The Ghost Squad

In the first episode we follow a police complaints division investigation into brutality accusations at a police station. The drama is shown from the point of view of Amy, a young female officer who's 'collar' is murdered in an interview room. As she tries to clear her name during the 'lock-down' no-one can be trusted, and the division between right and wrong blurs remarkably. This is a well made TV drama that shows off the talents of Elaine Cassidy well. My only gripe is that the makers had the chance to break the mould for this kind of drama and chose not to do so. Too many drama series produced today make use of the narrative style of showing things from the viewpoint of a single central character; it has become a writers cliché. The obvious conclusion of the first episode was that Amy was going to join the undercover squad after showing her mettle; she gave such a strong performance right from the outset that it became a foregone conclusion. How much more intriguing (and difficult) it would have been had they used the tension created during an internal investigation by showing it from the point of view of the people it affected, moving on to a new investigation and new central character each week.

It is really hard to give a series a 10 because no one is perfect. So, the best I could come up with is I found the shaky camera technique (which was downright annoying on NYPD Blue) unnecessary.

The acting, writing, production, direction, etc all get 10s. Warning: this show is so intense at times that you miss the subtleties, and so subtle at times that you miss the intensity.

I really enjoyed this 8 part series, largely due to the lead character's convincing evolution from episode to episode. It is not light stuff, and the good cop bad cop plots tackle serious issues of law enforcement ethics and the slippery morality of undercover "internal affairs" cops. Though the lead good cop, played by Elaine Cassidy, succeeds in most of her missions, the result is rarely satisfying to the character or the audience, as tragically flawed cops get caught in traps and slippery career-minded superiors operate behind the scenes. Cassidy is quite good, creating a character who progresses from gung-ho righteousness to grim determination; she is both manipulated and manipulating.

In some ways, the blurry morality and internal affairs theme reminds me of The Shield. For an American who doesn't watch a whole lot of British cop TV, it also provided an interesting insight into police work on that side of the pond. Unfortunately, the photography and editing can be distractingly bad, and yet the excellent acting and thought provoking perspective on police ethics more than make up for technical shortcomings. Kudos especially to Cassidy, who has proved herself an astonishingly versatile actress in recent years.

I started watching this show on youtube.com after becoming a fan of Elaine Cassidy. I fell in love with the show right away. I was looking around for the DVD, but it isn't available in region 1 as far as I can tell. It looks like you can preorder the 10 disc DVD from Amazon.co.uk (region 2), although some sites will tell you that it isn't going to be made available on DVD. Anyway, I am a fan of the show and was really sad to learn that it had been cancelled after only one season. I think that the producers gave up on it way too soon. I think they should have waited to see if more people became familiar with it come the second season. I am certain that the ratings would have improved had people actually watched it. I live in the US and liken their cancellation of the show to the cancellation of Alias or 24 after only the first season. I would most definitely watch it if it were to return to TV. I just think the producers should know what viewers think and so I am sharing my 2 cents.

Thanks.

It was one of the best series I have watched in a while. It is of such a compelling high standard but with an interesting twist in the last episode, which brings in the human element. The story line was quite different and shown a different part of policing otherwise never seen before. Dramas from the UK always impress me with the great scenery, even if it is in the middle of London. The cast of Elaine Cassidy as Detective Amy Harris,

Emma Fielding Detective Superintendent, Jonas Armstrong as the support detective was well cast and scripted, however I felt that the casting of 'Amy' as such a young detective may be unrealistic, but maybe thats part of the cover.

very enjoyable