real shame of this is that over the course of the first season Shantaram had developed into a high quality drama, especially when one thinks about some of the dross that out there.