User Reviews

The tram are now potentially dealing with a double murderer, after a second body is discovered. Sunny and Jess learn more about the tragic life of poor Precious.

I think it's fair to say that series five has perhaps been a little bit and miss, a little patchy, through not fault of any of the cast, or the general production values, the story itself has just been a little below par, however, this final episode was rather satisfying.

I liked the twist, you think you know all, you probably predicted correctly, but then of course the rug is pulled from under your feet.

It was far from perfect though, so many loose ends were left dangling in mid air, I know we were given a load of red herrings, but a little closure on some would have been good, some developments, the man in France, the addict girlfriend, were just left.

The show is coming back, I just hope that the writing is a little tighter, with more emphasis on the crime and suspects, this focused way too heavily on the drama of the regulars.

Some bad, but generally good.

7/10.

So, how will this show fare without one of it's lead actors. The answer for me was, reasonably well, but there's certainly a lot of misery to get through in this one away from the case.

A new DCI Jessica James (Sinead Keenan) joins the team on what is undoubtable one of the worst days of her life, as her husband admits to having an affair. Already with impossible shoes to fill, she takes against Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and the existing methodology of the team. A body is found in a fireplace, during a house refurbishment. The body is identified and linked to the troubled generational problems of Ebele Falade (Martina Laird) and Jay Royce (Rhys Yates) and also to Senior Tory Lord Anthony Hume (Ian McElhinney).

Whilst others might initially have taken against DCI James just because she's not Nicola Walker, I knew Sinead Keenan from "Being Human" so am happy to see her appear in another high-profile series. Replacing the lead character, I guess there's only two ways to go; abrasively different or clawingly similar. James is pushed into the abrasively different route, before settling down later on as she and Sunny find their common ground. Sunny has much more personal life in this series than he has previously, and his inability to deal with Cassies death is a long plot point for the run.

The case itself is probably the weakest that they've done so far though. Though there's a big performer in Ian McElhinney, the rest of the cast is, for the first time, not the sort of ensemble of recognisable character actors that we've come to expect from the series. Whether its because they spend so much time on the personal side of things this time, but the case in general seemed easier to solve for them too, than the previous ones.

It's still good, and I don't actually think that - come the next run, we'll be missing Cassie still, but I would like the show to focus on the case a little bit more and the personal lives a little bit less.

First of all: yes, I'm always gonna miss Nicola Walker as hell.

She was kind, compassioned and just human. I was pissed off in season's 4 finale because why they just let her happily go?

I was so afraid how it's gonna be without her - she puts a very high bar in this series. I was cautious, but to my huge relief it was the same my beloved series as it always be (the same case will be with tv series Shetland). Sinead had a huge boots to fill and she did it perfectly. Of course Sunny and the rest of the team were awesome as always, though it was heartbreaking to see Sunny's grief as he truly loved Cassie. The case was also great and heartbreaking though I didn't find Polish plot amusing - it was a) little boring, b) confusing, c) as a native Polish it was hilarious to hear how Karol spoke Polish (well, TERRIBLE!) though it was nice to hear it at all.

Concuding: can't wait for another season.

I haven't previously watched the first four series, so came to this new.

In contrast to the previous reviewer, I thought the actors were all very good and the story compelling, especially the way the first couple of episodes seemed disjointed but everything came together as the series went on.

The back stories of the main (police) characters did seem a little protracted, but nevetheless did help to explain the characters.

One of the non-police characters was indeed a Conservative minister but I didn't find anything disturbing about this - after all they have been in government for the last 13 years and it was essential to the plot.

The most recent series of "Unforgotten" is the first without Nicola Walker's lead character of Cassie, who of course died at the end of Series 4. We quickly learn that Sanjeev Bhaskar's Sunny character has declined to step into her shoes having turned down promotion and so we're introduced to the team"s new leader, Sinead Keenan's Jess James (yes, really).

It's fair to say they don't hit it off immediately, with both beset by relationship issues in their personal lives. Sunny's new girl-friend is unexpectedly pregnant and he is uncertain about impending parenthood while her happy marriage falls apart the morning she starts the new job as she catches her husband out in an affair.

