I'd ignored "Unforgotten" on its release, assuming it to be just another bland ITV cop show - but it's appearance on the Guardian's top TV of 2021 list gave me a reason to reconsider it. I started with the first season and enjoyed its combination of cold case plot and decent performances. Season two is a darker and sadder affair and more of the same, which I felt was both a positive and a little bit of a negative.
Dredging the river Lea uncovers human remains, encased in a suitcase and under the water for several decades. The team eventually discover the body belongs to David Walker, who disappeared in the late 1980's and whose wife Tessa (Lorraine Ashbourne) has subsequently joined the police force. The case will also involve Nurse Marion Kelsey (Rosie Cavaliero) and Teacher Sara (Badria Timimi) both of whom have aspects of their past they'd rather not come to light - and Barrister Colin Osborne (Mark Bonnar) whose recent adoption of a daughter is coming with unforeseen problems.
As I say, season one wasn't exactly sparkles and moonbeams, but the themes of season two are darker still. Without spoiling the who and the why, there are repeated and occasionally harrowing descriptions of child sexual abuse, though I have to say it's emotionally and honestly delivered by the actors involved. The performances, particularly in the conclusion, are world class, enough to make me forgive that some of that conclusion is lifted from a famous movie plot and that, for a second season - they get a form of natural justice as the resolution, rather than strict criminal prosecutions.
Perhaps that it's "more of the same" wouldn't feel quite so prevalent if there was a year between me watching the first and second seasons, but I rolled straight on from one into the other. When the performances are this good, and I still have two seasons to catch up on, I'll still roll pretty quickly into season three.
Dredging the river Lea uncovers human remains, encased in a suitcase and under the water for several decades. The team eventually discover the body belongs to David Walker, who disappeared in the late 1980's and whose wife Tessa (Lorraine Ashbourne) has subsequently joined the police force. The case will also involve Nurse Marion Kelsey (Rosie Cavaliero) and Teacher Sara (Badria Timimi) both of whom have aspects of their past they'd rather not come to light - and Barrister Colin Osborne (Mark Bonnar) whose recent adoption of a daughter is coming with unforeseen problems.
As I say, season one wasn't exactly sparkles and moonbeams, but the themes of season two are darker still. Without spoiling the who and the why, there are repeated and occasionally harrowing descriptions of child sexual abuse, though I have to say it's emotionally and honestly delivered by the actors involved. The performances, particularly in the conclusion, are world class, enough to make me forgive that some of that conclusion is lifted from a famous movie plot and that, for a second season - they get a form of natural justice as the resolution, rather than strict criminal prosecutions.
Perhaps that it's "more of the same" wouldn't feel quite so prevalent if there was a year between me watching the first and second seasons, but I rolled straight on from one into the other. When the performances are this good, and I still have two seasons to catch up on, I'll still roll pretty quickly into season three.