Whilst this is my first review for a while (the
reasons for which I shall go for in our next Feature Friday), I still felt
myself to be treading upon oddly familiar ground. Fitting into the modern
detective drama cannon upon which I recently waxed lyrical, read the full piece
here, in the way that it so neatly does, it is no small wonder that The Guilty gave me a distinct sense of
déjà vu.
Bearing a remarkable similarity to both Broadchurch and May Day (see reviews here and here) due to its missing child plot, The Guilty opens on a young boy riding
his scooter down a pristine, white picket-fenced suburban cul-de-sac through
the orange haze of a colour saturation which can only mean that we are
witnessing events from The Past. In capitals. Sure enough, we are told that this is May 2008,
and are subsequently brought forward to a rainy May 2013. In the present day,
the young boy’s mother, played by Katherine Kelly, is launching a new appeal to
find her missing son. Meanwhile, workers digging up pipework in the local
communal garden, the very same that missing son Callum Reid disappeared from,
happen across a wooden casket. Enter female detective Olivia Col-, no, sorry,
got confused, I meant Tamsin Greig, who must step outside of her idyllic family
life with her own doting husband and young son in Broadch-, oops there I go
again, in order to investigate these latest findings.
Naturally, this being May Day, no Broadch-, I mean
Top of the Lake, no I’m so sorry, The Guilty, with the clue lying very much in the
title – everyone is a suspect. All jokes aside however, at least for now, this
show should hopefully have some points of interest in its own right. One of
those is Katherine Kelly. The other is Tamsin Greig. Both give strong
performances in this opening episode, leaving just enough intrigue for us to
want to keep watching. Kelly’s howls of anguish as the distraught, grieving
mother should cut down to the soul of even the most hardened of viewers, with
Greig appearing both the mother and the detective next door in equal measure
with her usual approachable charisma. A special mention too for Ruta Gedmintas
as the accidental local temptress, whom I do admit to having a slight bias for
having twice seen her knock-out performance in Backbeat at the Duke of York’s Theatre last year. Again, it seems The Guilty fulfills the modern detective
drama criteria.
It’s certainly atmospheric, although I think it’s
fair to say it doesn’t quite manage to grab your attention by the lapels until
the last 15 minutes. With that in mind, as well as the constant comparisons
which are doubtless already being made to all its predecessors (take your
pick!), The Guilty is going to need a
few tricks up its sleeves to keep people watching.
The
Guilty is next on this Thursday, 9pm, ITV.
Jen
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