Commissaire Bancroft

Not your typical cop-show for sure. I came to this series expecting another hard-boiled, name-above-the-title Jane Tennyson-type senior female cop on the trail of another serial-killer perhaps with another even more unusual M.O. than usual, but didn't expect the twist that she herself might blur the lines between right and wrong. In that sense I was reminded of another top cop who sometimes seemed to cross that line at will, namely John Luthor, but Bancroft here seems to take things even further in that while you sensed that Luthor would occasionally not flinch from taking the law into his own hands it was always to pursue justice even if it was his own sometimes skewered version of it, Bancroft here however, while she undoubtedly gets results in her official capacity, is in fact only concerned with the welfare of herself and maybe her son, before any other legal consideration and heaven help anyone who gets in her way.

The highly contrived plot only got more incredible as it went on, the starting point being a 27 year old cold-case unsolved murder of a young wife and mother who just happened to be Bancroft's love rival for the man she's beaten her to and who is now pregnant into the bargain. Bancroft was first on the scene of the crime as a young WPC and she was the protege of the then senior investigating cop who's still alive today, but only just and who now really wants to crack the case before he expires. Not that he gets the chance as he dies in mysterious circumstances soon after Bancroft pays him a visit, just as a case is being built by the young female officer appointed by Bancroft's rival male DSI for the soon-to-become-available Chief Commissioner position, and her forensic female colleague. Both these young investigators suspect the almost unbelievable regarding the seemingly untouchable Bancroft who in between throwing her pursuers off the track, is trying to ensnare Public Enemy Number One, a ruthless Asian gun-runner not above torturing and indeed murdering members of his own family to keep everyone in line. These two plot strands then converge in a dramatic showdown as we finally learn the truth about Bancroft and the extent to which she'll go to protect herself.

I found the plotting to be ludicrously over-the-top, incredible coincidence succeeding incredible coincidence as it went, boosted in all of this by Sarah Parish's equally O.T.T performance as the title character who cold-bloodedly rampages around like she's just escaped from the set of "Westworld". All that said, it only stretched to four episodes keeping the action, ridiculous as it was, tight and fast-moving. "Line Of Duty" or "Happy Valley" it doesn't try to be but for a piece of escapist nonsense which doesn't try to keep even one toe, never mind a whole foot, in reality, it was certainly entertaining enough.

Hell hath no fury as a psycho cop! Enjoy the ride and try to ignore plot holes galore and a shallow script. Parish holds the screen with her Bisexual demeanor, helped by the paucity of male characters to rein her in. We know she's going to get her comeuppance in the end and sorta wish she didn't.

I had to review this after reading such a negative opinion. I watched the first episode with 4 other friends and we were all totally hooked. So much so that we continued to follow through, guessing only at the outcome. None of us predicted the final twists and that was what held our interest. The series was refreshingly different and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Good strong acting.

The series is unusual in that you are given the bad guys/gals fairly early on so no surprises; some of them are cops & solid citizens, and some are just plain bad. You're even given frequent flashbacks to fill in the 27 yr old crime scene that dominates the script so you just have to sit back & see how "good" wins out at the end. Problem is, in resolving this cold case crime we are given too many personality & cop mistakes & improbabilites - all scripted to keep the series going. So, if you don't mind the uncomfortable feeling of being left hanging while the baddies seemingly come out ahead, it's worth a watch.

Although the last episode became increasingly predictable, overall a very enjoyable series. Good acting and plot - well above average. How some of those reality programmes get prime time on the main ITV channel over this is beyond me.