Traces

Emma returns to Dundee after years in Manchester, to take up a new job, she soon learns that there is a link with her job, and her mother's murder.

This series really does take a bit of time to warm up, it is luke warm for spells, but the final two episodes are excellent. You could lose it in the middle, but I urge you to stick with it, as if does eventually deliver.

I must have watched Part one when it first aired on Alibi, but not gotten into it, however when it was put out on The BBC, I got into it. It improves in Part two when Martin Compston appears.

Episode one is so important, you will need lots of information from it, so if you're watching this for the first time, you need to concentrate.

The acting is very good, plenty of strong performances here, but it's Vincent Regan who steals it, ahead of Compston, Regan cuts one very menacing figure.

It's an up and down journey, but ultimately it's worth sticking with, 7/10.

Series 1 was good but Series 2 was a mess - they literally lost the plot - the unusual central saga of S1 is abruptly written out in ep 2.02 without being concluded, leaving a great big hole which they desperately try to fill with melodramatic romances between cardboard cut-out characters which even Eastenders would reject as too clunky. Meanwhile a nutter sets off homemade bombs around Dundee for no real reason, even on nutter-logic. It's all become very silly ...

Please either let it die now, or if anyone is desperate enough to commission a 3rd series, bring back the unfinished central plot from S1 and focus on that without trying to throw all the soap opera froth into the mix. And bring in a better director and scriptwriter who can give the cast something less wooden to work with.

I initially intended to watch the first episode of Traces just to try it out, and ended up watching the entire series in one go- I haven't seen television this engaging in a long time! I was struck with the attention to detail and the commitment to realism in regards to the forensic aspects of the show, it was incredibly intriguing. The characters were nuanced and unique, and the dialogue was believable. I hope a second series is in the works!

I'm giving this 7 out of 10 because although I found it enjoyable, the actress playing Emma seemed so wrong for the role. As others have said, she looks too young, is monotone, and it felt more as though she was in an early rehearsal for the role rather than the finished product.

I like Martin Compston and Laura Fraser, and have always enjoyed other productions when they are in the cast - and the actor playing the detective could flirt with me if he wanted to! Both seasons were good, I binge-watched it while working on a craft project, so being focused on that - plus the rest of the cast being good - was what probably helped me to stick with it despite the just-so-wrong Emma.

No emotion in the protagonists voice,same in everything she does.So monotone and her facial expressions are always the same. Stuck with it just to know the outcome.