REVIEW: Waco (S1 E5/6)

Episode five of this excellent series – which retells the fateful siege of Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas in 1993 – feels like the slight calm before the storm.

We’ve seen how politics within David Koresh’s compound and outside in the FBI compound has frayed minds and temperaments.

And even now, there’s a sense that the events that actually took place are far away from becoming reality. An opening telephone call from Steve – the rational person in the group – and chief negotiator Gary Noesner sees Steve say categorically that mass suicide is not on the table. But, of course, Noesner’s bosses have employed shock and awe tactics – extreme noise at night, cutting the power. These so-called shows of force have pushed the remaining inhabitants to the limits, and yet… even though this is a true story and we know what happens, as viewers we’re hoping that something can be done.

And that’s the skill of this series.

There is, of course, one person that will not bow to reason or rational thought: David Koresh. He’s beginning to bare his teeth. As people around him begin to express a want to leave, he turns on them. As Noesner talks to him and seems to be making progress, he fights back, narcissistic, paranoid thoughts begetting narcissistic, paranoid thoughts. He says he’s on a mission from god, and now god is telling him to fight.

As time ticks by, FBI chief Tony Prince decides enough is enough and gives Koresh a deadline: if you don’t come out by morning, certain actions will be taken against him.

With the world watching, and Prince feeling the heat from outside – and Koresh, too, from the inside, seeing TV reports calling him a crackpot and a charlatan – tensions are at an all-time high.

There’s one final scene: Koresh, bombarded by white noise and unsettling noise, muster up enough power to plug their instruments into amps and perform loud Christian rock music back to the FBI. This act of defiance makes Prince seeth. He’s had enough. They’re taking the piss, laughing in their faces.

It’s time.

Episode six is going to be a difficult watch.

Paul Hirons

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE ONE REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE TWO REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE THREE REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE FOUR REVIEW

 

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Additional cast added to series three of Tin Star

Series three of Tin Star – the final series – is currently filming in Liverpool, and the Sky crime drama has announced additions to the cast.

Ian Hart, Tanya Moodie, Joanne Whalley and Kerrie Hayes have all signed on.

It picks up after Jack and Angela revealed the truth to their daughter Anna. Thousands of miles away from the Rocky vista of Canadian town, Little Big Bear, Jack, Angela and Anna return to the UK 20 years after leaving to confront the sinister truth they ran from. The secrets they hold threaten a group of dangerous criminals who are still operating in the city. Jack, Angela and Anna will stop at nothing to defeat their common enemy.

Hart will play Michael Ryan, Merseyside’s most successful crime boss who can smell the law through concrete walls and across county lines which is why he remains un-convicted of any major drugs-related crime; Moodie plays Catherine McKenzie who was Jack’s handler twenty years ago when he was undercover for the Met assigned to infiltrate organized crime in Liverpool and in particular, Michael Ryan; Whalley plays Mary, part police informant, part community activist; and Hayes will play DI Sarah Lunt, a highly trained officer who looks up to Catherine and is an asset to any police force.

Look out for it later this year.

Netflix names date and releases trailer for Unbelievable

True crime dramas are all the rage these days, and there’s another one incoming to Netflix.

Unbelievable is an eight-episode drama, based on Pulitzer Prize-winning article An Unbelievable Story of Rape, stars Kaitlyn Dever as Marie Adler, an 18-year-old woman living in housing for at-risk youth who reports being raped by a masked intruder in her home. But her foster mothers, played by Elizabeth Marvel and Bridget Everett, and the male detectives are sceptical about her allegations.

Marie is eventually charged with lying about the rape and accepts a plea deal.

But two female detectives, played by Merritt Weaver and Toni Colette, start making links with a string of other similar attacks and begin to join the dots.

Look out for Unbelievable on Netflix from 13th September.

Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse begins filming and announces cast

We know that the next BBC adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel will be Sarah Phelps’ The Pale Horse.

Now we know who’s going to be in it.

The Pale Horse follows Mark Easterbrook as he tries to uncover the mystery of a list of names found in the shoe of a dead woman. His investigation leads him to the peculiar village of Much Deeping, and The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumoured witches. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives by means of the dark arts, but as the bodies mount up, Mark is certain there has to be a rational explanation.

