M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team

The one thing that stands out about MIT is that it's not very homogenous: style and quality of stories are very different throughout the first series. Some episodes are meant to be very cutting edge by using an almost documentary style, some are fairly traditional. Some stories are very complex and difficult to follow particularly within a 50 minutes format- sometimes you get the impression that a 90 minutes story was cut down to fifty. Other stories are great crime drama, almost Jonathan Kellermann terrain. So all in all, it's a show that's showing promise but still has to find its own style. My main issue with the show is however the DI Vivien Friend or rather the way she is portrayed. She is a bit of a stereotype in terms of being the hard nosed career woman on the surface but with emotions underneath- I just don't see that in the performance.

The first season was really interesting. Not perfect but the players were good. Putting DS Trevor Hands in charge for season two the show went downhill. No wonder there was no season three. His insensitivity and brash recklessness made everyone's job harder. There was just no sign of a good detective, just someone trying to prove he was the best but his ego was too big such a shame.

If it had carried on in the same vein as season one it probably would have been much better. His character was repugnant. The actor portraying him may have been good but the character was atrocious and unlikeable and very demeaning to others.

I don't know why only two seasons were made of this show, I really enjoyed it. There was good acting, good story lines. I recently found it on Acorn TV and am disappointed there are no more of MIT to watch.

I love UK murder mysteries, both filmed and written, and most are on a high level. I thought this one was trying to be but just didn't make it. For one thing I can't stand that jerky hand-held camera style of filming that was popular for a while but no longer is, thank goodness. I think we were supposed to feel the tension build between the characters as the camera comes in for a close-up that lasts for more than a second, implying some kind of significance that just isn't there. The denouement where we find out who committed the murder was totally flat and boring. The whole thing felt meaningless IMHO. I watched only one episode and it felt like such a waste of time I was not tempted to watch any more. If you want a dramatic mystery series with two, no make that three, lead women, Scott & Bailey is so much better.

If you like really bizarre camerawork with peoples faces filmed from weird angles, and the camera motion like it's hand held, then you'll like this. It was a popular style in the early 2000s. Coupled with extreme closeups of faces, mouths, eyes that are common in many of today's films from Europe, mainly France, it's all just a bit too distracting. The show itself is formula driven with clues being solved in quick succession by a very smug faced inspector. It's just not that good a show to go up against other murder mysteries or cop shows on TV. No wonder it did not last long.