Without Sin

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

Stella (Vicky McClure) gets by driving a night cab, but carries a dark burden. A few years ago, her daughter was found dead by her at home, with the suspect, Charles (Johnny Harris) fleeing. Now in jail for her daughter's murder, Charles has reached out to Stella, asking to speak with her via a Restorative Justice meeting. Persuaded to go along by an intermediary, Stella is shocked when Charles begs his innocence, shouting out a name that he says will prove this. It all leads to a devastating showdown with a local crime family, but the truth may be more disturbing than either of them could have imagined.

In a time where terrestrial TV struggles to compete with the vast array of streaming services dominating the market, it's good to know there's still plenty of homegrown dramas put out by the mainstream channels, capable of competing with the endless stream of content offered by those. Without Sin, from writer Frances Poletti and director AI Mackay, proves to be one such example, an assured, capable four part production that has a rewarding pay off.

The dark subject matter is given a suitably bleak presentation, with Mackay shooting his project in a fittingly saturated, blurry style throughout. This is matched by the lead performances, with McClure leading the show, shining brightly as a woman who's had the life and soul beaten out of her, exploding in certain scenes, most notably in a scene over a motorway bridge. Harris is always perfect in these dark, sinister roles, and here he carries it away as a seeming monster, who may not be all he seems. It all pays off with a genuinely unexpected, shock twist that you're diverted from guessing.

There's little in the way of laughs, so anyone wanting humour and light may look elsewhere, but as a firm, solid thriller, it does all the right things and pays off quite fine. ****

Gotta say that was fantastic and gripping from the start to finish. I won't put spoilers as I hate that happening. But it's definitely worth a watch. I was only watching one episode ended up till 2am watched all four of them. The actors and acting was exceptional as always with some of the people in it. I honestly don't think Vicky McClure as ever been in anything bad. She becomes the person she is playing so well and she is just one of the best actresses ever. A few actors from this us England is always good to see. Looking for my next series now for my my next Saturday off work. Watch it guys you will not regret it.

Interesting story. The usual. Wrong guy. Predators. People playing detective. Plot twists. Plot holes. Revenge. Misguided loyalties. Retribution. Struck by an ornament. Justice. Blah. Etc. Etc. But all I saw was that WIG. And that hat. Very distracting. Why couldn't she have had short hair. The short hair she had when her life was ok. Does a blonde bob equal a success hottie and a mousey shoulder length wig equals a depressed stoner... Doesn't make sense and adds nothing to the programme apart from a very distracting wig and beanies. Have I mentioned the wig?

But, seriously though, I can't get past that awful wig, it's so bad she has to spend the entire series wearing a hat to cover up the join, apart from when she has sex, oh and sits on a sofa, oh and loses it at the end, (they must've used gorilla glue for that part.) I think they must've got the wig off Ebay or maybe from Shein... Not sure but it ruined it for me. And it's so obviously a wig. I found the wig very distracting. If you watched it and didn't notice or get annoyed by the wig then you should be more wig aware. Oh and the ending is very Midsummer Murders!!!

I like this short British series, it is well written and directed with two stand out performances from Vicky McClure and Johnny Harris. From the start the plot takes you quickly to the tension and excitement of 'who did it'? 'what is true and what is not'?.

I am sure that the plot is going to divide some people. I found it a very interesting story with a great message. So I found ridiculous to let a wig distract you from the main topic in a good series with a great theme, it is something different for once.

Don't miss it if you want to learn something, I did! If you have teenage children you can watch it with them, relevant and important.

Judge for yourself, but only when you watch it in its entirety, it's only 4 episodes.

The earthy allure of Vicky McClure is always a welcome attraction to any show and kept me watching through what felt like a run-of-the-mill ITV drama viewers have come accustomed to in the past decade or so but, fear not, there is a lot more to this story with a great twist in the tail to the whodunit in thd final episode.

There is thd obligatory policeman but being a police an isn't key to the character role and also thd smattering of ethnic minorities that the woke brigade insists upon these days but this us set in a provincial UK city so sort of depicts the population you would see.

There are a few dodgy Nottingham accents "me duck" but doesn't put you off the story too much if you only know London, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle accents.

Well worth watching but there is some filler there too.