Series Review: Pure Evil (S1 E1-13/13), Walter Presents

Aside from all the other business of the day, I’ve been trying to dig into the foreign-language fare provided by the Channel 4-affiliated online streaming service, Walter Presents. I’ve already watched the French three-parter, Match Day (see my review here), and now I’ve moved onto Argentina and the 13-part series, Pure Evil (or Malicia in Spanish). Yes, we have our Scandi fix on BBC4, but it’s fun to watch series from other countries, too – their presentation and plotting alters slightly, but also the way they portray crime and consequence. Pure Evil was no different.
As ever with streaming sites, series are available in their entirety, which means viewers can watch what they want, when they want. If you haven’t seen all of Pure Evil do not go any further – I’ll be discussing the whole series, key plot points and all.

ITV confirms Vera transmission date

Ann Cleeves is a busy woman at the moment. Or at least her characters are. We’ve got Jimmy Perez ploughing his windswept furrow in Shetland over on BBC1 at the moment, and now we’ve received news from ITV that her other fabulous, adapted creation, Vera, is also on her way back in a few weeks’ time. Hold onto your hats!

CBS orders re-imagined Nancy Drew series

A few months ago we posted a story saying that a new version of the Nancy Drew mysteries was in the works (read it here), and that a major US network was behind the re-imagining. Now we have a bit more flesh on the bones – the series is indeed going ahead, with Nancy now a thirtysomething NYPD detective.

Review: Gotham (S2 2/22), Tuesday 19th January, Channel 5

If the essence of the Batman legend has always been the narrow line between sanity and madness, this episode of Gotham – Knock, Knock – crosses over the line. Here, the lunatics don’t so much take over the asylum, as escape and take over the city.

Review: Endeavour (S3 E3/4), Sunday 17th January, ITV

You can’t imagine the young Endeavour Morse letting his hair down in the Summer of Love – even less so, Fred Thursday – and indeed Morse is lurking in his dingy basement flat, Fred is wheezy, and Strange has been promoted to DS, taking over Jakes’ post. Not only that, this episode – Prey – has plenty more surprises.

The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 18th – Sunday 24th January)

Apologies. I’m in the glorious throes of moving house at the moment so this past week has been a bit quiet on the blog front. Normal service will be resumed this coming week. It’s still busy out there in crime drama land, with brand new episodes of series every single night of the week, and this insane amount is joined by Sky1’s Lucky Man this week – a series from the mind of comic book genius Stan Lee and starring James Nesbitt.

The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story coming to BBC2

Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story anthology series kicks off with The People v OJ Simpson, and because of the nature of the subject matter, it’s already hotly anticipated. There has been speculation as to where this 10-part series would land in the UK, and now we have the answer – BBC2. And, what’s more, it’s hoped that the show will be broadcast in the UK soon after its 2nd February transmission in the US.

Review: 100 Code (S1 E2/13), Wednesday 13th January, Sky Atlantic

So after last week’s shaky start of this culture clash procedural – an American and a Swede hunt a demented serial killer in Stockholm – I’m back for more. Why? Well, it’s certainly not for the gratuity, the poor dialogue or the cookie-cutter characterisation. Nor for the serial killer’s ridiculously convoluted modus operandi (something to do with Greek mythology, two victims at a time, winter, breathing tubes… see I’ve forgotten already). No I’m back because however daft it was (and it was), I’m a sucker for finding out what happened. Especially if there’s even a hint – however forced – of Nordicness to it all.

Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin for BBC1 adaptation of Apple Tree Yard

Released in 2013, Louise Doughty’s seventh novel, Apple Tree Yard, became one of the biggest selling of the year. It told the story of a middle-aged woman in the dock, accused of murder. Why was this respectable, married mother there? Did she really do what she was accused of? All meaty things explored in the book. Now it’s being adapted for the BBC by Amanda Coe.

Review: Gotham (S2 E1/22), Monday 11th January, Channel 5

The first season of Gotham gave us practically everything any fan of gothic detective fiction could have wanted; a tortured hero, bizarre villains, a complex plot, and gruesome action. The fact that all this takes place in the fantastical world of DC Comics’ Batman doesn’t alter the fact that Jim Gordon (Ben Mackenzie) is essentially the same as any other hard-boiled cop in a corrupt city; like us, he’s waiting for a miracle, but until it arrives (and as young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is only in his early teens, that will be some time), Gordon has only his wit and his guts to rely on.