McDonald & Dodds (TV Series) A Billion Beats (2022) User Reviews

Another very good episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 26 June 2022]

A talented Formula One Driver is killed during a training session, it seems as though the crime could only have been committed by a mechanic.

Last week's awesome episode is followed by an excellent second outing for the charismatic pair. They seem to have reached a point now where they're as close as any detective duo, very natural together.

The opening sequences looked film like, the ITV news cutaway enhanced the story, the production on this series is impressive. Bath, again looks divine.

The story, I thought it was fun, even if it was a bit far fetched. A real streak of cleverness in the plot, it all seemed so impossible, a locked room mystery inside a formula one car. The idea of a small British firm battling against the odds, being squeezed out, but fighting as the underdog, what could be more British?

I liked the way they developed DCI McDonald's character this week, we learned a bit about her past, more focus on her than Sergeant Dodds.

Strong acting once again, Paul McGann and Ben Batt in particular were great, always wonderful to see Louise Jameson, even in such a small role.

Enjoyed this very much, 8/10.

Another cracking episode

[boxyfella · 8/10 · 27 June 2022]

Although I'm a great fan of detective stories, my track record isn't great. Sometimes I guess the culprit, more often I don't, sometimes I even figure out the motive. My successes usually occur late on in the programme, often just before the reveal, and usually just a fraction ahead of the police. But this time was way, way different. I have never, ever, guessed the culprit so early on in a programme, and with the correct motive as well. As soon as we discovered that Gabe had spent half an hour talking to the terminally ill man, I said to my partner "I bet I know what that conversation was about". It went something like: "Cheating at Watkins Glen, the terminally ill man knows, now Gabe knows, and so he has to die. Which means there's only one possible culprit".

Apart from being so easy to guess, this was another cracking episode. The two leads gel really well and the set up of the driver being killed at a pit stop worked really well - seventeen witnesses but also seventeen suspects - even if it turned out not to be the actual crime scene. Good to find out more about McDonald's back story and good too that Superintendant Ormond has got their backs and isn't a tosspot like so many senior police chiefs in detective shows.

Formula One on a FFord budget

[neilwaynesmith · 6/10 · 2 July 2022]

As someone (peripherally) involved in motorsport as an official, whenever there is a motor racing - based episode of a series involving 'professional motorsport' I find myself looking at the detail more than the story. Funnily enough though, the drugs story had more than a few shades of Vic Lee Motorsport about it, which raised a smile or two.... ... as did having the 'racing people' flashing oversized watches to the camera at every opportunity... perhaps a mickeytake on the real F1 world of rampant product placement.. Couple of plot holes that stood out; Unsanctioned testing is a massive no-no.

Also, no HANS devices worn by the drivers....

Petrol Heads

[DoctorStrabismus · 9/10 · 7 November 2022]

I am nobody's idea of a petrol head. Motor 'sport' leaves me totally cold, and we only have a car because we love to use it for caravan holidays in the Australian outback. Otherwise we could easily take the bus for the weekly grocery trip, which is about all the use the car gets. So I really did wonder whether I might find the theme of this one a total turn-off.

But no! It engaged me right away, and there was the cleverest constant cycling and recycling of suspicion, until the viewer might even end up wondering whether she/he is the guilty party herself/himself.

Dodds is at one point dismissively described as "Rain Man", but McDonald doesn't buy it and stands up for him. Nevertheless, he does almost exist somewhere along the line between savant and psychic, with displays of almost extrasensory perception of where the truth lies and where it doesn't. Maybe he merely gains that perception from long hours in his beloved library!

Excellent television. With just a small but very permissible level of suspension of disbelief, it scores 9/10 with us.

A Billion Beats

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 8 July 2022]

With so many actors associated with Doctor Who in this story.

The writers even squeezed in a Tardis joke. Archie Addington's (Paul McGann) office is a lot smaller in the inside.

Addington runs a small plucky racing outfit. A promising driver Gabriel George dies while carrying out testing of a new race car.

McDonald & Dodds initially believe that Gabriel was murdered during a pit stop. Later they believe that Gabriel came by some information which meant he had to be stopped in his tracks.

The pit stop murder was an outlandish theory. I did think that some of the red herrings were lame. The undercover policeman who was once a rival to McDonald adds some friction.

By the end this was a whodunnit with only one main culprit as the police delve into the past of the racing team.

Not my favorite episode

[xbatgirl-30029 · 6/10 · 4 March 2023]

I'm very much enjoying this show but this episode didn't do it for me. First of all, I spotted the killer as the murder happened. You don't know the device, but you do know who and how. And without the mystery, there wasn't much going on that interested me. Now usually, spoilers don't make a huge difference for me because it's everything happening along the way from the start and finish that is most enjoyable. Just unfortunately, not here for me.

I did like finding out more of McDonald's background. Also it was fun seeing her interact with someone completely new for a change. I liked how Ormond is shaping up to be a supportive, sharp witted boss. However most of the other characters felt pretty generic. Naoko Mori's performance was definitely my favorite, but then she usually steals scenes whenever I see her in things. Like her character said, she was played as definitely not polite, but honest. She came across as intelligent, tough, and trustworthy. I even liked her bratty son. Actually, I don't have anything negative to say about all the rest of the younger cast, it's just that their parts left them so little to do or say that was interesting. It's all been done over and over already. Sadly, besides M&D, the rest of the team have become very non-descript and faceless. Obviously Milena is female and has an accent but that's the extent of her character.

I didn't understand what exactly the writers were going for with Archie. All his talk of "Britishness". I assume they were trying to make some point, because of how things turned out. And yet then, why did he have an Italian guy driving for him? That made no sense. Italian was ok but not Japanese? Was there some code mixed in there? Maybe it was just how hypocritical he was. Whatever.

I also don't like any detective show where virtually every single suspect, one after another, until there really isn't anyone left until the killer. I always end up watching the clock in those shows, especially with little else happening. If the show's half over, you know they have the wrong person. And when it happens again with 20 minutes left, again, you know it's wrong.

Also they never did answer Dodds' early question - where was all the blood? I sort of doubt that little spike could kill a person unless it was very accurately placed, which it wasn't. Even then, it might not work. A little diluted, topical lidocaine would never keep it from being noticed. If that worked, doctors and dentists would use it constantly. Better a needle with poison. And the only way it could possible work would be if he bled out after a massive spray of blood if it hit an artery. Very lazy writing.

This episode was just ok.

Bloody dreadful

[mjweston · 4/10 · 8 July 2022]

Just when I thought the series was picking up it reverts to stereotype characters, poorly acted and poorly written. Some of the BBC's afternoon serials are far better than this. And why are so many of the personalities so unlikeable ?

So many errors.

[alanfisher2001 · 4/10 · 18 August 2022]

First episode I have watched, given the budget, the filming wasn't too bad. The overall acting seemed wooden and unbelievable, Dodds accuses just about everyone possible, before realising the solution, which to be fair, I worked as soon as the murder was discovered. The watch, Dodds calls a seamaster, it's a speedmaster , a completely different model, doesn't even look the same. It's a bit like saying the suspect drove a fiesta, when he is clearly driving a focus. McDonald is an unlikeable, brash, unconvincing actress who spoils the drama. The interactions between the police, seem to be written by an amateur who has no idea that the decisions would be made by the bosses, not arguing at shopfloor level.