Case 1, Part 1

Episode aired Jun 2, 2016
TV-14TV-14
55min

7.7/10

S1.E1

A drugs trial in India has repercussions years later when a teacher is murdered. Trainee detective Rash and junior SFO investigator Stefan are separately drawn into the case.A drugs trial in India has repercussions years later when a teacher is murdered. Trainee detective Rash and junior SFO investigator Stefan are separately drawn into the case.A drugs trial in India has repercussions years later when a teacher is murdered. Trainee detective Rash and junior SFO investigator Stefan are separately drawn into the case.

7.7/10

191

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Mark Addy and Ben Tavassoli in New Blood (2016)

See production, box office, & company info

In India a group of young Britons agree to take part in clinical tests for Green Fern chemicals firm though one of them, Henry Williams, escapes and kills a doctor. Six years later in London DC Rash Sayyad assists DS Sands after teacher Mark Henson is found murdered. In the course of enquiries Rash learns from Mark's colleague Laura Jones that they were two of the Indian guinea pigs, a third one, Steve Mullen, having also been killed and arousing Rash's suspicions that Laura is also in danger. Henry, living at home with his mother, is clearly a very troubled young man. Meanwhile fraud officer Stefan Kowolski is sent undercover by bosses Eleanor Davies and Marcus Johnson to investigate David Leese, CEO of Remicon, pharmaceuticals, suspected of bribing doctors to buy his products and, unknown to Stefan, with a link to Green Fern. Rash and Stefan meet for the first time whilst both are taking part in an athletics race though their competitiveness does not make for the easiest of introductions. —don @ minifie-1

Trivia
Mark Addy (DS Derek Sands) & Aiysha Hart (Leila Sayyad) also worked together on Atlantis (2013) as Hercules & Ariadne respectively.

Alternate versions
For German TV-premiere broadcaster ZDF cut the first three episodes (55 minutes each) into one 120 minutes TV movie.

Top review

4/10

New Blood 1

From Anthony Horwitz comes this high octane thriller focusing on young people full of HI-NRG beats and fast edits.

The opening episode starts in Mumbai as some British backpackers were once paid to take part in an experimental drugs trial that has gone wrong and they are now being bumped off.

Meanwhile the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has Stefan Kowolski (Mark Strepan) who is of Polish origin on the inside of a Pharmaceutical company investigating the award of suspicious NHS contracts.

Stefan is cocky, competitive and foolhardy and comes into contact with trainee detective Rash Sayaad (Ben Tavassoli) who is working for the Met and investigating a loony loner who might be knocking off the returned backpackers. Both are at loggerheads with similar sized egos and competitiveness but their cases are linked.

The initial episode did feel ropy despite the fast cuts and plenty of shots of the gleaming buildings in Canary Wharf and elsewhere. It did show promise and some humour between the two leads.

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