The back-stories of the lead characters have always been highlighted in previous series but for some reason to me this time they came across to me as less than credible for both. Where are Sunny's daughters for one thing and would he really behave so unfeelingly towards his new partner, especially when she suffers a miscarriage? The main reason offered for his unsympathetic actions is his struggle to get over the loss of Cassie which I didn't quite buy either, just as I couldn't see why he would turn down the promotion when in practice we see him leading the team just as much as Jess. Her messed-up life affects her work too, but again it all seems a bit overegged when we learn that hubby's dalliance was with her own sister.

The cold-case murder story the team has to solve concerns a young woman, the body of whom, six years before, was stuffed up the chimney of a once well-to-do London flat. The action is as intricately plotted as ever, drawing in an elderly, titled hard-right Conservative House of Lords politician, a mixed-race middle-aged woman struggling with alcoholism and physically abusing her chef husband, a mid-European ex-social worker trying to make a new start in France and finally an unemployed poverty-stricken young man who lives in squalor with his drug-addict girl-friend, reduced to petty crime to survive.

As ever, the story spins out in different directions as we delve deeper into the lives of each of the suspects, while the discovery of another body only further muddies the already murky waters.

Over the six episodes, in time-honoured fashion, the pieces are put together and the case solved through dogged detective-work, Sunny and Jess have resolved their issues and the team is in harmony again but while the support acting of the investigators and the suspects too was of a high standard, this time I did mind the repetition aspect of the narrative and I find I can now anticipate almost precisely when a suspect is going to have a distorted flashback which ultimately adds nothing to the story. I also felt and I say this as the very antithesis of a Conservative supporter, there was too much political bias in the characterisation of the Tory lord and his wife.

I still enjoyed the series and fully expect it to return for another run but am now wondering how much more mileage there is left in characterisation and plotting for what has been up to now a consistently high-quality series.

I'm really glad the writer took on board how viewers felt about the end of Season 4 and wrote the aftermath to reflect that. It is always hard to continue a show after any kind of reset, but Season 5 follows on well: Again there is a wide age range of characters and Unforgotten's usual concept of diversity v similarities is present too - right through to a brilliant twist at the end, in some ways the best finale yet. Surprisingly, there are a few loose ends, so hopefully we'll get a Season 6. We are not usually bingewatchers but saw all of Unforgotten in 3 nights - could easily have done it in 2, if it wasn't for a phone call, lol!

I'm writing this having NOT yet seen this episode, so I'm unaware of what I see listed is a "surprise ending".

I've seen a couple of previous series of this, decent shows, well written to have a disparate set of characters and suspects, gradually drawn together as the police narrow the list of suspects, and unravel what happened.

This series had to cope with the shock of Nicola Walker (excellent) being written out, as well as a complex case with a number of possible suspects, all pretty much lying through their teeth at every chance!

Nicola Walker's replacement had very big shoes to fill, and was lumbered by the writers giving her some personal issues to carry, as well as trying to fit behind the chief's desk. A further series will doubtless see her in a slightly easier to like way?

Two reviews on here are just CRASS -- I'll mention the misleading nonsense penned by Jennifer ("nearly all the main characters truly horrible" - well dear, welcome to police work?!) and "a character who'd committed the sin of being a Tory minister" - er, several years of sleaze and incompetence passed you by?! Oh, and the SUPER pretentious piece by David ("Tirer le rideau" - oooh, get YOU, En Francais?!), which showed that he hadn't watched properly, as the Khan character HAD been offered the chief's job, turned it down. The review by SunnyDaise (?!) is much more accurate, read that one if you're new to the series, which will doubtless come back for #6.

The series concludes but I could not help getting the feeling that it ended up in a cul de sac of its own making.

By this time, DI Sunny Khan and DCI Jessie James only have two realistic suspects. It is either Lord Tony Hume or Karol Wojski.

There were revelations regarding Ebele Falade's real paternity and the long term ramifications of it.

The show got mired in some flat footed political lecturing. However well meaning the intentions it came across as blunt rather than nuanced.

It led to the real problem with Jay Royce. An unreliable person whose testimony is taken at face value by the cops.

