Wolf

Wolf: Yet another troubled detective. DI Jack Caffery becomes is obsessed with the neighbour he believes murdered his 10 year-old brother 25 years ago. He sits and sleeps in an attic bedroom watching the neighbour's house, his GF is getting tired of this. He even moved back from Monmouthshire after the neighbour was released from prison (he was in for other crimes). Meanwhile back in Monmouthshire a family are put through an odd ordeal. It seems to be related to a double murder which took place 5 years before. After a run in with the neighbour Jack is put on leave and ends up back in Monmouthshire where he helped in investigate the killings, naturally his personal life is complicated there as well. Dark, compelling, after two episodes I;m hooked. Based on a Mo Hayder novel. Six episodes on BBC1/iPlayer. Directed by Lee Haven Jones & Kristoffer Nyholm, screenplay by Megan Gallagher. 8/10.

I like Mo Hayder's books, and although Wolf wasn't her best work, the source material was much better than this, it at least had a couple of moments of brillance. This has none. It starts ok but only gets worse. The added characters are poor. Caffery is unlikeable, uninteresting, and his pain and anguish carry no real weight or emotion, which couldn't be more different to the books and is probably the biggest failure of this show. Both the acting (stilted) and the screenplay (flat) are to blame for this failure. The 2 actors playing the "baddies" do a great job but this storyline unfortunately gets unbelievable pretty quickly (same as the book).

I agree with the other reviewers that said it doesn't translate well. If you're a fan of Mo Hayder's books, you would agree that the portrayal of Jack Caffery is completely wrong. For one, he's much older and way more experienced in the books. I also agree that they should have started with his first book. The Running Man character is confusing unless you've read the books, also the sub-plot of his missing brother and the neighbour is given very little context in the screen series. This has been a running theme in the books that has kind of annoyed me as it deviates from the main storyline too much.

Whilst it was not a patch on the books however, I really did enjoy the series. I disagree that the acting was bad, I thought it was superb. The fake policemen used dark humour that I thought added to the overall perversity. The twists were shocking and believeable once everything came together at the end.

A little slow around episodes 3-4 but it picks up momentum again in episode 5 and by episode 6, it ties up all lose ends and is a shocking thriller overall.

Wild! There is one particular twist/turn - in the first episode - that is worth the price of admission. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about it. But then I haven't read the book. There are certainly things to object to - maybe some bits are OTT and sometimes the dialog is formulaic - but I will keep watching to see how the plot and direction develop. Also, the actors who play the "police" baddies - Iwon Rheon Sacha Dhawan - are superb. I don't quite understand why viewers are being so critical of the series; it's not as if I was expecting Tolstoy. I encourage people to give this series a chance.

I thought this series was a bit of fun and really enjoyed the implausible plot lines. It's a bit different than most BBC output but I personally don't think that's an issue, at least not for me.

The recent Sixth Commandment with Timothy Spall was a great limited drama series, almost an uncomfortable watch as it's based on a true life crime. It was excellent television.

This is very different. I really did enjoy the two detectives, some hilarious moments. Hopefully it was intended as a dark comedy because I thought it was a riot.

If you like your drama come thriller specifically on point then you might not enjoy this. I will watch pretty much anything and I'm not fussy. I personally find most television very forgettable, mostly due to the dearth of shows available to watch. Don't take this too seriously and you might enjoy it.