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!

Excellent mini-series. This is how I want to watch TV (I'm 8 years late with the review but it's currently on ITVX). Succinct, compact, no wasted or drawn-out scenes. Three eposodes is perfect. Get it over with in a night.

Okay, so it's a little predictable villain-wise, but it weaves mysticism, religion, history, probably a fair bit of mumbo-jumbo, family problems, and is creepy enough to make you check that your doors are all locked before you turn in at night.

It's also a detective story as much as anything; think the da Vinci Code in Hereford. Sort of.

Get a bottle of wine out and knock yourself out.

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.

Bravo ITV, I cannot remember the last time I saw a new drama from ITV that was even remotely creepy or as dark as this.

Really well made, well written, it's just a shame that it only consisted of three parts, I'm not sure if there is mileage for further episodes, but let's hope it's revisited.

Of the three episodes, the first part was definitely the best, very dark obviously, but well structured, the second was excellent, and the third still good, but a little off the first two.

The series focuses primarily on Merilly, she focuses on actual demons and her own personal demons. Trying to bring up her 16 year old daughter single handedly after the death of her husband who'd been having an affair. The Police call in Merilly to help with a Satantic killing and a world of nasties is opened up.

Really well acted, I love Anna Maxwell Martin, a great actress, ITV need to find her a top notch role after disastrously axing The Bletchley Circle. David Threlfall is always a joy to watch, as is Siobhan Finneran. Leila Mimmack is wonderful as the creepy Rowenna.

Excellent production values, they looked really good, very slick, the music used was really good too, though I would agree with an earlier poster that it was a little invasive on times.

Creepy as hell 10/10