Royce is the guy who in the first episode mugged a pregnant woman and left her badly injured. So he could buy drugs for himself and his junkie girlfriend.

It reminded me of the real life situation from a decade ago. How an unreliable witness named some high profile Tory grandees of being involved in a child abuse scandal at Westminster. It turned out to be a tissue of lies.

Time to pull the curtain down on this tired series. I took exception to the writers failure to DI Khan to the DCI job which would, of course, have been thoroughly deserved. The faux tension made possible by this between him and the new DCI James was, frankly, incredible. On the subject of the new DCI James, with no disrespect to Sinead Keenan who worked hard, James was a thoroughly unsympathetic character who is not going to encourage people to watch any series 6. It seemed to me that the Lord Hume character was set up to represent an old school so that it could be knocked down a la current mode. I am not sure if we were supposed to sympathise with the final twist. I am afraid I did not. A once good programme ruined, I think.

Having enjoyed all of the previous series I was looking forward to seing what they'd do with this after the shocking ending to the final episode of series 4. I watched the whole of series 5 in one go on itvX but I won't, however, be watching any future series. They firmly nailed their political colours to the mast with so many of the characters throughout each episode expressing their disgust of the character who had committed the unforgivable sin of being a Tory minister. To be honest, I found nearly all of the main characters (apart from the police team investigating the murder) to be truly horrible people. Even the ones we were meant to empathise with were awful. I kept hoping it would get better, but sadly, it didn't so that's me finished with it.

Season 5 is disappointing compared to prior seasons. After what the 4th episode they just abandon DI Kahn's personal story line...even though Jess is not treated well it is impossible to feel sorry for her because she's just not a likable character in any way and her sanctimonious tantrum in the finale is just too much.

Since when do police take the story of characters who lied throughout the season at face value just cause it fits the narrative they like. Hope I never get arrested by these two...

Not up to par with other seasons. That's the last episode I'll watch of this show. It's a shame since the show had so much passion in past seasons.

Jess is a miserable character and a miserable addition to the cast. Finale got very sanctimonious and turned me off. Although for all that sanctimony everyone seems to be just fine with a character lying about what happened because they get to "gleefully" punish someone they don't like. Enjoyed the previous seasons so hopefully they turn away from that and get a new "guv".

Series seemed really rushed as well. They introduce so many characters and different plot lines and just leave them hanging and then don't "resolve" things for most of them. Especially some of the "spouse" characters. Don't bother bringing these things up if you're going to short change the characters at the end because the writers didn't plan well and just need to wrap things up.

I watched this seasons episodes with excitement, until the last part of the seasons finale. The last minutes just killed all my enthusiasm and made me aware of the hours I have lost watching this show.

I have very much enjoyed the earlier seasons of this show before, but after this season I won't take a chance again. They ruined the whole story with their need to include political correctness, I support what an another review here said: some flat footed political lecturing. It really ruins everything, and is so boring.

My recommendation is that You should not waste your time watching this season.

The first few episodes were not bad, although a.far cry from the Nicola Walker series.

I gave a 3, not a 1, because the actors are all good, even the replacement DCI, the junkies are very well acted too at first (especially Rhys Yates); and there is some genuinely good writing, and the slowly the unfolding human drama in the earlier episodes, of the sort that made Unforgotten so great.

But as Series Five progresses, politics intrudes more and more; one by one the boxes are ticked for various trendy causes: there's Covid, naughty religious people, wicked budget-cutting Tories, obviously the cause of all social ills ("your priv'lege, Bruv"), even slavery reparations gets a mention. Ultimately, the final episode was tedious, predictable and implausible - just awful.

It feels as if it was written by a committee.

Seasons 1-4 were pretty solid. Some great performances from all the cast, plot twists and reveals that you don't see coming. As many reviewers have already mentioned, this season became political for no apparent reason with the writers seemingly more focused on shoving their political agenda down the viewers throats. Totally unnecessary. Unless I missed it I don't recall any political bias in the seasons before this one. Why risk alienating half your audience. Can't we just enjoy some politically impartial escapism... apparently not.

Let's see what season 6 is like but I suspect the bad guy will be a super far right brexiteer climate denier or some such.

Shame.