Stellan Skarsgård plays a detective with a difference

Tweekums

Protagonist DI John River is a policeman determined to solve the murder of his partner, DS Jackie 'Stevie' Stevenson. Many TV detectives have issues… in his case they probably count as a serious mental health issue. He continues to have conversations with Stevie and other dead people; he doesn't believe them to be ghosts, instead he refers to them as 'manifests'. It is no secret that he has problems and after a suspect dies while fleeing arrest River is told that he must see the police psychiatrist. As the case progresses he learns more about Stevie; he knew that her family operated on the wrong side of the law but clues suggest she had secrets too… was she involved in an unofficial investigation or was she corrupt? Either way it is hard for River to learn that his partner was keeping secrets.

When I saw the trailer for this series I was intrigued… and having watched it must say I wasn't disappointed. Stellan Skarsgård excels as the eponymous River and Nicola Walker is great as Stevie; their scenes together are a delight… I loved her singing disco classic 'I Love to Love' as they drove along… a song we later hear him singing in a more poignant scene. The rest of the cast are also impressive. While Stevie is probably the most important manifest River sees others are impotent too; most notably Victorian poisoner Thomas Cream, played in a distinctly creepy manner by Eddie Marsan. Writer Abi Morgan's story nicely interweaves the mystery of who killed Stevie with the question of whether or not River's issues will ultimately lead to his suspension or worse.

A lot of series do well but fail at the final hurdle with a poor resolution… thankfully this was not one of them; the answer to the questions 'who killed Stevie' and 'what was her secret' are answered in a way that I hadn't seen coming. This could have given the series a rather downbeat end but instead we get one final bittersweet scene between River and Stevie's manifest that was an utter joy; it is obvious that as much as this was a mystery series it was also a love story. Overall I found this series to be a real delight and strongly recommend it to anybody looking for a mystery with a difference.

score 10/10

Tweekums 18 November 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3356875/