And so it came to this. The final instalment of a crazy, dual timeline-hopping story that has taken in Germany, Iraq and Switzerland as its three main locations. A story of family breakdowns, shocks, twists and a power drill. Yes, this second series of The Missing has had a bit of everything and is the…
Month: November 2016
The Bridge IV starts filming: Here we go again, says Sofia Helin
It’s a busy time of year, for lots of different reasons. Not only are we preparing our end of year lists, but things are gearing up for 2017’s new releases. One of the things we’re keeping an eye on is progress with the fourth (and likely final) series of The Bridge. It’s one of…
Review: Rillington Place (S1 E1/3), Tuesday 29th November, BBC1
The real-life story of 1940s and 50s serial killer John Christie has been told before (famously in a 1971 film starring Richard Attenborough). What made Christie’s heinous crimes even worse was that there was a shocking miscarriage of justice during the investigation, which allowed Christie to carry on his dark work. There’s no doubt that…
BBC confirms Agatha Christie’s The Witness For The Prosecution transmission date
If last year’s And Then There Were None is anything to go by, 2016’s Agatha Christie adaptation – The Witness For The Prosecution – is set to be a real festive treat. Adapted once again by the excellent Sarah Phelps and featuring a stellar cast that includes Kim Cattrall, Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, Kim Cattrall, David Haig,…
Interview: Tim Roth, Rillington Place
This week sees the start of a new, three-part crime drama on BBC1, which tells the real-life story of serial killer from the 1940s and 50s, John Christie. Reconciled after living apart for nine years, John Reginald Christie (Tim Roth) and his wife, Ethel (Samantha Morton), move into the ground floor flat of 10 Rillington Place,…
Review: Y Gwyll/Hinterland (S3 E5/8), Sunday 27th November, S4C
We’re progressing nicely in this third series of Y Gwyll, with some neat character progression and plenty of intrigue. However, if there’s a criticism of Y Gwyll it’s that each case Mathias and Rhys investigate follows a pretty standard routine: the duo gets a call, they go out, they investigate the scene (which usually means…
The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 28th November – Sunday 4th December)
It’s a decent week in crime drama land, with the finale of the twisty-turny Missing, a well as the continuing Modus over on BBC4. But there’s also something starting this week – the three-part series Rillington Place, which sees Yim Roth and Samantha Morton star in the re-telling of the John Christie story. Advanced reports…
Review: Modus (S1 E1&2/8), Saturday 26th November, BBC4
BBC4 – that great beacon of Saturday-night, foreign-language drama – has been in a bit of limbo for the past month or so. As the seasons have turned and we’re now ensconced into something darker and colder, the channel has recently broadcast Australian dramas The Code and Dark Water. Fair enough, but they just didn’t…
Review: The Missing (S2 E7/8), Wednesday 23rd November, BBC1
So last week I posted a review where I stated everything seemed to point to the women who said she was Alice Webster being Alice Webster. Some readers pointed out that I got this wrong. But surely this is all part of the game – the Williams brothers pulling us this way and that, injecting subterfuge…
Iceland Noir Dispatches #4: Queer crime with Val McDermid, Mari Hannah and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir; The Swearing Panel
Apologies for posting this last dispatch from Iceland Noir so late. Pretty much as soon as the festival had finished I found myself with zero time to write it up because I got out of Reykjavik and explored some of the incredible countryside and wilderness the island provides. But these two (final) panels of the…
Sweden’s Missing starts on New Year’s Day 2017
As long-time readers will know by now, I’m always trying to keep an eye on what’s happening in Scandinavia and the Nordic region when it comes to crime drama because, well, it’s Scandinavian and Nordic, and you never know what might get picked up for transmission in the UK. The latest show I’ve stumbled across…
Review: Y Gwyll/Hinterland (S3 E4/8), Sunday 20th November, S4C
It’s very difficult to know how deeply to go into the plotline of Y Gwyll, if only because there are so many ways and places to watch it. I’m reviewing it after watching it on S4C – the show’s Welsh-language home – because it only seems and feels right. But other will watch it…
