English police drama attracts me like a fly to left over cake - I see the trailers and immediately organise to watch or record them, sometimes they are less like cake and more like old vegetable peelings. This is one. An example of the latter that is.
I have seen much much worse so if you are having a quiet day and just want something that is well acted with a bit of a tale - then go for it. Just don't expect anything even close to the calibre of early Prime Suspects or the early Cracker series. I realise that even the best police dramas have their 'plot holes' - I mean, take 'Waking the Dead,' another one of my addictions, even this has episodes where too close a look at the story line afterwards leaves you scratching your head as to just how the script writer got away with it.
So, if you are a similarly obsessive viewer of this genre, you know these 'plot holes' are an occupational hazard in your viewing don't you.
Okay, this could have been really good. Why? Well, apparently it is based on a successful book, which usually means the story will be strong. Secondly, there is absolutely nothing to fault with the acting. Olivia Williams is excellent, although......although.....
Is anyone else getting a bit tired of seeing a female detective / police officer character who is just soooo miserable and terrified of 'relationships'? Well, I am.
It is far from the only cliché here, the entire viewing experience was made much more entertaining by actually ticking them off. You will recognise moments from every UK police drama you have seen over the past ten to fifteen years. The idiot cop who is always stuffing his face when he isn't making some sexist 'jokes' (yep, there he is.....), the 'big boss' who is always on his way to a posh dinner (yep, there he is too.....), the loony psychologist ('hello again!'), the useless blond who 'can't go to the police' but who will traipse about getting into a pickle. A 'foreigner' who is also (surprise surprise) a 'bad mother'! Police who seem very very slow at picking up on stuff / leads. The outcome should surprise us as much as the police, instead this is one of those programmes where you sit there shouting: 'How is this, that and the other not obvious to you??' Not a good sign at all.
Oh......and did I mention the weird kid? Of course there is a weird kid.......who screams very very loudly at the camera at one point.
Just feel I should warn you, because after watching the trailer felt disappointed with this. Even found myself pressing the Fast Forward button a few times, never a good sign is it. There is something 'unfinished' about it somehow, which is a shame, because it could have been so much more.
I have seen much much worse so if you are having a quiet day and just want something that is well acted with a bit of a tale - then go for it. Just don't expect anything even close to the calibre of early Prime Suspects or the early Cracker series. I realise that even the best police dramas have their 'plot holes' - I mean, take 'Waking the Dead,' another one of my addictions, even this has episodes where too close a look at the story line afterwards leaves you scratching your head as to just how the script writer got away with it.
So, if you are a similarly obsessive viewer of this genre, you know these 'plot holes' are an occupational hazard in your viewing don't you.
Okay, this could have been really good. Why? Well, apparently it is based on a successful book, which usually means the story will be strong. Secondly, there is absolutely nothing to fault with the acting. Olivia Williams is excellent, although......although.....
Is anyone else getting a bit tired of seeing a female detective / police officer character who is just soooo miserable and terrified of 'relationships'? Well, I am.
It is far from the only cliché here, the entire viewing experience was made much more entertaining by actually ticking them off. You will recognise moments from every UK police drama you have seen over the past ten to fifteen years. The idiot cop who is always stuffing his face when he isn't making some sexist 'jokes' (yep, there he is.....), the 'big boss' who is always on his way to a posh dinner (yep, there he is too.....), the loony psychologist ('hello again!'), the useless blond who 'can't go to the police' but who will traipse about getting into a pickle. A 'foreigner' who is also (surprise surprise) a 'bad mother'! Police who seem very very slow at picking up on stuff / leads. The outcome should surprise us as much as the police, instead this is one of those programmes where you sit there shouting: 'How is this, that and the other not obvious to you??' Not a good sign at all.
Oh......and did I mention the weird kid? Of course there is a weird kid.......who screams very very loudly at the camera at one point.
Just feel I should warn you, because after watching the trailer felt disappointed with this. Even found myself pressing the Fast Forward button a few times, never a good sign is it. There is something 'unfinished' about it somehow, which is a shame, because it could have been so much more.