Big Little Lies gave us one game changing TV moment, and there's more to come.

After two years of anticipation, Big Little Lies has finally dropped.

Based on Australian author Lianne Moriaty’s bestselling book of the same name, the mini-series centres around a circle of suburban mums who are all caught up in a murder.

The twist? Not only do we not initially know who did it, we don’t know who died either.

Listen to Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk explain why Big Little Lies is unlike anything we have seen before on The Binge. 

After finishing the book, Reese Witherspoon immediately saw its potential on the small screen and optioned it, with herself and Nicole Kidman as executive producers.

With a stellar cast including Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz as well as Witherspoon and Kidman, it’s been likened to everything from Orange Is The New Black to Desperate Housewives for its female-led ensemble depicting a diverse group of women with different backgrounds and stories.

"We don't often see a big cast of women where they do have these really meaty roles... it's the kind of drama we need to be watching," The Binge host Laura Brodnik said on this week's episode.

While it's a masterful and mysterious series, there's one thing that is really impressive - Witherspoon. There's just one word for her portrayal of Madeline Martha Mackenzie.

Game-changing.

"The most impressive thing to me was Reese Witherspoon and not just her portrayal but her character. You don't usually get to see a character like that on our screens," says Laura.

A protagonist, the character of Madeline is nothing particularly different - she's the picture perfect, overly aggressive, micro-managing school mum.

But in Big Little Lies, we see beyond that.

Image: HBO

"At a surface level she seems to be quite shrill and confronting and difficult and I think in shows past she would have remained on that level and she would have been quite unlikeable and  been pitted against Jane, who's the sweet, nice character," says Laura.

"But because this show is taking us through an extra layer, you get to see that she's so broken by her relationships. She's trying to be a good mum, she's really trying to justify her existence and she's trying to be a good person."

She's fleshed out, multi-faceted, flawed, relatable - and has some great lines like "I love my grudges, I tend to them like pets.

"To see a character like that, the way we are used to seeing women on TV she would have been pushed to the background rather than forward as a main character as she is here. And I am loving that," says Laura.

For all the biggest TV moments of the week, listen to the newest episode of The Binge. 

You can catch Big Little Lies on Foxtel Play or every Monday night at 8.30pm on Showcase.

You can buy Moriarty's book or any other book mentioned on our podcasts, from iB0oks at apple.co/mamamia, where you can also subscribe to all our other shows in one place.