London Kills

What is the fixation with London Transport buses? EVERY street scene used to connect plot changes has several buses passing through. We get that this is London. Not necessary to have buses passing by time and time and time again. Also, how about a different view of the police building and the CCTV sign? The technique of having actors exchange knowing glances is tedious as is the out of focus shots inside the police station. Why does Vivienne always show up after the two constables at each opening murder scene. Not much imagination. It could be better. Aside than all those negative comments we watched and enjoyed the series.

Great story lines, but every time there is an office scene phones are ringing in the background... I understand they want to make it realistic but it's just a bit tooooooooo much.. can you get an extra actor to answer these calls?

It's watchable. Considering the base material, the acting is OK. But the plot is full of holes, the dialogue is corny and predictable, and the intrigue and character psychology are below soap-standard mushy. Oh, and it's directed like a soap, too. The UK have a strong tradition of producing quality police procedurals, usually with strong plots and characters: Prime suspect, GBH, Luther, LIne of Duty, Bodyguard, and the list goes on... Unfortunately, this is not one of these. I guess, aside from the expensive cars (a DI drives an executive merc that is usually marketed to successful senior executives and entrepreneurs!) they didn't have much money to shoot this one and it shows a bit as well. So this sums it all up: not much script, not much money, not much talent, yielding very average entertainment. They should save resources and not make a second series: no one will lose any sleep not knowing who killed the DI's wife. Just saw the end of series 2: it's even worse than I originally thought. I hope they don't make series 3.

What are some of these reviewers talking about ? I just watched this show i think its brilliant like other Brit shows like Line Of Duty .There are some really good quality shows coming out of the uk right now this is definetly one of them.

When BBC's daytime soap opera does off air it is replaced by some good dramas. Shakespeare and Hathaway have been great in the last year. This summer we have been given London Kills. A detective drama focused on Hugo Speer's droll murder detective whose wife has been missing for 3 months. The first thing to say is that the acting is good. It's a solid script and the main cast work well together. The issues start to arise with the repetitive nature. Murder happens, wiring person confesses, right person is caught and it starts again. Always sitting in the background is the missing wife storyline. It's hinted at but not really explained. The main issue though is the ludicrously low budget. The main office has no one else working in it, the cafes and pubs are empty and the streets are equally empty which all takes away the realism. It is a shame because actually it is not a bad series. It just doesn't flow that well and feels a tad clunky at times. That said the writers have done a decent job and there have been much worse programmes and will be worse.

The show has secured a season so may well grow but for now its a case of not bad but low budget does soil certain aspects of the snow.