Jack Irish: Bad Debts

Guy Pearce works beautifully with his large and superb supporting cast in Jack Irish while very much being the laid- back centre of the show. It a truly collaborative effort in terms of performances and the script allows for this by sharing around some fabulous dialogue and one-liners. Marta Dusseldorp seems just right as Linda, smart, determined but vulnerable too.

The direction is sharp and thoughtful, the design for locations and sense of place is outstanding, plus the pacing, which I would have thought would have driven the script writers up the wall in condensing from the labyrinth plots of the novel, just hums along.

Special shout-out to Roy Billing (Harry) and the wonderful Aaron Pedersen (Cam) as Jack's racing skallywag mates: the three of them operate seemingly effortlessly together in this first outing for Jack Irish, very believable. And they keep to that high level in all the subsequent episodes.