M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team

"M.I.T." spun off "The Bill" after the demise of Matthew Boyden. In the best traditions of British police drama, "M.I.T." is a winner.

What makes it a change for the better is that "The Bill" in recent years has become little more than a soapy, tawdry shadow of the excellent series it once was.

"M.I.T." presents a stark comparison. Engaging, well focused, fast moving episodes with a good balance between storyline and characterization.

The fast pace may not be to everyone's liking but it still represents the best effort in its genre to come out of Britain in a long time.

Let us hope there is more to come.

I love UK murder mysteries, both filmed and written, and most are on a high level. I thought this one was trying to be but just didn't make it. For one thing I can't stand that jerky hand-held camera style of filming that was popular for a while but no longer is, thank goodness. I think we were supposed to feel the tension build between the characters as the camera comes in for a close-up that lasts for more than a second, implying some kind of significance that just isn't there. The denouement where we find out who committed the murder was totally flat and boring. The whole thing felt meaningless IMHO. I watched only one episode and it felt like such a waste of time I was not tempted to watch any more. If you want a dramatic mystery series with two, no make that three, lead women, Scott & Bailey is so much better.

I Tried watching. The filming is atrocious. Camera flips from face to face, one persons nose to another nose, follows an arm putting a case file on a desk, etc. Makes you dizzy trying to follow. They have people talking to suspects with characters jumping around in front of the camera. Truly annoying. I Tried later episodes and it was still the same. The stories seemed decent, characters not obnoxious and acting good. For once the show did not have a horrible chief superintendent who brow beat people for no reason. A very rare event in UK police dramas. Lastly, they might have well filmed it in black and white for all the lack of color in the environments.

If you like really bizarre camerawork with peoples faces filmed from weird angles, and the camera motion like it's hand held, then you'll like this. It was a popular style in the early 2000s. Coupled with extreme closeups of faces, mouths, eyes that are common in many of today's films from Europe, mainly France, it's all just a bit too distracting. The show itself is formula driven with clues being solved in quick succession by a very smug faced inspector. It's just not that good a show to go up against other murder mysteries or cop shows on TV. No wonder it did not last long.

Loved this show. The first two episodes were exciting and dynamic. The scripting was dense and the visual style was edgy and modern. Overall it was well directed and had great performances. It reminded me a lot of the really exciting shows like Boomtown and The Shield that are coming out of USA and a little bit of the excellent Homicide Life on the Street. Definitely watching the rest.