Review: River (S1 E1/6), Tuesday 13th October, BBC1

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

For this Abi Morgan-penned six-parter the BBC has assembled some serious talent. Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård and British favourite Nicola Walker are a bit of a dream team, and anything created by Morgan is absolutely worth a watch. But of course this pedigree doesn’t guarantee a good series. Thankfully River turns out to be pretty much everything you hope it would be – all your favourite tortured cop tropes and character traits, but with a different twist.

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Interview: Abi Morgan, River

Whenever there’s a new Abi Morgan project on either big or small screens you know it’s worth a watch ,and now she’s taken her first steps into the crime drama genre. RIver is an intriguing six-parter that stars Stellan Skarsgård as John RIver, a brilliant but troubled detective. If this sound familiar, hold your horses – there are layers to River that are absent in other crime dramas. Here’s Morgan herself, talking about this new project.

Interview: Stellan Skarsgård, River

 (C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

Stellan Skarsgård has always been a fine actor, so when the Swede was announced as the lead in Abi Morgan’s six-part cop drama there was a ripple of excitement within the crime drama-loving fraternity. When I saw River a month or so ago at its media screening I was not only struck how good he was as John River, but how sensitive and interesting Morgan’s story is. Anyway, we got hold of an interview with Skarsgård, which is over the jump…