Tweekums When the remains of prostitute are found in Manchester a fifteen year old case is reopened and former policewoman Claire Church, who worked on the original case and knew the victim, is asked to leave her new home in the Hebrides to help with the case. At first she isn't keen to get involved but when another woman is killed in an almost identical manner she agrees. This means working alongside her ex-lover DCI John Hind. As the story unfolds suspects emerge and Claire starts to think that the latest murder was committed by a survivor of the original killer rather than the original killer himself.This four-part drama is clearly trying to emulate successful Scandinavian crime dramas such as 'The Killing'… unfortunately it doesn't succeed. The case itself is interesting enough but the idea that a retired officer would be brought back and take such a leading role in the case seems highly unlikely… almost as unlikely as the number of times she goes back and forth between the Hebrides and Manchester. The fact that Claire had had a relationship with DCI Hind was an unnecessary cliché as was the way we are made to think that her part in the investigation is putting her family in Scotland in danger. Much of this could be forgiven if the ending had been better… without spoiling it; this was probably the weakest point of the series. On the plus side I thought the main cast did a good enough job with the material and the scenes in the Hebrides looked lovely. Overall a disappointing series that failed to live up to its potential.

blakedw Some of the criticisms of this series are unfair. For example, people complain about the long silences. Yet these actually provide a blessed relief from the dialogue, much of which can only explained as a Google translation of the original Gaelic. The start makes no effort to convince us there is anything realistic about to happen. Two bodies dead for many years are found in Manchester. The police inspector in charge immediately disappears to an island in Scotland, taking his sergeant with him. No careful buildup of the investigation here. The Scottish trip is to see his former colleague and lover, who worked on similar cases. She understandably refuses to go back with Jim, so we have a knockabout scene in which he threatens to arrest her. She goes, says her piece and goes back to Scotland. I'm a bit hazy after that, though we get more recent killings and maybe a new killer. There seems to be another fat bloke with a beard as well as the policeman. Somewhere without me noticing the inspector gets taken off the case because of some complaint. But he sticks with it. One review says that the female lead had to be persuaded to do it the show because she had "semi-retired" from acting. The word semi should be removed from that description as far as this fiasco goes. One review suggests that the ending may be designed to open the way to a second series. But surely nobody, NOBODY, could be so deluded as to think we could subjected to more of this nonsense. The big mystery here is how this came to be shown at all. Why didn't a BBC executive have the courage to say "This is such rubbish we can't show it. Just throw it away." But courage is not a big thing in the BBC nowadays.

michael-1151 Drama needs to evoke passion or excitement, cajole or inspire, arouse or stimulate. From darkness aroused nothing but boredom, had little wit, no wisdom, failed to reflect the human condition and merely used gratuitous murders to move us to darkness.With social problems, homelessness, family break-up, beheadings by fanatics and fundamentalists you might expect drama to have plenty to say. Not this one. We need drama to evoke emotion, be the focus for discussion and controversy - not elicit numbing, cliché-ridden boredom.Actors can only perform meaningful roles, if they have meaning. It's time for BBC's drama to be dramatic. And we need a little of P G Wodehouse's wit, Chaucer's ribaldry, Shakespeare's wisdom - maybe that's asking too much for an autumnal Sunday night. But we need more than this. Let's move From Darkness to Light. Soon.

coltscroft This is painfully slow and excruciating to watch. The director appears to have confused arty shots and moody silences with plot. The acting is pants, the characters are not engaging and the story is hackney tosh. Don't watch this if you have toenails to paint or a fish tank to watch. This is a vary very rare example of the BBC failing to deliver good TV. This is painfully slow and excruciating to watch. The director appears to have confused arty shots and moody silences with plot. The acting is pants, the characters are not engaging and the story is hackney tosh. Don't watch this if you have toenails to paint or a fish tank to watch. This is a vary very rare example of the BBC failing to deliver good TV.