Manhunt

Manhunt is a dramatisation of the hunt for the real-life murder of Amelie de la Grange on London's Twickenham Green in 2004. If I didn't know that the events which took place in Manhunt were real history, I'd still have been impressed by the production. We've all seen a load of police procedurals before, but I've never seen one that felt so true before, probably because the drama is derived from the memoirs of the detective who led the investigation. The process, then, is surely as close to what really happened, the behaviour of officers and the unfolding of the investigation as true as possible. The cast did an excellent job of portraying people who felt real, the dialogue didn't come across as being overly affected or dramatised. Yet it gripped me throughout. Martin Clunes, in particular, shone as the down-to-earth, no-nonsense DCI Colin Sutton; a million miles away from his very well known Doc Martin persona. I hope the same level of dramatic tension and immersion in the story is maintained through the other episodes, but hats off to the production team for the first installment in any case.

The true story of a murder investigation that ultimately resulted in the capture of a notorious serial killer. There's no tortured detective with a single sidekick who catch the bad guy by relating evidence to opera/books/fishing/poetry 17th century mousetraps/autism but just proper police work. It's very well done.

Martin Clunes can be regal at times. He's tall and slim and carries himself well. Manhunt is perfect for him. Mild-mannered yet intelligent, focused and commanding, he plays the SIO in this highly detailed study of an actual police investigation. The show's best feature is how it ramps up the excitement as the show progresses, so bear with the slow pace of the first episode, as this is an easily binged watch and you'll love the conclusion. Manhunt also neatly sidesteps the often common drag to such stories, in that we have to bear witness to detective's private life, by the simple fact that his wife is involved in a similar case from a different point of view. A lot of work went into both the real investigation and the dramatisation, and it shows. Manhunt is a great reward.

I love British crime series and this was as good as anyone I've seen. Martin played the lead role and was a fantastic, with the close support roles equally as good. Watched it all in one sitting, three episodes was perfect for telling this story.

I appreciated the ordinary storytelling style, free of twists and tricks that commonly plague other detective shows. Sometimes you just want to watch the story without complications.