Honour

The story of the murder of Banaz Mahmood, a young Kurdish woman, murdered in a so called honour killing.

On the case is DI Caroline Goode, superbly portrayed by Keeley Hawes, there truly is nothing she cannot do, it's a sensitive performance.

It's interesting that the story is told through the eyes of the Detective, as opposed to through the eyes of the victim.

It's moving, a case that myself and my family remember well, one we all considered shocking and the behaviour of the men associated abhorrent.

It's a chilling story, highlighting cultural differences from a small fraction of people, views on women that seen so alien to most of us.

The only criticism, why on Earth didn't ITV put this out on one night, preferably a Sunday evening? Two parts, wasn't necessary.

Overall, I thought it was very good, 8/10.

Good if slightly superficial retelling of the story of an investigation into a so-called "honour killing".

Keeley Hawes, as always, is excellent and is very credible as DCI Caroline Goode, the officer in charge of finding out what happened to a missing Asian girl. Shockingly, she discovers that she is far from the first police officer to have been made aware that something was amiss in the victim's life, but she's the first to take things seriously. The investigation moves from missing person to murder, with suspicion rapidly descending on members of the girl's family who refuse to co-operate with the police, insisting that the girl simply went away while knowing that the truth is very different.

It might be argued that there's a lack of cinematic drama though frankly I find that a bonus; this is a recreation of a real murder investigation - why does it need to be turned into anything else ? The supporting cast comes across as very natural, again omitting any excessive drama, and the background story throws a frightening spotlight on the cultural attitudes of some minorities in our society.

This is a very decent mini-series and well worth an 8.

It's really not bad and I personally enjoyed it a lot. Keeley Hawes is a beautiful actress. It just misses something, and some other performances feel a little overdone/a bit unnatural. Would recommend though, if just for Keeley herself, and the shocking story.

7/10

Keeley Hawes normally makes decent career choices, but this time her radar let her down badly. Despite her own best efforts ... and she does give a credible, emotional performance ... just about everything else was a washout.

No fast paced action, no twists, and no moments of tension. It was just very dull.

Some may argue that a true story deserves to be shown with an air of realism, and that police work is mostly mundane. Well in that case, get the real Inspector Caroline Goode to contribute to a documentary-style presentation and skip the drama aspect completely.

Most viewers tune in for something that is cinematic and memorable. This wasn't. 6.8/10

Great! I know that it has been criticised by various communities, but this is a story that should be told so that the lessons can be learnt. Maybe it could have been told from a different angle, or more could have been heard of some of the central characters, but the fact remains that, were it not for the courage and tenacity of Caroline Goode, there would have been no justice. Watch it!