Rellik

I'll be honest I find this quite difficult to review, I loved it, but everyone I watched it with hated it, calling it confused and muddled, to some extent I see their point of view. Personally I truly enjoyed it, with the exception of the first episode, I came close to switching it off several times I didn't really get into it, from episode two however I was hooked, that was exceptional and set the tone for the rest of the show. Rosalind Eleazar was utterly fabulous in episode two, it was the scenes between her and Richard Dormer that hooked me, exceptional TV. Dormer and Jodi Balfour were superb throughout, making a superb duo, the chemistry was visible. Plaudits also for the makeup team, the work that must have gone into the characters of Markham and Christine is unreal, adding a different dimension to the show. I liked the way the story was told, sadly the general public clearly didn't as the show hemorrhaged its viewers, I wonder had it been told in real time over a shorter term would it have worked better? The last episode was fabulous and certainly worked better the way it was told. Different, quality viewing.

From the writers of the brilliant Missing we now have Rellik which is of course killer in reverse. If you watched the second season of Missing you may remember this had a habit of leaping backwards and forwards at times was confusing to follow but ultimately all the boxes were ticked. Well with Rellik the producers have gone the whole hog and made the entire series in reverse, with the ending being at the start of the first episode. It seems to have devided opinion amongst critics and I have to admit it's very hard to follow at times. But like Missing stick with it all will become clear. This is far to good to give up on after just a couple of episodes as the ending is extremely clever and ultimately rewarding. My advice watch it as a box set together it is much easier to follow.

As others have commented, the constant winding back of time is confusing and takes some getting used to. I had to watch episodes 1 and 2 a second time in order to be sure I was making sense of it. However, having done so, it has become compelling to watch. It's an interesting and brave attempt to try a different take on the stock gritty police procedural murder mystery. As a one off, OK, it's worth sticking it out, if only to see how it can all be resolved without jumping forwards again, but I'm not sure I would bother if there were a second series. I, too, seem to think there's a disappointingly obvious twist coming and I'm only at ep 3, still there's time to be proved wrong, or else perhaps wind back the clock further and change the plot :-)

The now tedious fad of winding a plot backwards or rather in this case not just backwards but in different sequences like a messed up jigsaw is plain annoying. It smacks of the writers being too lazy to write a decent plot so instead they just segment the whole thing mix it up and leave you to do memory games for what must be their entertainment rather than yours. Shame I like the lead actor from Game of Thrones and the leading black actress is pretty compelling. Into episode 3 it's quite obvious unless I have overreached what the twist is going to be. Could have been very good but you just know it won't be.

The first ep is confusing, as you need to get used to the backward storytelling, as well as the introduction of a lot of new characters. But this turned out to be a totally brilliant series. Some have dissed this series after only 1 ep (I ask you) which is just plain nuts. A few of the reviews just appear to be either seriously dumb, lazy or both. You have to make the effort with this and focus, but it's worth it as the pay-off is dramatic as well as tragic.

The acting of the 2 leads, Richard Dormer and Jodi Balfour is amazing as well as the chemistry between their 2 characters, DCI Gabriel Markham and DI Elaine Shepherd. They are investigating a brutal serial killer who likes to dowse his victims in acid. With each backward jump in time, you'd think there would be less known in the investigation, but actually as viewers we see and learn more. By the end of the 5th episode it's clear who the killer is, then in the finale we jump forward to where the 1st ep left off and move forward as normal, and what a finale! For me this was the best UK TV drama of the year. Nothing else even comes close.