A Confession

For all of you who want to watch filmmaking at its best, this is compulsory. Great performances and amazing directing by one of the best directors of his generation. Bravo!!

In 1984, when the Police and Criminal Evidence Act replaced the antiquated Judges Rules, nobody could have foreseen the dreadful consequences that this drama so vividly portrays. It would have been inconceivable that police procedures would have become paramount and the realities of dead bodies and grieving relatives judicially disregarded.

This story should be compulsory viewing for anyone who cares about our criminal justice system. The background and sub-plots are exceptionally realistic and the acting is superb. An excellent programme.

The series started a little slowly and I worried it was going to be a bit by the numbers but it definitely got better. The best writing and performances were around the families. Jeff Pope took us into their worlds and in truth I wanted more of it and less of the cops!

ITV have a tenancy to make all their crime dramas about the same thing - middle aged, white male cop fights for the truth, to catch the killer even if it means he has to swim against the tide. And this was no exception - the same story again.

But the cutaways to the families and the sensitive story telling in these areas made this one a cut above.

Also Joe Absolom was outstanding as the killer trying to evade detection. Watch it for the family stories which I won't spoiler her, the nuanced writing around their very different battles and for a stand out award worthy perfomance from Absolom.

I can't understand all the pedantic reviews about camerawork,this is a great drama spoilt only because it's shown on itv interrupting the flow of the story,also I think Martin freeman is a great actor in everything he has played.the trouble with this is it's spread over so many weeks I will download the remaining episodes and binge.Once again cannot understand the negative reviews.

I know Steve Fulcher and know the police. This is a 'good' story and a solid representation of how poor the management levels of the British Police are. Steve was totally screwed over by his supervisors, which in-turn led to failures in the case. Anyway! It's good TV and worth a look as it is pretty real to life and based around Steve's book about this part of his life.