Collision

After a slightly slow beginning and maybe an episode to get used to the several lines of converging storytelling, as well as the numerous flashback back stories, this high quality drama starts to become somewhat riveting. The highly proficient cast do superb justice to the fantastic script, and the viewer will see many faces here that went on to successful careers. It's nearly a decade old but that doesn't seem to distract from the quality or watchability. It's terrific, a many layered jigsaw puzzle that delights. The opening credit sequence is bland, but mercifully short. Everything is working well here. Highly recommended.

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.

"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.

An excellent premise with a range of interesting interwoven subplots. Well acted. A couple of gaffes though: (1) the secretary is abducted by her boss and his cronies (who murder her) and driven away in front of the Police inspector (Douglas Henshall) who simply stands there with a bewildered look in his face.... Never heard of radio or mobile phones? In real life the police would've stopped that car within minutes.... (2) the duplicitous whistle-blower begs the police inspector to help him as his life is in danger. The inspector (poor old Henshall again) refuses. A serious disciplinary offence. For a police officer to ignore a cry for help from someone known to be in mortal danger would cost him not just his job, but probably his liberty as well....