Black Work

Police Officer Jo Gillespie learns that her husband, an undercover Detective is killed, she sets about learning the truth for herself.

I am so glad ITV put this out again, as I must have missed it when it first went out.

Ok, there are several times when you need to suspend your disbelief, at times it is a little bit far fetched, but then it is TV, and it's rather good TV.

She has her critics, she has her fans, personally I adore Sheridan Smith, and for me she is the standout, I think she's wonderful throughout, she's well supported by Geraldine James, Matthew McNulty and plenty more acting talent.

It's a good story, it's a topsy turvy, rollercoaster ride, you are made to question and doubt, you are made to wait until the very end.

Very satisfying, well worth a look, 8/10.

Not wanting to repeat what others have already identified, all I want to say is that whoever is the police liaison for procedure should get a health size nine in the spuds. I have waited, for years, for a police drama to be made with accurate procedure unfortunately this is not it. For all you none police out there who believe what you see police do in this and other so called police dramas..... you do not salute you're chief super or Chief Constable during a normal working day,, you do not GET PROMOTED to CID. We do not sneak up on suspects with sirens blaring, we do not run sneak up on suspects on foot and shout them to stop 100 metres away we do not arrive at a police station with lights and horns blaring.....God give me strength.

When Jo's husband is murdered, ostensibly while undercover, she starts digging into whatever was going in her husband's life - because she obviously didn't know anything about him.

And I must say...

Whoever wrote this has a very low opinion of Yorkshire Police...

They're all either dirty, inept, or just plain thick as a bag of extra strength sludge. All the cops go down the pub on the first or second day of the murder investigation for lord's sake!

The only one doing anything in this show is Jo, who by doing what her colleagues in the police force should do, actually finds stuff out about her lying sod of a husband. All while every other cop on the force does nothing at all.

The main downfall of this show is that, besides Jo, every other character is just too stupid and annoying to be real. From the useless Superintendent to the violent DS that goes mad on a suspect in an interview, everyone is a collection of clichés with a large helping of stupidity thrown in for good measure.

Example. At one point the mother of the dead guy yells her daughter in law for "not caring who murdered her husband", then in almost the next scene she's in, she yells at Jo for investigating her husband's death and "not caring about the kids".

Actually, the mother in law is a terrible character and I found myself hoping she would die.

I also managed to guess the murderer from the moment they appeared, most by casting choice alone.

Otherwise, could have been great, but the writing is too poor to have it be any good.

I am a fan of British suspense and crime thrillers. Catching up with offerings on Acorn network led me to this series. I am beginning to understand why PBS picks up on some things and leaves the rest.

There is no reason why this series should not have been better rated, except for Sheridan Smith's lead performance, which sucked the life out of it. The doll-faced musicals actress displays all the emotions from A to B, as one critic once said of a young Katherine Hepburn on Broadway. Her supporting players only make her inadequacy in the role more pronounced. Ms. Smith succeeded in making Douglas Henshall look hysterical by comparison. Geraldine James stood out, as always. And Matthew McNulty's enthusiastic performance as a smitten suitor crashes on Ms. Smith's wooden facade.

Another example of programming on Brit-export channels that makes me wonder whether they think we Americans don't know the difference between mediocre and quality productions.

Don't like to compare this series with others; yes, there are (many) police procedurals that are more realistic but I don't mind suspending reality once & a while for a nicely done show. I found the main character a bit flat & almost a bit unlikeable & I agree that a couple of the supporting officers looked enough alike to cause some confusion as to exactly who was doing what. And I agree that a shorter format might have worked better as there was much repetition that slowed the story down. Though I wasn't aware when choosing this show, I was pleased to see Phil Davis & Douglas Henshall, 2 of my favorite British actors, in the cast.

Not high drama, but watchable.