Bang

Location: South Wales. Horse running on beach followed by it standing on beach munching on sand?. Does't move when truck trailer drive up. Poor start for realism.

Two detectives working together have a romantic relationship on the side. Not good policing policy, but good for viewer demographics. Even the supervisor is in a questionable relationship with a parole officer. Overall detective behavior & sleuthing skill very inept. Action consists mostly of lots of running (in dress shoes & attire coupled with poor running form) after suspects.

Formula detective series seems copied by many countries in making their own local version, i.e. The usual cheap quick scene of dead person; the usual questioning of misdirected suspects; the usual low IQ forensics; the usual interdepartmental issues. Actors seem chosen for looks & not believability.

Very often I start watching a TV series and don't persist beyond an episode or two, but "Bang" has held me through series 1. I'm not sure why, as typically I find very dark stories repulsive. I think the brilliance of the acting is undeniable, and Catrin Stewart and Jacob Ifan have very attractive faces. The smaller parts don't disappoint either. One reason I'm surprised at the series' appeal is that it is largely in Welsh, whereas "foreign language" films are usually a big turnoff for me. The story and the dialogue are good enough, despite some implausibilities. Why does Sam let Rhys beat him up without retaliation although he is the larger man? Need some time in the gym, Sam! The other frustrating thing is that there are several men with short dark hair and chiselled features representing different characters, and I couldn't retain who they were or which one was on the screen at a given time. So I'm sure I missed quite a lot. I'll dip into Series II but be ready to bail out, as series often seem to deteriorate. Anyway, worth a try if you're looking for some quite gripping viewing.

I've been watching this on the iPlayer and so pleased I stumbled across it. What a gem! Emotional drama with a real sense of place. The central brother and sister story is beautifully told with a sense of how crime influences a victim's life. I love the use of two languages - makes a thrilling drama particularly unique.

Pity this series is in both English & Welsh language. Found this annoying.

Just one language would have been much better. Why chopping from one to the other during same scene/conversation?

The most interesting thing about this series is that fact that it is performed in English and Welsh. Other than that, it is absolute rubbish that is at the level of a university drama project that is done for academic credit! The script is all over the place and not well thought out. It contains a mass of tangled stories, some of which are related to the plot, others are not. The writing and dialog is childish. The ending makes it look as if there might be a second series but hopefully we will be spared that suffering. There have been better series coming out of Wales in recent years. This one is just not one of those.