Collision

Interesting spin on the usual police investigation story, that starts with the incident and then unravels the story over the 5 episodes as the main characters piece together what happened. Douglas Henshall is excellent as usual, in his trademark moody Scottish leadership role (see 'Shetland' for more Henshall) and the background story move along reasonably well. This had so much potential, with the calibre of the acting and the plot, it could have easily have been renewed for more than one outing, if only the producers had the foresight to take the format forward. The basic premise of the show, that of a road traffic accident and the subsequent investigation of all the many variables that led up to the crash, offers the possibility of many different season arcs as the characters investigate different scenarios over a number of episodes. If this had been an American show, I'm sure it would have been renewed.

Nice twist at the end, which adds a whole new dimension to the whole story :)

"Collision" is a very engaging, human type of thriller. There's a certain air of improbability to the script, however. It's not so much that there's such a wide cross-section of people represented here (that goes without saying in a country so diverse as England), it's the fact that everyone has such a complicated network of secrets and lies which are directly or indirectly exposed by the crash. The acting is mostly very, very good. Douglas Henshall makes an especially engaging leading man. He acts his character on a more personal level, feels more familiar than most police characters. He's really what makes this miniseries work.

The script is really quite brilliant, in its own way. The final conclusion makes you see the big picture with a sort of completeness that makes all the preceding events come into clearer focus. Not something you could watch twice, but it's certainly worth seeing.

Ten masterfully interwoven human stories that come together and are teased apart in a multi-car highway accident. If they had only given us closure on all the stories involved, I would have rated it a 10. I won't spoil it by getting more specific because this is really worth watching. Douglas Henshall who later played a similar lead role in Shetland is incredible and alone worth the cost of admission.

This is a smart and intelligent mystery. John Tolin is a police detective (Douglas Henshall) who is asked to investigate a pileup on a minor highway (A12) outside London. Three people are killed and Tolin reviews the evidence to find out what caused the crash. He ends up probing into the lives of ten people caught up in the accident. What starts as a straight forward car accident quickly turns into a story full of twists and turns as the police start to dig. Tolin unravels a number of mysteries which involve murder, smuggling, whistle blowing and a government cover-up. There are another couple of deaths after the accident.

The characters are ordinary people with complicated lives and the acting is excellent. Douglas Henshall who plays a scientist on "Primeval" is playing a policeman with problems. He's tough, tenacious, damaged and flawed. Also examining the crash is Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield) who seems to be a former lover. She was also the love interest in Shaun of the Dead.

The cast is full of experienced and recognizable British character actors who have appeared in numerous films and shows like Chariots of Fire (Nicholas Farrell), Vera Drake (Philip Davis), Valkyrie (David Bamber), Robin Hood (Lucy Griffiths) and Hornblower (Paul McGann). I have been living abroad and fondly remembered Jan Francis from Secret Army and Just Good Friends. She was very attractive in the 1970s but is now playing pensioners, which made me feel old.

Collision grabs your attention and is very enjoyable. However there were a few loose ends which I felt were not satisfactorily tied up. Overall, I would recommend the series.

I'm not going to describe what's going on in the film because others have but I must say this is a keeper.

I bought the DVD and have seen it 5 times now.

Of course it's easy to watch Douglas Henshall... any time especially his voice.. whew...

Story line is believable and the writing is top notch. Incredible film.

I have a friend who has trouble hearing things, so I turned on the closed captions . . makes it easier to understand words not familiar to us folks over across the pond from the UK.

Top marks, y'all. It's really a great show. Thank you