Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Sam Neill, Brooke Satchwell, Kate Mulvany, Damien Strouthos, Marta Dusseldorp, Catherine Van-Davies, Nicholas Cassim, Pallavi Sharda, Brendan Cowell, Gennie Nevinson, Ngali Shaw, James Lugton, Hazam Shammas, Bishanyia Vincent, Mandela Mathia, Daniel Mitchell, Toby Blome, Lee Robinson, Warren Lee, Amy Kersey, Jenni Baird, Hamish Michael, Matt Nable, Louisa Mignone, Silvia Colloca, Ben Mingay, Alastair Bradman, Victoria Bradman, Gilbert Bradman, Sheridan Harbridge, Jade Potts, Fayssal Bazzi, Frances O’Connor, Myles Pollard, Anthony Hayes, Tasma Walton.

There is almost nothing more frustrating for the armchair detective than to sit through a televised trail and find that the clue that holds the truth is only introduced in the final moments of the drama; it could be considered as lazy, a get out clause of writing to which the whole case can be seen as the farce that it was never meant to be.

This is no reveal, there is no sleight of hand in which to try and trump the viewer and leave either feeling superior to the criminal or feend,ng deflated that they fell for the obvious red herrings; instead, it is leading by the hand the audience to the conclusion undeserved; few dramas attempt this avenue, it is almost surgical, too clean, no room for manoeuvre, and in the end it becomes intolerable, the viewer only hanging on out of case of morbid curiosity to see how low the bar can be set.

To give The Twelve some due, its setting and unusual way of presenting a murder case is eye-catching, seen through the eyes of the jurors presiding and deliberating on a case that brings shame to a section of society and the fear that there is more than being discussed between them, their home lives that have been put on hold, now cracking under the strain of sifting the truth of the disappearance of a teenager and the role her aunt, her parents, and society have played in it.

That aside, and with great shame, there is little else for the viewer to hold onto in the ten-part series bar that which is more rumour and underperforming, underwhelming, acting, storyline, and dull routine. Not even the great Sam Neill, arguably one of the giants of television in the last fifty years, can hold himself apart from a drama that truthfully could have been more, could have held a deeper significance to the viewer and armchair detective alike.

It is almost unbelievable that the strategy of the series was one that delved into the intimate lives of the jury without holding to account a truth of their decision in the court; the fact that members of the jury were able to alter their mind on whether the accused was guilty or innocent in such a casual manner owed more to the Galton and Simpson Tony Hancock episode of Twelve Angry Men than a serious courtroom drama is telling, and unfavourable as moment of heightened realism.

Unfortunately, The Twelve soon becomes a dull, uninspiring, and unlikely series to have been given screen time; no passion, no sense of mortality, no outrage…. just cold, clinical, and a resolution that is unfulfilling.

Ian D. Hall