Granite Harbour

What a disappointment. It has the performances, script and look of a daytime TV show, but this is supposed to be prime BBC crime drama. Lovely views, though. So if it was a tourist PR video, then job done. But as it is a crime drama, it's seriously, seriously lacking. The plot is not as good as those found in episodes of Silent Witness or Vera. The characters are incredibly poor. The casting is all a bit off. Police who don't look or act like police. Generally, it fails to entertain or intrigue and thus, it fails. But if you want to see beautiful Aberdeen, then it's about as enjoyable as staring at a postcard for 3 hours.

Like many Scots I had high hopes of Granite Harbour, only to have my expectations dashed within the first few minutes. To say the script is creaky is an understatement - it is a prime example of how a lack of continuous re-writing at the pre-production stage results in a disaster. This is certainly not helped by a narrative which is wholly unoriginal, and a bunch of lead actors who are clearly out of their depth. It takes an old pro like Dawn Steel (Monarch of the Glen) to show that you can indeed polish the odd t**d if you are experienced enough. Most of the cast here are not, and therefore cannot wring any conviction out of dud dialogue. It was like watching painting by numbers. On the plus side it was pleasant enough to see Aberdeen, shot both on the ground and from the air. But good technicals are not going to save this car crash. In rating it 4 out of 10 I'm being generous; it could have been so much better.

As an Aberdonian I was interested to see this but as much as it was nice seeing a series being filmed in Aberdeen, some of the acting in this was truly awful. A few good roles in it but some of the supporting roles were poor. The music used at times was amateurish as well. Could have been so much better - just hope it doesn't put off people from making more shows in the area. Storyline was also pretty weak to be honest. No major twists. A poor man's line of duty at best. I severely doubt there will be a 2nd series. They'd need to really improve the peripheral acting. Cinematography at times was also a let down.

Contrary to some of the later reviews, this is a decent mystery. Yes, we have a rookie whose instincts put him at odds with his superiors but he actually has 10 years experience in the Royal Military Police. Yes, he has Daddy issues but they don't paralyze him. It may not be absolutely unique, or groundbreaking, and I cannot judge just how regionally accurate the accents are (apparently nobody from elsewhere moves to Aberdeen), but the mystery is good and there are plenty of red herrings. The lead is appealing and the police, while not ready to follow his instincts, are not shown to be evil or incompetent. Enjoy!

Another reviewer likened this program to a paint-by-numbers version of art. That is just how I experience it. There is some potential for the lead character and his cultural and family issues to become interesting, but they don't. There is no real tension or depth...to anything. No life in any of the secondary characters; all are predictable types, and mostly poor acting. Then there are the central crime plots: unoriginal, drawn out, and uninteresting to solve. Predictable dialogue and scenarios. No feel for the city either, an underused element of an overall dull series. Wondering if it's written by AI.