The Larkins: ITV series torn apart by viewers and critics describing it as ‘an abomination’

ITV’s new ‘The Darling Buds of May’ remake began on Sunday night

Viewers and critics are tearing apart new ITV series The Larkins.

The adaptation of H E Bates’s The Darling Buds of May was described as an "abomination" in The Independent’s one-star review.

"About the best that can be said for it is that it’s no more glutinously sentimental than the original television version, which was rightly euthanised like a surplus piglet about 30 years ago," critic Sean O’Grady wrote.

The series stars Bradley Walsh in the role of Pop Larkin, while The Thick Of It’s Joanna Scanlan plays his Ma.

"This just goes to show you shouldn’t mess with an original," one viewer wrote. "I haven’t laughed once and haven’t warmed to any of the characters. Ma and Pa haven’t got the affection between them we’re used to. The original Larkins are irreplaceable."

"Sorry but could only stand 10 minutes of The Larkins it is absolute rubbish, no disrespect to the cast but they should never do re-makes of classics because they just do not work," another tweeted.

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Many compared the show negatively to an earlier adaptation starring David Jason, which also proved a career breakthrough for a young Catherine Zeta-Jones.

"Disappointed. Why remake it?" one viewer asked. "Play the originals and they’d probably be just as popular now. I like Bradley but sorry there’s only one Pa Larkin for me and that’s the legend that is Sir David Jason."

The show is also being mocked for its casting, which is being questioned due to its setting in a Kent village in the Fifties.

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“Has there ever been such a racially diverse utopia as this tiny village in Kent?” askedThe Telegraph’s critic Anita Singh.

“An Indian brigadier and headteacher, an Asian postman, a black shopkeeper, house buyer and man from the tax office – at points I thought everyone was going to break into song in the street and reveal this to be a Coca-Cola advert.”

The Larkins continues Sundays at 8pm on ITV