Tag Archives: Shetland

Shetland (Series Eight). Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Ashley Jensen, Alison O’Donnell, Steven Robertson, Jamie Sives,  Nina Tousaint-White, Dawn Steele, Phyllis Logan, Lorraine McIntosh, Maisie Norma Seaton, Natasha Cottriall, Joseph Thompson, Joe Bolland, Arnas Fedaravicius, Karl Collins, Don Gilet, Annie Louise Ross, Lewis Howden, Ian Bustard, Conor McCarry, Eubha Akilade, Tibu Fortes, Jakub Bednarcyyk, Barry O’Connor, Russ Bain, Neil Pendelton, Ross Allan, Gemma Laurie, Ian Dunnett Jnr, Simon Tait, Francesco Piacentini-Smith, Jo Cameron-Brown, Steven Miller, Sandy Grierson, Sean Brown, Kevan Mackenzie, Anne Kidd, Manjinder Virk. 

Shetland. Series Seven. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Alison O’Donnell, Steve Robertson, Anneika Rose, Julie Graham, Lewis Howden, Erin Armstrong, Anne Kidd, Shauna Macdonald, Andrew Whip, Patrick Robinson, Laurie Brett, Stuart McQuarrie, Alexandra Finnie, Connor McCarry, Angus Miller, Lucianne McEvoy, Ladi Emeruwa, Grant O’Rourke.

Disasters such as The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1986, the Sea Empress crashing into the sound at Milford Haven, and The Taylor Oil Spill in The Gulf of Mexico, just a pinch of the disasters that have threatened the eco system around the world in the life time of us all, and yet everyday tragedies leave the local populace and the wildlife that shares the spaces with humanity looking at ruin, feeling the pain of mankind’s folly, and even death.

Shetland: Series Six. Television Review.

Liverpool sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Alison O’ Donnell, Steven Robertson, Mark Bonnar, Lewis Howden, Erin Armstrong, Anne Kidd, Fiona Bell, Neve McIntosh, Benny Young, Juie Brown, Jimmy Chisholm, Conor McCarry, Angus Miller, Cora Bissett, Stephen McCole, Kate Bracken, Thoren Ferguson, Andy Clark, Anneika Rose, Lewis Gribben, Sharif Dorani, Shonagh Price.

A pertinent question of the times, the ambiguity of morality, and the classic example of how low someone can stoop when they look to revenge; all this against the backdrop of island life in the shadow of murder, of the slow decline of the human mind, and the tensions that run high when an island’s life is supposedly threatened by a returning, and unwanted, soul.

Shetland, Series Three. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Alison O’ Donnell, Steven Robertson, Mark Bonar, Julie Graham, Stewart Porter, Erin Armstrong, Anna Chancellor, Ciarán Hinds, James Cosmo, Saskia Reeves, Sara Vickers, Ace Bhatti, Andrew Rothney, Archie Panjabi, Jamie Michie, Jack Greenlees, Mark Cox, Struan Rodger, Kate Donnely.

The fairly uncomplicated lives of those who reside on the outlying islands of the United Kingdom is one that is prized and highly valued, it is a way of life that has many attractions and one that many could adapt to if they put their minds to it. However, for those forced to relocate out in to the storm tossed seas that surround the mainland, the islands can represent a jail with no locks, keys or guards, the solitude is enough to drive them to the point of no return.

Shetland: Dead Water. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Steven Robertson, Alison O’ Donnell, Mark Bonnar, Julie Graham, Alex Norton, Clive Russell, Nina Sosanya, Leanne Best, Marnie Baxter, Steven Cree, Anne Kidd, Kari Corbett, David Hayman, Erin Armstrong, Stewart Porter, Gerda Stevens.

Shetland, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Gemma Chan, Steve Robinson, Alison O’ Donnell, Alexander Morton, Lewis Howden, Mark Bonnar, Martin Wenner, Claire Rafferty, Sophie Rundle, Geraldine Alexander, Finnden Hertog, Alison Peebles, Erin Armstrong, Jim Stugeon, Lindy Whiteford, James Greene.

Based upon the books by Ann Cleeves, the new drama vehicle for Douglas Henshall, Shetland, premiered over the last two nights and whilst it was up against I.T.V.’s superb Broadchurch, it had a lot going for it and provided another outlet for viewers starved in recent years with decent crime drama and who have been having to get their fix from either second rate thrillers from America that rely far too much on the application of science over genuine detective work, or intensely psychological brilliance from the Nordic Noir genre such as The Killing.

Broadchurch, Episode Two, Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Tracy Childs, Will Mellor, Arthur Darvill, David Bradley, Jonathon Bailey, Vicky McClure, Charlotte Beaumont, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Pauline Quirke.

With the premise having been set in episode one, the attention of the police and in particular D.I. Hardy, start to focus their attentions on the people of Broadchurch, especially those it seems with secrets, many long held, secrets that may fragment the community they live in.