Hinterland

Stunning, gripping, dynamic - excellent acting with gripping plot lines against the backdrop of a beautiful but bleak Wales.

The weather with all it's moods, a tumultuous seascape and vast barrenness of the Welsh landscape, this series achieves it's aims of the stories that emerge from the land and it's people; new views of the places and faces of Wales - and it's bilingual - to listen to the cadence of the Welsh accent alongside English enhances cultural understanding.

The cinematography is wonderful, testament to the commitment to a visual expression of culture, time, place and it's people. Outstanding.

Why is there not more?

Well I have to say that the title of the show did not initially grab me and I was guilty of thinking it may be a bit parochial and low key, as compared to some of the blockbuster series around these days but I am glad to admit that I misjudged that badly. Its really captivating to watch as the stories have a real edge to them and the plots are quite involved, as real life can be. I am a big fan of the new run of Swedish and Danish crime films, and this certainly matches them in terms of character development, intrigue and a haunting background that keeps the viewer glued to the screen. I also like the way the first two episodes involve murders with a murky history, similar to the style employed in the award winning Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. It also had a building story presence reminiscent of the excellent Broadchurch series, so I am now a big convert of what they have achieved with this....excellent drama, so please keep the stories going. Watch and you shouldn't be disappointed

For those asking, yes the series will continue, not least because the Scands want it to after it was sold to Denmark. The actors say it was the hardest thing they have done, filming it back-to-back in Welsh and then English, but was well worth it.

Hinterland not only refers to the setting in the hills and sea coasts around Aberystwyth and Mid-Wales but to the plot lines where all the crimes have a backstory or hinterland of their own. It also refers to each individual character and not just the leads. There is no cardboard cut-out anywhere and all have motives and biases deeply rooted in the unknown, thus far, past which has made them who they are. I know a real-life person just like every character portrayed so far, got them spot on.

If you like shoot-em-up all-action fantasy this is not for you since scenes can be silent and slow, revealing emotion and thought processes but if you have any liking for fringe cultures such as Scandinavian noir then dig in. The tension is often unbearable not least the tension waiting for the next series.

Many crime stories show police / detective work as something exciting, the cops are on a quest to solve a puzzle, and with guns, technology, intellect or even superpowers, they manage to find the culprit, point a finger at the guilty, and pat themselves on the back for doing a great job. There's none of that here.

Police work as shown in Hinderland is a mix of frustrating conversations that get you nowhere and hours of research (done by supporting leads) coupled with some lucky breakthroughs. If you are nit-picky about police procedures or a fan of CSI-type of story telling, you might be bored and annoyed by this show.

If you like shows about detectives unraveling the master plans of highly intelligent super-villains you might be a bit disappointed as well - the crime in this show is very down-to-earth and true to statistics (no Hanibal Lecter type of stuff).

Even if initially the series seems slow, and not your usual cup of tea, it's worth to give it a closer look, as it just might make you a better person.

Each episode (the length of a standalone film) tells a different story of 'who's done it', yet the finger never seems to be pointed at a particular person. The show offers a fuller picture and helps you understand the motivations and circumstances that lead to the crimes.

The show is really compassionate, there are no bad guys and good guys, like many of the cop-stories out there would have you believe, everyone is broken and suffering, and oh so human. A true lesson in empathy.

I love how Tom Mathias (the main character) treats the people he arrests - even when tackling them to the ground he still sees them as people, seems to understand their pain and even (gasp!) tries to comfort them.

When the stories come to an end, there is no patting on the back, solving of a case does not feel like a victory of justice, there are no moral lessons to learn, other than "suffering creates more suffering".

It's a slow, beautifully shot show which by offering you an escape from reality throws you knee-deep in it's slimy gutter instead.

Dark, brooding, atmospheric, haunting, understated Beautiful hauntingly appropriate music. The magnificent landscape is a major player as it always is in Welsh life. The characters are at one with their surroundings deeply moulded by the dark forebidding landscape. The use of Welsh is as it is. Welsh interspersed with English or English interspersed with Welsh. I love this touch of realism. All the people involved in the making of this series are home-grown and all due credit to them. Matthias lives in a caravan on the mountainside. How does he come to be living there? What is his unknown past? I live in a caravan myself in the north-west of England and spend several weeks of the winter tucked away in a cottage somewhere in Wales. Am I as dark, melancholy and troubled as Matthias? Probably. The stories and characters are complex and closely interwoven. Always maintaining tension and anticipation and achieving this within one self-contained episode rather than a whole series. Limiting this series to BBC2 Wales is to do it a dis-service. It should be more widely available for general viewing. I don't usually write reviews but I absolutely love this series. But don't overdo it and do it to death as happens with so many series. I only saw a couple of the episodes first time round so am looking forward to catching up with the ones I missed.