The Dark Room

It's a shame that this hasn't gotton even one review (before mine) as it deserves some attention.

It's a well thought out two-part TV drama made in 1999. It's elevated by a good script and a cast of British acting luminaries. The Hitchcockian soundtrack and the sensible use of flashbacks also add to make this a pleasurable viewing experience.

A brain injuries consultant attends to a patient who awakes from a coma and remembers nothing about how she got there. As they both try to piece together what happened to her life, family tensions cause complications.

Red herrings, family secrets, and powerful people jostle for posititon and the police procedural side of the story gets a good chunk of the attention, too. A rather old fashioned and stubborn senior policeman is struggling with his female junior who clearly knows her job.

The female leads are particularly outstanding here. Dervla Kirwan is especially effective in the exhausting role of the coma victim.

It's a product of its time, of course, but even today (2018) it's still perfectly watchable. The story runs at a brisk pace leading to a satisfying conclusion.

The concept is good and the amnesia is handled better than I have seen anywhere else, but there is a problem with the screenplay.

The story was compelling enough to keep me watching but I groaned too many times at the wooden dialogue. Far too much exposition and in real life, people don't speak like these characters.

The actors do a reasonable job with what they have got in the script, but the actions and emotions are quickly milked to try and maintain a fast pace.

Any scene involving the police is terrible. The DCI might be good on stage, but he's no film actor and his dialogue didn't help either. All the police characters are reduced to simple stereotypes and they were awful.

It would have been better if they took the time to make the characters more human, and then I might have got involved with the show. As it was, I didn't care about anyone except for Dervla Kerwin, who was very good, and I felt this was a missed opportunity.

I wouldn't recommend watching.

Jinx Kingsley wakes from a coma, The Police want to learn if He bad anything two do with two dead bodies discovered, her fiancée and best friend.

It's a good, solid mystery series, it feels different to the previous Minette Walters penned dramas, and whilst I don't think it's the quality of The Echo, Sculptress and Scold's Bridal, it's still worthy of your time.

It's aged incredibly well, I enjoyed it more tonight than I did when it was first transmitted, the only thing that really dates it is a very young fresh faced Lee Ingleby. The decor and fashions look pretty modern, hard to believe it dates back to 1999.

Dervla Kirwan nails it, she is excellent as Jinx, she'd very well supported by James Wilby, Paul Freeman and Connie Hyde.

It's a bleak story, and you will be kept guessing as to whether or not Jinx is guilty of murder or not. The outcome is good, and well done.

Well worth watching, 7/10.