London Kills

Great story lines, but every time there is an office scene phones are ringing in the background... I understand they want to make it realistic but it's just a bit tooooooooo much.. can you get an extra actor to answer these calls?

My pet peeve though is that anyone ever interviewed NEVER has a, solicitor present That is very unrealistic.

It's watchable. Considering the base material, the acting is OK. But the plot is full of holes, the dialogue is corny and predictable, and the intrigue and character psychology are below soap-standard mushy. Oh, and it's directed like a soap, too. The UK have a strong tradition of producing quality police procedurals, usually with strong plots and characters: Prime suspect, GBH, Luther, LIne of Duty, Bodyguard, and the list goes on... Unfortunately, this is not one of these. I guess, aside from the expensive cars (a DI drives an executive merc that is usually marketed to successful senior executives and entrepreneurs!) they didn't have much money to shoot this one and it shows a bit as well. So this sums it all up: not much script, not much money, not much talent, yielding very average entertainment. They should save resources and not make a second series: no one will lose any sleep not knowing who killed the DI's wife. Just saw the end of series 2: it's even worse than I originally thought. I hope they don't make series 3.

When BBC's daytime soap opera does off air it is replaced by some good dramas. Shakespeare and Hathaway have been great in the last year. This summer we have been given London Kills. A detective drama focused on Hugo Speer's droll murder detective whose wife has been missing for 3 months. The first thing to say is that the acting is good. It's a solid script and the main cast work well together. The issues start to arise with the repetitive nature. Murder happens, wiring person confesses, right person is caught and it starts again. Always sitting in the background is the missing wife storyline. It's hinted at but not really explained. The main issue though is the ludicrously low budget. The main office has no one else working in it, the cafes and pubs are empty and the streets are equally empty which all takes away the realism. It is a shame because actually it is not a bad series. It just doesn't flow that well and feels a tad clunky at times. That said the writers have done a decent job and there have been much worse programmes and will be worse.

The show has secured a season so may well grow but for now its a case of not bad but low budget does soil certain aspects of the snow.

The first couple of episodes aren't so great, but if you stick with it, the story will pull you in. I liked the diverse cast and the unexpected twists. Yes, some parts of the plot were pretty unbelievable and the budget must have been low because you really only see the four police officers in what's supposed to be a police station, but for all that, I enjoyed the series. Season 2 was much better than Season 1, so stick with it. If you like taught, fast moving police procedurals, you'll like London Kills.