Little Boy Blue

My heart goes out to the Jones family and all of those involved with seeking justice in this senseless killing of eleven year old Rhys Jones.

As an American, I had never heard of this terrible tragedy in the UK.

One thing is for sure, and familiar. Justice is a frustrating process, and one full of bureaucracy and achingly slow chain of command, and disappointing losses. It truly feels as though the criminals have more rights than the victims. And yet, holding out hope is inherently natural.

The actors are EXCELLENT in this series. Especially impressed with the actress Sinéad Keenan as the little boys mother. Strange that I do not recall seeing her in any other works. (and I mainly watch UK shows) Brian F. O'Byrne is also very impressive. Stephen Graham brings his charisma, and talent, effectively as well. Good to see Stephen Walters (eternally missed as Angus, on Outlander) in this too. All of the characters are worthy of attention and praise really.

The subject matter is hard, and heartbreaking.

The punks responsible = infuriating!

I find the way these sons speak to their mums hard to believe and absolutely abhorrent. It's cringe worthy. As a child, and as an adult, I would never have spoken to my mum or dad, or any family member in that way. It's so ugly, and quite shocking to view such portrayals. What a glimpse into horrid family dysfunction, and what is acceptable, or tolerated, behavior. And yes I realize these are dramatizations, and troubled kids in gang related territorial violence, but still.

Very glad I found this to view on BritBox this weekend.

Job well done by ALL.

Just wish it weren't a true story.

This is absolutely heart braking to watch, I defy anybody to watch this without shedding a tear. Based on the tragic real life events of young Rhys Jones, and his horrific and tragic murder. I understand that the parents of young Rhys were involved in the production of this drama, and I think that definitely helps with the grit and realism of the show, it doesn't feel like it's been sensationalised at any point, it feels very realistic.

Fantastic performances all round, I have forever been a fan of Stephen Graham, but he has gone up a notch with this, he's proved what an incredibly powerful actor he is.

It's tough viewing, and I've watched every episode in tears, but it's a story that is worth seeing, what that poor family went through. The scenes in Goodison Park are among the most powerful I've seen in years.

9/10

This mini-series is an emotional rollercoaster. The actors in the British crime dramas are from top to bottom, off the charts good, and this one is just is no different. And this is based on a true story.

Few people in the United Kingdom will not have heard of the murder of Rhys Jones, an eleven-year-old boy from a middle-class family in Liverpool killed unintentionally by 16-year-old Sean Mercer, a low- level drug dealer who fired a revolver at two rival gang members over a postcode.

It was the innocence of Rhys, a promising child with aspirations of playing for Everton Football Club that brought the attention of the national media on the case. The police were under tremendous pressure to bring the killer and those who supplied the gun to justice while the gang did their best to intimidate potential witnesses and pass off the murder onto a completely innocent party. This superb four-part drama, written by Jeff Pope tells the story of how those involved in both the murder and the concealing of the evidence were eventually brought to trial and the impact that Rhys death had on his parents, the investigating officers, and the local community. Bring the remorseless murderer to trial proved a complex issue, with two innocent families court in the middle of the lies of his alibi.

The drama follows three narrative strands - The witness who was forced to hide the gun (an excellent performance from relative newcomer Michael Moran) and the family whose fragile son (An appropriately vulnerable performance from Nathan Clark-Smith) Rhys Parents (Sinead Keenan in her best ever performance as the Mum and Brian F O'Bryne finally getting the sort of meaty role he deserves) and the police investigation team led by Detective Dave Kelly (Stephen Graham whose versatility continues to expand with every performance) and DCI Mark Guinness (The always superb Stephen Walters in a very grounded role)

Through these three narratives, we see the extreme pressures everyone was under both to stay in a wall of silence or break the case and bring the killers of Rhys to justice. One of the reasons this drama works so well is because of the generous four episodes, which gives adequate screen time to convey the truthfulness of each characters journey and the actor's performances which makes for a stronger production. It is good to see ITV drama giving this sort of material the running time that it so richly deserves.

All the cast here doing a fantastic job including those portraying murderer Mercer his accomplices but the real stand out performance for me was that of the conflicted Kevin Moody (Portrayed by Michael Moran) the one witness the police depended on in order to conflict the intimidating Mercer.

I read somewhere that the senior policewoman stated having watched this production that she was displeased with her portrayal in the show. I find it hard to believe that these scenes were in anyway fictional, knowing the pressure they were under to get a result in this case and how the upper echelons of the police always behave in such circumstances. To its credit LLB did not end with the conviction of those involved followed by a brief summary. A good number of scenes were shown after the case, covering the impact on the marriage of the parents and the other lives affected by the actions of Mercer. It is incredulous that the killer and his accomplices (Most of whom are now out of prison) had no remorse for the killing of Rhys whatsoever and it is this vagrant display of complete lack of empathy for causing the loss of life which makes this show have such wider viewing implications beyond the case it deals with. As Mrs Rhys says at one point 'Our Rhys was not in the wrong place at the wrong time, Sean Mercer was when he fired that gun'

Essential and compelling viewing and an outstanding credit for everyone who worked on the production.

A story of gang violence people across the world are all to familiar with. Little 'Men' thinking they are 'big'..with iron on their hands.. sadly no amount of tattoos or owning a Glock..will ever make you a man, that take's hard work and guts.

Brilliantly made and acted, if it was a Soap, no one would believe it. but unfortunately, yeah this happened. Hope our cousins in the USA will watch this and stop legally buying guns. They always end up for re- sale..in the wrong hands. #peace