Oh hai https://t.co/4DOOuFmYsV

— Sarah Phelps (@PhelpsieSarah) July 31, 2019

Rufus Sewell plays Easterbrook and is joined by Kaya Scodelario playing Hermia, Bertie Carvel as Zachariah Osborne, Sean Pertwee as Detective Inspector Lejeune, Henry Lloyd-Hughes as David Ardingly, and Poppy Gilbert as Thomasina Tuckerton, Madeleine Bowyer as Jessie Davis and Ellen Robertson as Poppy.

Sarah Woodward, Georgina Campbell and Claire Skinner will also star. 

Completing the cast are Rita Tushingham as Bella, Sheila Atim as Thryza Grey and Kathy Kiera Clarke as Sybil Stamford who will play the trio of witches.

Hold on, Rita Tishingham as a witch?

Filming has begun on the two-part drama in and around the Bristol area and is being directed by Leonora Lonsdale and produced by Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto.

We’re hoping that this will sneak into this year’s Christmas schedules, but we’ll confirm when we know.

 

 

Netflix releases first trailer for series two of Mindhunter

Netflix has released the first trailer for series two of Mindhunter.

The series, which stars Jonathan Goff, Holt McCallaney and Anna Torv, won our 2017 Crime Drama of the Year and comes back to the streaming service on 16th August.

Now we have a trailer.

Featured in the trailer is the case of the Atlanta Child Murders, but also featured is Charles Manson (played by Damon Herriman) Son of Sam (David Berkowitz), and the BTK Strangler.

Add in the terrifying star of series one, Edmund Kemper (Cameron Britton) and that’s a lot of serial killers.

READ MORE: OUR SERIES ONE REVIEW

BBC One releases first trailer for Peaky Blinders series five

The fifth series of turn-of-the-century, Birmingham-based gangster drama, Peaky Blinders, is just around the corner.

Now BBC One has released the first trailer.

Power comes at a price.

Get ready for the new series of #PeakyBlinders, coming soon to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer. pic.twitter.com/IqYGSNCNsB

— BBC One (@BBCOne) July 30, 2019

Series five of Steven Knight’s crime family saga finds the world thrown into turmoil by the financial crash of 1929. Opportunity and misfortune are everywhere. When Tommy Shelby MP is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain, he realises that his response will affect not just his family’s future but that of the entire nation.

Foyle’s War creator “up for new episodes” or even “new series”

Beloved classic Foyle’s War could be getting more episodes, or even a new series, according to creator Anthony Horowitz.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Horowitz said: “I’d certainly be up for a Christmas special or two if anybody asked.”

Addressing the series’ so-called ‘missing year’ of 1944, he said: “It would actually make a whole series!”

“Foyle’s War was a passion project for me from start to finish and I miss it to this day. I wrote the last episode of Foyle’s War in 2014, but no matter where I am in the world, people still tell me how much it means to them. And the repeats still get high viewing figures.”

The World War II detective drama initially ran from 2002 to 2007, but was brought back after a fan outcry in 2010. It was cancelled in 2015.

 

 

The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 29th July – Sunday 4th August)

There’s a lot going on this week. We have the latest Bridge spin-off, Der Pass, set in Germany and Austria over on Sky Atlantic, as well as series of Danish kidnap series Below The Surface on BBC Four. There’s also I Am The Night, starring Chris Pine and venturing into the world of the infamous Black Dahlia cold case, and Polish series The Teacher on All4/Walter Presents. Enjoy!

