The Walk-In

I absolutely adore Stephen Graham who chooses tough, hard hitting drama rather than any routine roles offered to him.

So it's personally disappointing to only give this a 7/10 because I think it could have been so much better.

The real life situations are hard enough to bear, but when dramatised then I just felt that they should have had more impact.

Acting was great, direction was a bit iffy and the editing was bearable.

But here was something missing which I can't quite put my finger on.

Maybe there was more of a story here regarding the conversion of Graham's character, or a deeper analysis of the different right wing factions and how they differed from each other and what drove them apart.

I could be alone in this, but I was disappointed.

I thought Stephen Graham was truly fantastic in this gritty true to life turn of events that shows what actually happened in a real life case of an MP being murdered and all of the associated nonsense that went about prior to it happening.

It's a nonsensical and totally ridiculous murder that has the grounds for the entire story, but the way we get there is truly terrifying and very much an eye opener. As ever, Graham delivers an amazing performance and his supporting cast deliver a truly wonderful act of bringing us a masterpiece of British TV.

This is a hard watch but not because of brutal scenes, more that it requires a sane head to be able to compute it all.

Stephen Graham as always is amazing, being mixed race himself I love seeing him in these roles, similer to his work on This is England.

The story tracks showing how young, disenfranchised, confused lads can be sucked into the far right and for how some of the quickly see this isnt the violent world they want to be apart of.

The show trys to offer a fair representation of the modern far right, without the usual over the top portrayl of racist, drunk, dumb, working class louts. The show also quite rightly suggests that the rise in domestic islamic terrorism has pushed the far right to more aggressive retaliation and may be a reason alot of english lads sign up.

Worth a watch.

A far right group active in The UK plot to kill a second MP, and target several minority groups, one of the members reaches out to activist, Matthew Collins, who writes anti fascist content.

Hard viewing, it is very uncomfortable to watch at times, the first couple of episodes feature some truly harrowing and upsetting content, you will see some sickening events, truly the worst of humanity, fortunately there's a glimmer of hope.

Stephen Graham, one of my favourite actors, I think he just has it, whatever it is, he has tonnes of it, when he's on screen, I watch, he is tremendous here, credit also to Leanne Best and Andrew Ellis, the acting made this drama. Chris Coghill was excellent too, talk about wild eyed.

I've spoken to a few people that said they couldn't get through episode one, that it was too much, what I would say, is that it is less harrowing towards the end.

Very well produced, superbly acted, it felt very realistic. I appreciate this show isn't for everyone, but I'd recommend it, entertaining as well as informative.

I loved the tribute they made to murdered MP Jo Cox, a tragedy that should never have happened.

8/10.

It goes without saying that if Stephen Graham's name is listed on a new drama series, then you know it is an excellent bet to watch.

And The Walk-In is just that. A hard-hitting and tough drama to watch. Based on real events, amidst the shocking murder of Jo Cox in 2016 - a week before the Brexit Referendum - this drama series is raw, gripping and highly disturbing throughout. The script was authentic and most sensitive to what really happened during this time. The direction was very intelligent balancing some very difficult scenes with humanity and sensitivity.

The acting was superior throughout but the stand-out performance for me was Robbie Mullen's character played by Andrew Ellis: he simply lived and breathed the role and it would not be unfair to say he gave Stephen Graham a run for his money. He has a bright TV future ahead.

This is yet another top-notch drama series to hit our screens and yet another which more than delivers.

I highly recommend.