Quirke

I recently discovered this hidden gem on Britbox in the US. It's well-written, has a great cast, and is gritty without being overly cynical. Gabriel Byrne as pathologist, is offbeat and troubled, but never descends into the narcissism of so many post-House medical characters.

The wonder of Quirke as that they only made 3 episodes. To be sure, the episodes are long, around 90 minutes each. That said, there were many untapped story lines left to be explored in this series. It's a pity that they didn't extend it. It's well worth the watch.

Another top notch offering from the BBC. (2 episodes in) Wonderful, atmospheric settings and unusually artistic cinematography, a gripping back story and marvellous, marvellous acting. A very good insight into life in Ireland in the 50's also.

Quirke, the outstanding Gabriel Byrne in one of his better efforts ever, is an alcoholic pathologist in Dublin in the 1950's. Quirke, an orphan of unknown parents, was adopted into the wealthy Griffin family. A family where not is all what it seems, and where people love and hate each other at the same time, and harbour secrets, some of them quite terrible. (like a lot of real families). While Quirke tries to help find out what happened to bodies who used to be people with the help of a jaded garda inspector, we unravel his past life episode by episode, and watch his life unravel as well.

It is compelling stuff, I can only highly recommend it. Preferably from the start. While produced by the BBC, it's an all irish cast and location. It looks a million dollar, it's original, the characters are interestingly complex, and it's just very, very good.

It feels very much like the Maigret series with Bruno Cremer, only better (!). Note that the solving of the mystery is only a part of the drama, most of it revolves on the interplay of the family, their problems and their secrets, and the telling of life in a Ireland 60 years ago, with its obedience to the catholic church, treatment of women etc...therefore you can enjoy it even if you aren't fond of murder mysteries. It is nearly an anticlimax to come to the end and have the murder solved (sometimes rather too conveniently - hence the 9 instead of 10 - very small complaint) , so engrossed are you in the actual story in its entirety - you want it to go on!

Do not expect CSI or NCIS, it is as far removed from those shows as possible.

I did not read the books, so that I have no idea how accurate is the adaptation, but I can guarantee the story is perfectly clear and simple to follow, unlike some adaptations that require former knowledge of the written medium to understand anything at all.

I also highly recommend it in HD with a good sound system. The terrific atmosphere deserves that.

Contains smoking and drinking. [;-)]

Edit: Episode 3 is a straight 10/10. Very emotional, and even improved from the other two on all fronts, if that was possible. Classic television in the making. - I just read the first two episodes were adapted by Welsh screenwriter Andrew Davies and the third by Irish playwright/director Conor McPherson. Now it makes sense and it actually shows.

Quirke is one of Dublin's finest pathologists, he's smart and clever, but hides some dark secrets, and is too much of fan of the bottle.

Three very good, high quality episodes, the second one quite literally held me captivated, the other two aren't perhaps that standard, but still a very good watch.

They are beautifully shot, they look incredible, I'd you're a fan of the 1950's, you will see that era brought to life, both visually, and in terms of atmosphere.

Best element, the acting, every single person plays their part, Gabriel Byrne is fabulous as the tortured Quirke, he is in good company, Michael Gambon is wonderful, as is the velvet voiced Stanley Townsend.

It is such a shame that only three of these were made, I would have loved to have seen more. Always struck me that The BBC were looking for a replacement show for George Gently, such a shame we only got three.

A very, very good watch, 8/10.

Everything I have seen with Gabriel Byrne has been first-class, including his terrific work in USUAL SUSPECTS, in which the audience was misled into believing he was the kingpin, Keizer Szoze. In this short (3 chapter) series, he is Chief Pathologist Quirke in post-WW2 Dublin, dealing with some unusual cases and troubled family relations. At the Center of the conflict is his pretty teen daughter, Phoebe, who was raised by his brother & wife when Quirke's wife died in childbirth. The daughter is informed of this only in Episode 1,,which creates anger & conflict. Other sad events push Quirke into heavy drinking from time to time. We pull for him anyway.

In episode 2, a villain seduces Phoebe AND a young married woman, for nefarious purposes. Sadly, the actor in this role, Lee Ingleby, is already the object of widespread disdain due to his work as a self-centred DCS in the old Inspector Friendly series. I keep telling folk on Twitter that it's just good acting, but Lee will not improve his public image with his role here-a pure cad.

The entire cast is excellent is this quiet 'period piece'. Highly-recommended.

The new BBC drama 'Quirke' takes us into postwar Ireland - seedy, drunken, dominated by the twin evils of the church and the wealthy and corrupt. It's a somewhat clichéd view, made palatable by the series' muted tone, although at times in the first episode I struggled to follow the softly spoken dialogue and relatively (for a murder drama) understated plot. Unlike many such series, there's an overall narrative as well as individual stories; the fact that Quirke's niece has a separate, personal connection to all three murders reduces the overall plausibility. The cast is an impressive one, but the scripts don't really call on them to do anything extraordinary; the detail with which their characters' feelings are observed is often weaker than its symbolic depiction (endless booze and cigarettes). To me, 'Quirke' fell between two stools: too low-key and gloomy to be fun family entertainment, but not truly deep either.