The Escape Artist

You might love or hate this piece, however one thing is absolutely sure: David Tennant has given us some brilliant acting in this show, and even if it is for that only it deserves 10/10.

Well, we love David Tennant (late of his Phileas Fogg presentation on PBS & Dr. Who, in the past). So, when this 2013 entry popped up on PBS-Prime, we jumped at the chance. Tennant plays an emerging Brit Solicitor (defence attorney) who is undefeated. Hence, he is given a case involving a nasty young man who (allegedly) ritualistically murdered a young female.

Tennant is happily married, with an adolescent son of his own in this 3-part story. He has misgivings about the case, but finds a way to get a result. Sadly, soon, things begin to go wrong. No spoilers here, but in part 3, Tennant is forced to take drastic action to protect himself & son. The outcome was nothing like one might expect, and, really incongruent to the story we started with.

I often find Brit mystery shows will deliberately omit details or fabricate plot holes to make the story work. Most of these are forgivable, but, in this story, it almost seems the writers had an axe to grind with the courts allowing dodgy defence tactics to win acquittals. I enjoyed the first 2 episodes, but the closing was WAY out of left field. No problem with the performances, mind you-but I would like to have a long chat with the writer.

7/10.

BBC Crime has always been a certain sign of quality - I have never discontinued any of their series because of disturbing implausibility or something. On the other hand, as so many similar works are created monthly, it is evident that not all can be up to par or they just do not bespeak you as much.

The Escape Artist is such a series where the share of court events and dramatics sometimes tend to overshadow the thrill and the urge to find out what was really the case. David Tennant as Will Burton, Sophie Okonedo as Maggie Gardner, Toby Kebbell as Liam Foyle are more than good, but often the aridity of scenes with-around them does not bring the suspense along as it could be. Still, the logic of events remains and some steps odd at first obtain the satisfactory solution and motivation later on. Bearing in mind Burton´s profession, the final outcome is logical as well.

Thus, the performances excel the script decidedly, but 3 episodes only let you dig yourself not in too big redundancy or have blah! feelings. Watch it, ponder a bit and then find other works where the stars of this series perform :)

This is very important. if you enjoyed this series, stop here. seriously stop. reviews here have combed the plot to within an inch of its life.

if you have no knowledge of UK courtrooms, like me (i have no idea if the complaints in other reviews about court procedures hold water) and decided to excuse stupid actions to human failings then you can enjoy this immensely. i don't know if i'm trying to excuse plot holes here or if the writers meant for his characters to make seemingly stupid decisions deliberately. ppl do insane things everyday. look around you, reality is illogical.

at least everyone can agree David Tennant killed it here and the last episode made it worthwhile. the last 10 min were nerve wreaking. my heart was beating so hard, i couldn't breathe or move i could only stare mouthing "wow"

As others have pointed out, there are irritating problems with logic throughout the story. But I found the show clearly worth viewing - because the dialog was great, the premise was a good one, the acting and directing were outstanding, I cared about the characters, and the ending was satisfying.

The writing of a screenplay has a number of important components, and not every good writer is a master of all. David Wolstencroft was the author, and his dialog is very good, his character development excellent, the basic scenario good, his plot creativity good, his resolution of the story rather brilliant. His one fault, as I see it - and it's a big one for me - is believability. In order to advance his story, he resorts to plot twists that defy logic, and characters who act stupidly and have emotions that don't fit - and he does it over and over. A serious failing. I've often thought that every screenplay that wants to be considered as serious art should go through a logic evaluation process before screening.

Still, it was a riveting series, and I couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. I worried about some of the characters, the villain was memorable, and I loved the ending; it was so clever that a little implausibility there didn't ruin it for me.