Midwinter of the Spirit

I liked the first episode of Midwinter of the Spirit, and look forward to future episodes. The biggest complaint I have is one that is fairly constant for many series and mini-series - the background noises, whether music or other sound effects, often overpower the dialogue. Some actors easily overcome this problem because their voices carry well enough that they can be heard and understood. Other actors are, naturally I suppose, more soft spoken, and I have to strain to understand what they are saying. For me, this really takes away from my enjoyment of the show. I found this to be true of this show, as much as any other. Otherwise, my rating would have been higher. I wish those in charge of sound effects would be more cognizant of this. As for those soft-spoken actors, I would exhort them to SPEAK UP!

Good supernatural drama these days on TV is as rare as Hen's teeth, as the saying goes.

Well done to ITV for presenting new and original drama such as this which the BBC has long given up doing.

I didn't previously know about the novels upon which this series was based.

In any event, there is a real hunger, I am sure, for non-formulaic supernatural/crime drama and I do hope to see another series.

All the performances were top-notch and the production values were good.

For those who have belief in these things, the fate of the world is not determined by sociological forces but by what perhaps the Middle Ages more clearly saw as the eternal struggle between Good and evil.

This was frustrating. I've read a few of Phil Rickman's books, including a couple of the Merrily Watkins stories so I was predisposed to like this ITV version.

There were lots of good things (creepy atmos,scary looking spirit, David Threlfall) but for me these were all outweighed by just how pathetic the lead character was. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for having a flawed lead character but there's a fine line between 'flawed' and 'utterly useless' and Anna Maxwell Martin's inappropriately named Merrily lands the wrong side of that line. Rubbish as a mother, evidently a poor wife, an unconvincing clergy, pill-popping, fag-smoking, heavy drinking car crash of a character, she blunders through each episode making a mess of every situation she finds herself in.

I'm not suggesting she should be an ecclesiastical Jack Reacher but I just can't stay interested in a character with so few redeeming features. Shame.

The premise sounded good, but it could've been better executed. Needed another episode to give the story some breathing room. More time for some character development at the beginning and more substantial detective work in the plot.

Anna Maxwell Martin's character was rushed into her 'alternate' frame of mind so soon there wasn't a perceptible transition. We needed to see her as a strong willed character that went 'limp'. What we got was just a limp, wilted portrayal. I've seen her in other things, she's quite good at playing strong characters -- this time she didn't have the chance.

Overall it was a jumbled, blurry story rushed to conclusion with abrupt 'ah-ha' revelations during the last 20 minutes. Just 1 more episode could've given it the space needed to be something much better.