kitellis-98121 A solid, well-paced little thriller, this by-the-numbers murder mystery manages to bring one or two surprises, along with a plethora of genre clichés and tropes.By far the biggest problem with this four-part miniseries is that it seems to be trying a little too hard. The writing is melodramatic and heavy-handed, with every conceivable plot device thrown into the mix. The acting is uneven, with an overwrought turn by Juliet Stevenson and a phoned-in performance from John Lynch with his perennially bewildered face. Julie Graham plays herself as usual, and Adrian Edmondson overacts - nothing new there then!But despite some subpar work from the veterans, the younger members of the cast are all excellent and give much more realistic and nuanced performances. Unfortunately there are too many subplots and too many characters to make such a short series seem anything other than overdone. Ultimately it buckles under the weight of its many, many ingredients, and the final scenes degenerate into theatrics, with the one-that-done-it delivering a long soliloquy explaining the entire plot in possibly the most unrealistic expositional scene I've ever seen.The music in the final episode also skirted dangerously close to plagiarising James Horner's music from both Apollo 13 and Sneakers!Over all, though, despite my various criticisms, I enjoyed the series throughout, and it was so filled with plot (lots of it unnecessary) that I didn't entirely predict what was coming. It was also pretty nicely shot, in a no-nonsense workmanlike way, with very few visual clichés adding to those spewing from the page. I'd certainly watch it again - but then, I enjoyed Deathtrap. Just saying.

Cat Gardener This is an almost perfect ten. THIS is how a series should be written and acted! Stellar cast, outstanding writing. Most series are predictable, with characters making very stupid decisions, and the pace is sooooooo slllloooooowwwww.So much happens in just the first episode, you think you've watched an entire series in just episode one. And it doesn't let up from there, right through to the end. The most authentic, suspenseful whodunnit I have ever seen. Bravo!

fraydalevy This is a totally mesmerizing series. There is almost a subplot for every character all of which interweave to reveal the bigger mystery.Each character has realistic and sometimes horrible motives, sometimes the person is just weak. No matter, all motives are completely believable and keep the plot twisted.Plus the acting is phenomenal. I could not recommend this show more strongly.

morrison-dylan-fan After being intrigued by the BBC trailers that made the mini-series look like an Agatha Christie-inspired Noir family Drama,I decided to start uncovering the episodes,one by one.The plot:A man drives to the Scottish highlands and crashes his car.Seeing the car crashed,two families who have known each other for decades,come out on the stormy night to help him out.Never having seen the guy before,the families are taken aback,when one of their addresses is found in his coat pocket.Feeling that he might be dangerous, (and with the police unable to answer calls due to the storm) the families decide to lock him in the barn yard for the night.Coming out the next morning to get info out of the night,the families discover that during the night,one of them killed him.View on the show:Taking place against a beautiful Scottish backdrop,the Williams steam a dour Noir family drama with a brittle Agatha Christie-style Murder Mystery in eps 1 and 4,with stylishly tinted flashbacks from director William McGregor bringing the fractured nature of the relationships out of the loyal families.Whilst the cast (which includes a great John Lynch) give gravitas to the murky revelations,the Williams clip the Noir mystery tension in eps 2 and 3 by focusing on the troubled relationships between the families running dry with forced family unease that tries to cast harsh Film Noir isolation on the families,but fails to match the burning Noir anxiety cut deep into the first and final episodes.