Messiah: The Harrowing

I have been a fan of the Messiah series since its beginning way back. The first story was a masterclass in the crime genre being influenced by some of the great cinematic thrillers (namely Se7en). The next two were somewhat of a disappointment (although never being THAT bad) as they never quite reached the dizzy heights of the first Messiah. And now we get to Messiah IV: The Harrowing.

This is a return to form for Red and his team. Gone are the sub plots concerning his wife or the rest of the squad (although one of his squad are linked to one of the deaths that kicks off the story). This allows for a tighter story that keeps the Police/Killer relationship central to the narrative.

Without going into detail the killer in this instance is offing people in the manner that sinners are punished in Dante's Inferno. This literary reference lifts this thriller into something out of the ordinary.

Cracking acting from all (especially Ken Stott whom I hope continues to make these ad infinitum) and some great directing ensures an excellent 3 hours worth of television.

My only problem is with the writer who seems to have shamelessly ripped off Matthew Pearl's superb novel 'The Dante Club'. If this is not the case then I would like to be proved wrong.

Above all: a return to form for my favourite BBC drama.

The first episode of this three-part thriller (fourth in the series) was definitely tip-top in my opinion. It offered all the gore and mystery that kept us glued to our seats during the first Messiah instalment (maybe the other two as well, but not all would agree).

However, the pace and development of the story seemed to be lacking once the Dante connection to the murders was found. While still thrilling and gruesome, the plot became a little complicated to decipher. Personally, I love murder mystery thrillers to be spell-ed out to me, so that I leave happy in the knowledge that I know everything, and I have no unanswered questions.

Still hoping that all would become clear, I watched the final episode intently. Again, it was definitely worth watching, but be warned - if you're lazy like me and want everything to be made very clear, or not clever enough to latch on to what's going on, you may be left a little unsatisfied.

If you're new to the Messiah series, I would definitely recommend the first one, at least as a starting point. This one is still worth a look, though.

'Messiah' is an incredibly compelling show and should have lasted longer.

It got off to a great start with a thrillingly taut and uncompromisingly disturbing first series, the second series was every bit as strong but while still solid because of the difference in tone, the over-obviousness and ridiculousness of the final solution and the wrong characters being underused the third series disappointed a bit.

"The Harrowing", the fourth series of 'Messiah', is a return to form, and to me it's the best since the first series and comes close to outdoing it. It looks great, there is a great deal of atmosphere and it's all beautifully and stylishly filmed. It's ominously but never over-bearingly or intrusively scored, some of the music is effectively understated, and the direction doesn't let the tension slip, the atmosphere to dissipate or the pace to rush or plod.

Writing is thoughtful and tautly structured, while the story draws one in right from the start and never lets go, it's tightly paced, suspenseful and apart from getting a tad complicated in places it's always cohesive. It also never feels bloated from trying to do too much or too thin from not having enough going on. The murders are inventive and harrowing, and the final solution is the best of all five series to me, it's the most shocking, the most plausible in motive and the best developed.

The characters are written with much more balance and focus here, with Red actually feeling like a main character here in the way that he was too much of a supporting character in "The Promise". The acting is spot on, Ken Stott maintains his usual high standard as Red and has a riveting intensity, nothing came over as overdone to me, and Neil Dudgeon continues to excel in what I consider his best role. The supporting cast are strong, with Helen McCrory being in particular a revelation.

In summary, a return to show for 'Messiah' and the best since the first series. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Plus point - The excellent storyline, although not exactly original, keeps you in suspense the whole way through (not surprising given that it's a thriller after all) and it's highly unlikely you'll guess the ending until it arrives. Minus points - the ending is somewhat of an anti-climax and appears rushed. Ken Scott, while generally excellent as the lead character, does have a tendency to over-do it on a couple of occasions. This is the first Messiah I've seen and all-in-all, not a bad way to wind down in the evening, but unless you're a keen fan (the sort who reviews a mini-series before the last episode say), I wouldn't make a big effort to catch a repeat.

Messiah, The Harrowing remains one of the best dramas I've seen. The story is compelling, suspenseful and intensely intriguing. The story unfolds so neatly, with the killer always one step ahead of Red and co. The Dante element adds an intriguing darkness throughout, resulting in some particularly grizzly crimes.

Apart from being one of the best scripted crime dramas I can recall, it's also one of the best acted I can think of too. Maxine Peake is excellent as Vickie, I prefer her to Frances Grey's Kate. I always enjoy watching Hugo Speer, and this ranks as one of his best outings, he's emotionally charged and totally sincere. Standout performance comes from the diminutive Helen McCrory, it's no wonder she's so much in demand, I think it's fair to say she is the standout in this, she is sensational, the emotion, anger and intensity she delivers is incredible. To this day I think the rooftop scene with Red and Rachel is one of the best acted scenes I've witnessed.

If I had one criticism, it would be the exclusion of Michelle Forbes, Red's scenes with Susan always added something extra, the character's exclusion was never explained either.

Such a shame we didn't get more episodes, this deserved to run for longer, a first rate drama. 10/10