1 Waco *NEW UK PREMIERE EPISODE*
S1 E5/6
The end of the stalemate seems to approach as the FBI’s tactical division turns up the heat.
Monday 29th July, 9pm, Alibi

2 Keeping Faith *NEW BBC PREMIERE EPISODE*
S2 E2/6
The lawyer steps in to represent Madlen Vaughan after she fires her entire legal team. While the decision wins the support of Cerys, it also sets them both on a collision course with Tom. Steve wrestles with his personal feelings concerning Faith, Evan discovers he has a mysterious benefactor in prison, and DI Breeze turns his attentions towards Faith’s troubling association with Gael Reardon. 
Tuesday 30th July, 9pm, BBC One

3 Der Pass *NEW UK PREMIERE SERIES*
S1 E1/8
When a gruesomely staged body is found propped up on a mountain pass in the Alps close to the German-Austria border, two detectives are sent to investigate. German detective Ellie and her Austrian counterpart Gedeon are on the case, but it does not take long before they discover more bodies which point to sinister pagan rituals.
Wednesday 1st August, 9pm, Sky Atlantic

4 I Am The Night *NEW UK PREMIERE SERIES*
S1 E1/6
A teenage girl and a disgraced journalist find themselves drawn into a web of secrets revolving around 1940s Los Angeles’ most infamous cold case. Fauna Hodel, a naïve young girl growing up near Reno, Nevada, embarks on a desperate quest to discover who she is. In Los Angeles, Jay Singletary, a former Marine turned hack reporter covers a gruesome murder.
Wednesday 1st August, 9pm, Alibi

5 Below The Surface *NEW UK PREMIERE SERIES*
S2 E1&2/8
Now on extended leave from the police, Philip Norgaard is contacted by June al-Baqee, a Danish national who has been prosecuted for fighting against ISIS in Syria, who says she has evidence of Danish involvement in the Syrian War. However, June is kidnapped as she waits for the detective.
Saturday 3rd August, 9pm, BBC Four

6 Elementary *NEW UK PREMIERE EPISODE*
S7 E3/13
Holmes takes extreme measures to ensure he can legally return to New York. Meanwhile, Watson helps the New York Police Department deal with a sinister murder case.
Tuesday 30th July, 9pm, Sky Witness

7 Code 37: Sex Crimes *NEW UK PREMIERE EPISODE* *LAST IN SERIES*
S2 E12-13/13
Hannah turns to her neighbour Koen for help when her personal life becomes as complex as one of her cases. The team investigates a savage attack against a young woman who has been brutally raped and then left for dead. While she lies in a coma, the investigation leads the squad to a cult-like community known as The Oasis. When two more victims come to light, its spiritual leader Jules is forced to recognise that there are connections between the message of his community and the recent attacks. Meanwhile, Hannah’s personal quest takes a dramatic turn.
Friday 2nd August, 9pm, More4

8 The Teacher *NEW UK PREMIERE SERIES*
S1 E1-10/10
A school teacher arrives at his new school the day before the dead body of a teenage girl is found in the woods. When the original verdict of suicide is ruled out, Pawel is determined to uncover the truth whilst trying to hide his own secrets.
From Friday 2nd August, All4/Walter Presents

9 Lethal Weapon *NEW UK PREMIERE EPISODE*
S3 E2/15
Now Murtaugh has met his match in the shape of former international CIA agent Wesley Cole, the newly melded partners attempt to find a steady rhythm as they work to solve the murder of a finance executive. Cole, who has returned home to assumes duty as an LAPD officer, also has to navigate his role with his ex and his daughter. Meanwhile, Avery grapples with the outcome of his campaign for city council. 
Friday 2nd July, 9pm, ITV

10 Harrow *NEW UK PREMIERE EPISODE*
S2 E3/10
A mummified body is found bricked up in the basement of a suburban home, leading Harrow and Grace to investigate a crime from the past.
Tuesday 30th July, 9pm, Alibi

REVIEW: Killing Eve (S2 E8/8)

So Eve and Villanelle are in Rome, trying to figure out Bond villain Peel’s master plan – Villanelle’s behaving herself and everything is going tickety-boo. What could possible go wrong?

Apart from the fact that Villanelle has killed Nico’s girlfriend Gemma, and locked him in a storage container, that is.

Well, let’s think about how we imagine this episode playing out. Villanelle’s going to find an excuse to kill Peel – obviously – everyone’s going to decamp back home in a panic, and then Nico’s going to turn up in search of revenge. Eve is going to be torn between loyalty to Nico and her obsession for Villanelle (no concern for poor Gemma, we imagine), and the series will end with Villanelle on the run, this time with Nico in hot pursuit.

