Collision

Collision, from across the pond, was apparently a five-hour miniseries, cut to just over three for DVD. It stars Douglas Henshall, Lucy Griffiths, Kate Ashfield, Philip Davis, Sylvia Syms, Paul McGann, and Matt Ryan.

It's a sort of Bridge of San Luis Rey with vehicles. John Tolin (Henshall) is a police detective who has had some sadness in his life, though we're not sure what when the story begins. He has a wheelchair-bound daughter (Jo Woodcock) about to go to college and no wife.

Tolin agrees to investigate a multi-car collision on the A12 highway which killed three people. He and another investigator (Kate Ashfield) work together in spite of having been involved in a relationship that ended badly.

The investigation leads to more questions than it answers. Tolin delves into the lives of the people involved and finds corporate espionage, an unexplained death, smuggling, and someone living under an alias; one person, driving an antiques van, has disappeared.

After the accident, there is a murder and another death, and a married man seemingly falls for a younger woman he met as a direct result of the accident.

Low-key, compelling drama that will keep you guessing.

This is a smart and intelligent mystery. John Tolin is a police detective (Douglas Henshall) who is asked to investigate a pileup on a minor highway (A12) outside London. Three people are killed and Tolin reviews the evidence to find out what caused the crash. He ends up probing into the lives of ten people caught up in the accident. What starts as a straight forward car accident quickly turns into a story full of twists and turns as the police start to dig. Tolin unravels a number of mysteries which involve murder, smuggling, whistle blowing and a government cover-up. There are another couple of deaths after the accident.

The characters are ordinary people with complicated lives and the acting is excellent. Douglas Henshall who plays a scientist on "Primeval" is playing a policeman with problems. He's tough, tenacious, damaged and flawed. Also examining the crash is Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield) who seems to be a former lover. She was also the love interest in Shaun of the Dead.

The cast is full of experienced and recognizable British character actors who have appeared in numerous films and shows like Chariots of Fire (Nicholas Farrell), Vera Drake (Philip Davis), Valkyrie (David Bamber), Robin Hood (Lucy Griffiths) and Hornblower (Paul McGann). I have been living abroad and fondly remembered Jan Francis from Secret Army and Just Good Friends. She was very attractive in the 1970s but is now playing pensioners, which made me feel old.

Collision grabs your attention and is very enjoyable. However there were a few loose ends which I felt were not satisfactorily tied up. Overall, I would recommend the series.

Excellent TV mini-series that doesn't suffer from the "Netflix effect" - making things long just because you can.

Each of the 5 (yes, only 5) episodes it tight & moves the plot along nicely, without a lot of the fluff or filler you often see in series 8 or 10 episodes long.

The acting is superb, and the casting for each part was impeccable. All the actors look as well as act the part. And it all looked & felt real - none of the "oh come on, no one would do that" I often yell at the TV.

Does show how random parts of life can be.

Highly recommended.

"Collision" is a very engaging, human type of thriller. There's a certain air of improbability to the script, however. It's not so much that there's such a wide cross-section of people represented here (that goes without saying in a country so diverse as England), it's the fact that everyone has such a complicated network of secrets and lies which are directly or indirectly exposed by the crash. The acting is mostly very, very good. Douglas Henshall makes an especially engaging leading man. He acts his character on a more personal level, feels more familiar than most police characters. He's really what makes this miniseries work.

The script is really quite brilliant, in its own way. The final conclusion makes you see the big picture with a sort of completeness that makes all the preceding events come into clearer focus. Not something you could watch twice, but it's certainly worth seeing.

An excellent premise with a range of interesting interwoven subplots. Well acted. A couple of gaffes though: (1) the secretary is abducted by her boss and his cronies (who murder her) and driven away in front of the Police inspector (Douglas Henshall) who simply stands there with a bewildered look in his face.... Never heard of radio or mobile phones? In real life the police would've stopped that car within minutes.... (2) the duplicitous whistle-blower begs the police inspector to help him as his life is in danger. The inspector (poor old Henshall again) refuses. A serious disciplinary offence. For a police officer to ignore a cry for help from someone known to be in mortal danger would cost him not just his job, but probably his liberty as well....