Before We Die (TV Series) Episode #1.1 (2021) User Reviews

Better than you'd be made to think.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 22 July 2021]

Detective Hannah Laing isn't having the happiest of times, two heads after sending her own son down for dealing, her colleague, and partner, Sean, vanishes, a hunt begins.

I have to be honest, I was put of watching this by what I'd been told, and some of the reviews I had come across. However, this first episode was pretty good I thought, I didn't think it was slow, I thought the pacing was rather good.

Good acting, particularly from Lesley Sharpe, was good to see Bill Ward, it's been a while since I've seen him in anything. Vincent Regan as always is on fine form, I've never been able to understand his origin, he's very versatile.

I beg to differ with a different review, but as a resident of Bristol I can confirm that this was actually filmed here, and not in Belgium.

I enjoyed it, 7/10.

Putting the wooden into woodentops

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 6/10 · 29 May 2021]

I have just finished watching the Swedish version which was a bit slow but atmospheric and I triguing enough to keep you watching.

With this only being 6*48 minutes instead of 10*60 minutes, I thought it would be tighter but is looking a bit of a disappointment.

It would have been better if they had done a Hinterland and used the same actors to film it in English as well as their native language.

Stockholm has become Bristol, Sven has become Sean, Bjorn is now Billy, Blanka becomes Bianca and Inez becomes Izzy.

Ms. Sharp is a familiar face but her roles tend to be much the same, the nurse from Heartbeat is no Malgorzata Pieczynska as Dubravka and why does Billy have to be Scottish?

I can understand them using ethnic actors for roles that weren't in the original (BLM was rather big in Bristol!) but the acting does seem rather rigid seemingy trying to reinact the original actors rather than making the roles their own. It's no wonder the whole series was made available instantly.

I see Matt Baker has adapted another of my favourite Walter Presents show, Professor T. I do hope he has made a better job of it.

I will carry on watching but I would encourage people to seek out the original. Both versions are currently available on the All 4 website.

Poor script, wooden acting, not a patch on the Original

[ginameardon · 1/10 · 27 May 2021]

The headline says it all. A rushed production set in Bristol but actually filmed in Brussels, which pretends to be Bristol. That's as fake as the Scottish accent the character Billy has.

The original Swedish series was 10 episodes long allowing the noir and tension to build. This is rushed with terrible dialogue and no tension. The acting is poor and every professional review I have read has rubbished it. They aren't wrong.

If you want to see what the story is all about I suggest you delve into the glorious world of Subtitles and watch the original Swedish version for a rollercoaster ride in pure nordic noir. Avoid this immitation at all vosts!

Episode 1.1

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 1 June 2021]

A remake of a Swedish crime drama. The scandi noir elements have not translated well in this British adaptation set in Bristol but seemingly shot in Brussels.

Detective Hannah Laing (Lesley Sharp) is long in the tooth and is being encouraged to retire. She is divorced and is on bad terms with her son Christian (Patrick Gibson) who she had arrested two years earlier for dealing in drugs.

Hannah is concerned when a colleague and her lover Sean (Bill Ward) goes missing. However no one else in the police station seems to be that bothered.

Sean is being brutally tortured by some East Europeans and Christian had gone undercover in order to help Bill out.

The pacing was slow and the editing was awkward. At times I was confused what time period this series was set in. It was that burner phone which seems to have been from the 1990s.

It might be uncharitable to mention but the lead actress looked old. Only in television land she could still be employed as a detective.

Even some of the relationships between the characters struck a false note. The acting was uneven.