‘I watched the first episode of The Au Pair – and one major thing left me raging’

I’m always on the look-out for a cheesy thriller, and when The Au Pair on came up, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. With an impressive line-up of Poirot legend David Suchet, Beyond Paradise’s Sally Bretton and Vera’s Kenny Doughty, I thought, what could go wrong? It turns out, quite a lot. The show got off to a pretty start with a stunning backdrop of an idyllic village with huge houses, endless flowers and bright colours, which everyone loves to see. The show is set in the Cotswolds, although as a West Country girl born and bred, I wasn’t impressed to quickly realise that it wasn’t filmed there at all, but just outside Dublin, Ireland instead.

With so many beautiful and quiet villages dotted around the Cotswolds, you can only assume it was for budget reasons. Trying to move on from this, I quickly met another issue as the plot began to unfold. With competition for thrillers rife, it can be difficult for broadcasters to find something completely unique, so whilst I rolled my eyes at a cliche plot of a mysterious newcomer infiltrating a family hiding a secret, I tried to keep an open mind.

The whole plot hinges on a series of coincidences, with Zoe (Sally Bretton) and Chris (Kenny Doughty) happening to desperately need an au pair just as the creepy Sandrine plots to gain entry to their family home after receiving a mysterious document.

Cue Sandrine ominously listening to every other conversation behind a door and managing to uncover every secret of each family member, from a friend’s hidden pregnancy to a nasty bully, within just days of her arrival. She even comes complete with a classic evidence wall with long lense pictures of the family members, like she doesn’t see them every day anyway.

It becomes borderline nonsensical how quickly she manages to manipulate Zoe and Chris into believing every word she says. Not only does she immediately persuade Zoe to start IVF again before telling her extremely gullible husband that Zoe is losing it, she manages some extraordinary timings as she tampers with pills, moves hospital documents and ruins clothing, all while completing her daily tasks. What a multitasker!

You soon realise the Au Pair is one of those shows where all it would take to resolve the startling obvious issue would be for the cast to have a honest conversation about what is going on with their lives, but of course, that would be far too easy.

But to give credit where it is due, Sandrine, played by Ludmilla Makowski, was by the far the strongest actor in the first episode, with the iconic Suchet taking a close second place. She does masterfully play an ominous character in a juxtaposition to Zoe’s naturally placid and naive persona surprisingly well.

If you’re wondering whether to watch this show or not, it does what it says on the tin. It has twist and turns, a bizarre plot and of course, the classic huge cliffhanger at the end.

So if you don’t take your dramas too seriously and move past the plot holes, this show is an easy binge watch. I’ll definitely be giving the second episode a go.