Cleddau

The story line is pure fantasy, and the last episode (climax) is ridiculous. Nothing close to reality, so annoying that I wasted my time watching this rubbish. The story relating to the lost love was irritating and unnecessary. How can this be made and sold as a serious thriller. It reminded me of the cheap who done it nonsense that always seems to get aired on British television. Police do not say, "I think he did it", as was the case with this show. You need evidence and this is what makes good crime dramas interesting. Not this idiotic fantasy. My advice is to not watch this or anything that does not have at least a 7.5 IMDB rating.

This six part Welsh drama is set in the town of Pembroke Dock. When a nurse is found murdered in Cleddau Woods police are reminded of a similar case that occurred some time ago. Since a man is already in gaol for the previous killing it looks as if there is a copycat at work... or they got the wrong man before. DS Rick Sheldon is leading the case but when links to the old case are found DI Ffion Lloyd, who also worked that case, is called in from Cardiff. This leads to some tension as they had been involved with each other before he left her for the woman who is now his wife.

I thought this was a solid addition to the 'Cambri-Noir' genre; I'm certainly glad my newspaper recommended it as I doubt I would have seen it otherwise. The case is interesting as are the main characters. There are a good selection of suspects which should keep the viewer guessing. The relationship issues are perhaps unnecessary but don't detract from the story too much. Pembrokeshire may be an attractive part of these islands but the way this is shot manages to create an ominous feel. The cast does a fine job bringing the characters to life; most obviously Elen Rhys and Richard Harrington who play DI Lloyd and DS Sheldon respectively. As the story approaches its conclusion there are some nice twists and turns. By the end the case may be wrapped up but it feels like we might not have seen the last of these characters. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to viewers who enjoyed shows like 'Hinterland' from a few years ago which also starred Richard Harrington.

These comments are based on watching the series in Welsh with English subtitles as shown on S4C. I believe an English version titled 'The One That Got Away' will air later, presumably on BBC4 if it follows the pattern set by 'Hinterland'.

It's very hard to carry a murder mystery over 6 episodes unless the script is great, and this script is far from it. In my experience Welsh crime dramas are glacially slow, it's a slow and painful process keeping up with them.

It is so full of cliches, like a bad American police procedural. A DI is brought back to her former station to work on a case similar to one she helped solve 10 years before. She teams up with her former colleague/lover. From there it's downhill full of cliches. Every new piece of evidence sends them down another rabbit hole. This isn't a "Grace" or a "Vera" or any of the top British crime dramas.

Great cast members like Richard Harrington and Elen Rhys deserve better scripts. This should have been 3 separate crime stories, 2 episodes each and it would have been more successful.

I am writing this after s1 (hopefully, there will be more to come).

As a lover of the great but underrated Hinterland (Y Gwyll in Welsh), I am so pleased to see so many of the cast (13 in all) reapper here.

It has been produced in the same style, dark and brooding with two leading characters with a past and a lot of undelying tension.

I have seen quite a few welsh dramas but have to say I didn't know Elen Rhys as she only had small roles in Hinterland, Hidden and Keeping Faith but I will certainly be checking out her other work as i did enjoy her performance here, There's a great, reliable support cast here. I do like Hannah Daniel (looking like a Welsh Niamh Algar) in this role after being a bit let down with her in Keeping Faith and the ubiquitos Elery Thomas is here again, showing another string to her bow.

The only let down for me is the ending but hopefully this is just leading us into a second series.

Brits are pros at this - well-executed police procedurals. You can rely on them to have solid plotting and carefully planned dramatic arcs, capable actors, and three-dimensional characters with realistically grounded problems.

I enjoyed that the pacing wasn't rushed - however, the series could've been an hour shorter. (It annoys me that it appears "compulsory" nowadays to have at least 6 episodes for one story.) There were some unnecessary coincidences, and to be fair, all and all the series wasn't really that groundbreaking.

However, it was still a good binge with lovely Welsh scenery to boot.