Honour

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

Firstly, I would like to express my disappointment at so many reviewers here who simply missed the key point of this production: the killing ( or so-called honour killing ) of another human being as a defence of one's culture or religion or for any other reason. In this case the reprehensible, degrading and evil treatment of women by segments of men whose actions can only be described as vile, caustic, inhuman and downright evil. So many viewers sadly glossed over this fundamental issue. Sadly.

Of course we can give our views on whether there were too few episodes or not enough, or how true or not the events depicted relate to what actually happened, or whether the director or production team or actors excelled themselves or not. For me, they were all excellent. But that is to miss the point: murder is never justified under ANY circumstances. No matter your family or cultural upbringing. No matter your religion or any other justification. That a young girl ( or anyone for that matter ) should be so inhumanly and despicably treated - culminating in her murder - is something which should outrage all of us...

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!

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