Without Sin

A grieving Mother (Vicky McClure) searches for the truth about her daughter's murder years ago. Its an excellent premise and Without Sin, filmed in and around Nottingham feels authentic and delivers on its promises.

Local writer/director Frances Poletti has created a dark and intriguing world and story in this taut four-parter. It teases the viewer throughout with some excellent twists that keep you hooked. I really enjoyed it and it reminded me of shows like 'Save Me', 'The Responder' , 'Happy Valley' and Jimmy McGovern's writing. Its not afraid to be grim.

Good production values, well written and directed with a subtle score and for me two stand out performances from Vicky McClure and Johnny Harris.

First episode took a while to get going with the first big twist, but do stick with it if you enjoy a gritty thriller, its rather good and definitely a cut above regular ITV dramas. Recommended.

Three years on from the murder of her daughter Maisy, Stella Tomlinson receives a visitor request from her miller Charles Stone. The meeting is intended to help Stella grieve, but Stone makes a shocking admission.

Worth noting that this series was co produced by it's lead stars, Vicky McClure and Johnny Harris, neither disappoint, both in terms of acting and input.

Without Sin is a great series, without a doubt this is one of the best crime dramas for some time, let's be honest there's nothing particularly new or original, but what is done, is done very, very well.

It is very well paced, gritty and often uncomfortable viewing, Stella's search for the truth is enthralling, you will spend the whole time wondering if Charles is lying or not, did he really do it, is he playing her along, you're made to wait.

Terrific acting, not just McClure and Harris, but Dorothy Atkinson, Callum Fuller and Con O'Neill. The only character I wasn't keen on, was that wig.

Well worth your time.

9/10.

Interesting story. The usual. Wrong guy. Predators. People playing detective. Plot twists. Plot holes. Revenge. Misguided loyalties. Retribution. Struck by an ornament. Justice. Blah. Etc. Etc. But all I saw was that WIG. And that hat. Very distracting. Why couldn't she have had short hair. The short hair she had when her life was ok. Does a blonde bob equal a success hottie and a mousey shoulder length wig equals a depressed stoner... Doesn't make sense and adds nothing to the programme apart from a very distracting wig and beanies. Have I mentioned the wig?

But, seriously though, I can't get past that awful wig, it's so bad she has to spend the entire series wearing a hat to cover up the join, apart from when she has sex, oh and sits on a sofa, oh and loses it at the end, (they must've used gorilla glue for that part.) I think they must've got the wig off Ebay or maybe from Shein... Not sure but it ruined it for me. And it's so obviously a wig. I found the wig very distracting. If you watched it and didn't notice or get annoyed by the wig then you should be more wig aware. Oh and the ending is very Midsummer Murders!!!

The earthy allure of Vicky McClure is always a welcome attraction to any show and kept me watching through what felt like a run-of-the-mill ITV drama viewers have come accustomed to in the past decade or so but, fear not, there is a lot more to this story with a great twist in the tail to the whodunit in thd final episode.

There is thd obligatory policeman but being a police an isn't key to the character role and also thd smattering of ethnic minorities that the woke brigade insists upon these days but this us set in a provincial UK city so sort of depicts the population you would see.

There are a few dodgy Nottingham accents "me duck" but doesn't put you off the story too much if you only know London, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle accents.

Well worth watching but there is some filler there too.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

Stella (Vicky McClure) gets by driving a night cab, but carries a dark burden. A few years ago, her daughter was found dead by her at home, with the suspect, Charles (Johnny Harris) fleeing. Now in jail for her daughter's murder, Charles has reached out to Stella, asking to speak with her via a Restorative Justice meeting. Persuaded to go along by an intermediary, Stella is shocked when Charles begs his innocence, shouting out a name that he says will prove this. It all leads to a devastating showdown with a local crime family, but the truth may be more disturbing than either of them could have imagined.

In a time where terrestrial TV struggles to compete with the vast array of streaming services dominating the market, it's good to know there's still plenty of homegrown dramas put out by the mainstream channels, capable of competing with the endless stream of content offered by those. Without Sin, from writer Frances Poletti and director AI Mackay, proves to be one such example, an assured, capable four part production that has a rewarding pay off.

The dark subject matter is given a suitably bleak presentation, with Mackay shooting his project in a fittingly saturated, blurry style throughout. This is matched by the lead performances, with McClure leading the show, shining brightly as a woman who's had the life and soul beaten out of her, exploding in certain scenes, most notably in a scene over a motorway bridge. Harris is always perfect in these dark, sinister roles, and here he carries it away as a seeming monster, who may not be all he seems. It all pays off with a genuinely unexpected, shock twist that you're diverted from guessing.

There's little in the way of laughs, so anyone wanting humour and light may look elsewhere, but as a firm, solid thriller, it does all the right things and pays off quite fine. ****