Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed BBC1's two-part crime drama SHETLAND, and ITV's finale of Edwardian department store drama MR SELFRIDGE.
The influx of Nordic Noir programming appears to be having an effect on British drama suddenly, as bleak two-part crime thriller Shetland arrives clinging to the coattails of Mayday and Broadchurch. Inspired by author Anne Cleeves's 2009 novel Red Bones - the third of her Shetland quartet - this drama stars Douglas Henshall (Primeval) as D.I Jimmy Perez, who's investigating the murder of an old woman called Mima Wilson (Sandra Voe) near the site of an archaeological dig. I desperately wanted Shetland to work because the choice of lead actor in Douglas Henshall is one I can get behind. In addition, the windswept location offers an immediate feeling of isolation a good crime drama can capitalise on; Shetland did a decent job making you feel island solitude.
Continue reading 'Shetland' at MSN TV...
In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't been watching Mr Selfridge with enough regularity to understand everything that was happening in this finale. I knew the show was well-produced and frothily entertaining in its first two episodes. But it also felt incredibly inessential and I wasn't a fan of Jeremy Piven's hammy performance among a cast of Brits playing their own roles with a great deal more subtlety. However, that wasn't a barrier to enjoying the majority of the current series' finale. There's a breezily enjoyable tone to Mr Selfridge that sweeps you along rather nicely, even when you're not terribly gripped by what's happening, or care about many of the characters.
Continue reading 'Mr Selfridge' at MSN TV...
