Reichenbach Falls (2007) (TV)

Director:

John McKay

Writers:

James Mavor (written by)
Ian Rankin (short story)

Release Date:

1 March 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A psychological thriller, set in the heart of Edinburgh and featuring the underbelly of the capital city...

Cast

Alec Newman	...	Jim Buchan
Alastair Mackenzie	...	Jack Harvey
Nina Sosanya	...	Sinead Burns
Laura Fraser	...	Clara
John Sessions	...	Professor Bell
Richard Wilson	...	Arthur Conan Doyle
The Monkey	...	Himself
Tom McGovern	...	Gerry
Greg Powrie	...	Tour Guide
David Robertson	...	Newsreader
Kirsty Wark	...	Herself
Cora Bisset	...	Publicist (as Cora Bissett)

Also Known As:

The Acid Test (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Author Ian Rankin makes a cameo in the book-launch scene towards the end.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Towards the end, Clara reads from the book "42 feet per second per second" - gravity is closer to 32 feet per second to second.

Very good, very surreal

Excellent viewing.

Playing on the fictional tough detective genre, this weird little drama plays along quite easily for the first 10 minutes or so and then drifts off in to the challenging. Not that challenging is bad, in fact it makes it worth watching.

A troubled detective, his partner is gunned down, is sent into the depths of old Edinburgh (good travelogue) to investigate a 100 year old body. His past keeps catching up with him, not least the man who stole his wife off him, his best friend, now a very successful author. Lots of swearing and a bit of violence later we get to the snooker and revelations. Another success for BBC4.

The cast were very good. Laura Fraser and Nina Sosanya both worked on Casanova together and have appeared all over the place, they were good as usual, I have a soft spot for both. The lead male, Alec Newman I have not seen before and looking at his CV seems to done a lot of US TV, nevertheless he played a good drunk, troubled and rogue detective. John Sessions put in a John Sessions and the other roles were okay. But the award for the most outrageous false Scotish moustache goes to Richard Wilson who appears as, well that would be a spoiler.

Trivia: I once sat two rows in front of Richard Wilson at the Barbican for a performance of Romeo and Juliet, he wore a baseball cap all evening. The actor playing Romeo was David Tennant, see Casanova. Spooky or what. I had an awful cold and spent the entire performance trying not to cough or sneeze.