This needed perseverance. As a thriller it is a worthwhile 180 minutes but it's miserably dark and rain-soaked. Neither a glitzy nor comical version of a road to restitution story set against the power-plays and corruption of a large City Council. This is a much more down-to-earth spectacle of what you could do if you're remorsefully 'going to be honest from now on' (without actually being totally honest, of course).
Every character evinces some sympathy (except possibly the black policeman Griffith but even his last scene squeezes out one droplet). The first 60 minutes have too many large, empirical signposts which nearly lost my support but the braincells needed a lot more power to understand the very economical clues in latter thirds of this tale of a long nights journey into day. The sets are wonderful and plot-purposeful - good old/new Manchester.
Overall, it was very sharply cut; good enough to make me check whether it really was finished. I suspect this would normally mean there's a second series coming but for the superb Eccleston, who often seems to move quickly on to the next project but does do the physical wreck or tortured sole to perfection.
Every character evinces some sympathy (except possibly the black policeman Griffith but even his last scene squeezes out one droplet). The first 60 minutes have too many large, empirical signposts which nearly lost my support but the braincells needed a lot more power to understand the very economical clues in latter thirds of this tale of a long nights journey into day. The sets are wonderful and plot-purposeful - good old/new Manchester.
Overall, it was very sharply cut; good enough to make me check whether it really was finished. I suspect this would normally mean there's a second series coming but for the superb Eccleston, who often seems to move quickly on to the next project but does do the physical wreck or tortured sole to perfection.