The Ghost Squad

I think this has been, in the main, a good series if a little patchy and uneven. At times, it has shown the police service in an unflattering light (casual racism, corruption, violence), but also I think has tried to be even handed by showing what a challenging, and often thankless job, modern policing is. 'Ghost Squad' has managed to avoid some of the clichés of the usual cop shows by showing the darker side of policing, the embittered front line officers etc, and how hard it is to maintain one's poise/dignity in the face of unrelenting hostility and how hard it is to do good often in the face of opposition & cynicism from one's own colleagues.

I thought the series was at its best when the cases were less sensational, the third episode in particular where Amy investigated a typical gruff front line officer possibly involved in the disappearance of a young girl. As through most of the series, the plots twisted and turned, played with your expectations with Amy discovering the information at the same time as the audience so that often, we, like her, were no nearer the truth than she was. I expect that's why the POV of the series was mostly through her character.

I enjoyed the final feature length episode though I agree with the last comment that after all the twists and turns it really did not merit a feature length. I felt uncomfortable with Amy's revelation to Gus, the officer under investigation that she was working undercover and how her handler, Mackay did not seem at all interested in her welfare but in the outcome of the case. I feel this is where fiction parted company from reality. More interesting was how Pete, her colleague, and in love with Amy himself, tried to fabricate evidence after listening to Amy & Gus making love.

The final episode disappointed slightly with its ending - though it did avoid a pat ending and left us in doubt about Gus. Credit to C4 though. Even if 'Ghost Squad' was flawed, it was nonetheless an interesting variant on cop clichés. Earlier, I watched Jack Rosenthal's reworking of 'Ready When You are Mr McGill', the work of a fine writer for TV, but also an indictment of modern TV and TV drama. Sometimes it's better to fail with an interesting experiment than peddle the same tired old rope. Writers like Dennis Potter didn't always succeed, but at least they were given the opportunity.

'Between the Lines' was one of the outstanding British television drams of the 1990s, the story of a police investigations unit. 'The Cops' was another excellent series, with its gritty, cinema-verite portrait of life on the force. 'The Ghost Squad', Channel Four's new drama, is an heir to both those series, with a premise similar to the former's, but put together in the style of the latter. And some senses, this is more of a handicap than a blessing, as the police drama is such a staple of the schedules that it's very hard for a program to appear fresh. The hand held camera work, the quick inter-cutting of scenes, the stock characters (most notably, the bitch of a boss who may or may not be trustworthy): it's all been seen before. Additionally, 'The Ghost Squad', whose investigators work undercover, sometimes seems to strain credibility. The requirements placed upon its officers seem immense, and to generate the story lines, they always have to get more personally involved in a case than is altogether desirable (or, more to the point, likely).

But 'The Ghost Squad' does also have some distinguishing characteristics of its own. By focusing on a single officer, it retains a claustrophobic feel throughout: in general, we know what she knows, nothing more. In the lead role, Elaine Cassidy is superb, and in general the acting is good, although both her boss and partner seem a little young for their roles (surely such sensitive missions would be handled by people a little more senior?). Even if at times, the world portrayed seems just that bit more intense than reality ever is, this is still top quality drama, intelligently structured, fast moving, and impeccably executed. It surely deserved better than a late night slot and the minimal publicity it received.

I was a bit disappointed with this series (I haven't seen the last two episodes though). Most stories were simply too smug relying on the obvious dilemma the theme suggests... and the cinematic means as well as the narrative were always quite pretentious without being convincing, leaving loose ends all around. The distracting look of it, jump cuts and hand-held, "different" to a fault, could not hide the lack of quality in the storytelling.

The acting was quite good though - and that made the episodes worthwhile, above all those less "spectacular" subject-wise -, Elaine Cassidy being a standout as usual. I think she is internationally one of the finest actresses around.

It was one of the best series I have watched in a while. It is of such a compelling high standard but with an interesting twist in the last episode, which brings in the human element. The story line was quite different and shown a different part of policing otherwise never seen before. Dramas from the UK always impress me with the great scenery, even if it is in the middle of London. The cast of Elaine Cassidy as Detective Amy Harris,

Emma Fielding Detective Superintendent, Jonas Armstrong as the support detective was well cast and scripted, however I felt that the casting of 'Amy' as such a young detective may be unrealistic, but maybe thats part of the cover.

very enjoyable

I'm somewhat ambivalent towards police dramas these days. But this is a great mix of 24-style camera-work, psychological drama, internal politics, and a really good grasp of emotional interplay and game-play - seems to be written by blokes as well, which I found surprising - you look at similar BBC affairs in recent years, and they are remarkably two-dimensional. Here, you care about the core characters, because they care. Anyway, give it a try - if you like intelligently scripted, cat-and-mouse, but psychologically gripping and intellectually fulfilling drama, you can't go wrong here. I found it a bit disturbing that such a squad DID exist, but no longer does because it wasn't appreciated internally. That's sort of the point, surely. Still - only going by the tag-line - sure the reality is as duplicitously complex as the series!