Well, we were half right. Villanelle does indeed find an excuse to kill Peel – he’s a serial killer who likes to murder his girlfriends and video the action. After finding the evidence on a hard drive, presumably in a folder marked Evidence of All My Terrible Crimes, Villanelle uses the safe word and calls in Eve for extraction. But she has her own problems – after her Mrs Robinson-like affair with Hugo, she leaves him bleeding to death after being shot by a hitman from The Twelve, and stumbles unarmed into Peel’s lair.

Peel realises that Villanelle is a plant, but still expects her to kill Eve – why would he assume she was a cold-blooded killer?  Anyway, he’s duly surprised when she slits his throat instead.

Leaving aside the question of why you would kill someone with Peel’s powerful data-mining weapon rather than extorting the secret out of him first, we knew all along that this was exactly the point of the mission – to have Peel dead but to retain plausible deniability – but Eve is completely shocked when Carolyn explains this to her. Eve really is a very, very bad intelligence agent, not realising the lay of the land even though Kenny had warned her that her mission was a phony.

In a confrontation with Raymond, Villanelle manipulates Eve into killing him with an axe – why would he turn up so inadequately armed when he knows Villanelle can kill someone with a hatpin? Anyway, Konstantin has washed his hands of Villanelle, so the two girls have to go on the run. Villanelle obviously has a Thelma & Louise vision of the two going off on some self-destructive final journey – or possible settling in a cabin in Alaska – but seems genuinely distraught and amazed when Eve doesn’t go for it. In fact, disappointed and spurned, she shoots Eve in the back.

So we’re back to where we started this season, with one of the main protagonists seriously wounded – but we know that Eve isn’t going to die, because a) series 3 has already been commissioned, and b) the popgun Villanelle shot her with is hardly adequate to kill anyone from that range. Eve will be up and grouching before tea-time.

So, the ultimate confrontation we imagined – an enraged Nico forcing Eve to choose between himself and Villanelle – is postponed until the next series. Eve has found her strength, and now says she isn’t afraid of anything – Villanelle has presumably lost her faith in Eve, and any prospect they had of a life together. Poor old Hugo and Gemma end up the innocent victims of the bad romance between Villanelle and Eve.

So, series two, classic or clunker? Well, it certainly didn’t have the novelty or shock value of series one, but that was perhaps inevitable with familiarity; somewhere, though, it also seems to have ditched a lot of the trademark Phoebe Waller-Bridge humour, and a great deal of the fashion style.

Maybe series three, to be written by Suzanne Heathcote (Fear the Walking Dead) will go off in new directions – certainly there are still big questions to answer, such as exactly how Konstantin and Carolyn are connected to The Twelve.

As to the relationship between Eve and Villanelle – well, they’re on equal footing now, both having tried unconvincingly to kill the other, so it could go either way. While that intriguing possibility still exists, we guess Killing Eve will still have options to explore.

Chris Jenkins

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE ONE REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE TWO REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE THREE REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE FOUR REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE FIVE REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE SIX REVIEW

READ MORE: OUR EPISODE SEVEN REVIEW

Sofia Helin to star in series two of Mystery Road

We always like to keep an eye on what Sofia Helin is up to after her stint on The Bridge.

She’s co-starring (and producing) Swedish law series Honor, and has wrapped up on period drama Atlantic Crossing, but news reaches us that she’ll soon return to the crime genre by co-starring in series two of Aussie series, Mystery Road.

If.com reports that Helin will appear alongside side lead Aaron Pederson in series two as archaeologist Professor Sondra Elmquist.

The professor is conducting a dig near a remote coastal town when she encounters Pedersen’s Detective Jay Swan, who has moved to the town to be closer to his family and is investigating a grisly case.

A series spokesperson said: “I loved The Bridge and it made sense to have a European archaeologist. Sofia really responded to the scripts. We have a great cast and a great crew.”

The series has already begun filming in Australia.

Series one of Mystery Road (pictured) was shown in the UK on BBC Four. Let’s hope series two comes back onto the same channel.

More news as we get it.

READ MORE: OUR REVIEWS OF MYSTERY ROAD