Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: John Simm, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Daniel Rigby, Harry Lloyd, Ruby Ashbourne-Serkis, Trevor Eve, Liz Kingsman, Rakhee Thakrar, Zoë Tapper, James Fleet, Gemma Jones, Sabrina Bartlett, James Wilby, Percelle Ascott, Victoria Broom, Eden Hollingsworth, Tim Faraday, Niamh Cusack.
Murder mysteries are stock in trade for television, everyday there is the detective’s lot in finding a killer, and the only thing that changes is the reasoning of the one committing the heinous crime, or the personality of the one investigating them. The genre never grows tired, but it can become a little predictable, the staleness is inert and takes a genuine talent and insight to give it the value and respect that many plead for in the modern age.
The combination of Chris Lang’s writing and the direction of Tom Vaughan register with a fascination for the genre as I, Jack Wright takes its place amongst the detective fiction in a way rarely utilised before, operating as a part documentary, having the camera focus on occasion on the major players, the main officer on the case, the accused and suspected as they all recount the circumstances and situation surrounding the death of a multi-millionaire and as the secrets and lies are exposed, so the six part drama takes on a life of its own.
The dubious nature of family, each person hiding a demonstrable skill in being a possible suspect is heightened as the damage wrought by the murdered man’s own actions becomes clear, the way he treated his sons, his first wife, played by the gracious Gemma Jones, the revenge he sought after death on his cheating third wife, and the depth of depravity that was within him as his granddaughter, the fantastic Ruby Ashbourne-Serkis in perhaps her most challenging role to date, reveals in despair, is all too clear and yet surprisingly refreshing, and for a detective drama to be able to tap into this type of emotional baggage is an assuredness of insight captured by the writer.
The characters, written in blood, inked with precision, are fully formed and maintained throughout by some truly exceptional talent, and with the ever-incomparable John Simm headlining the troubles within the Wright family, and aided with some superb performances by Harry Lloyd as DCI Hector Morgan, John Simm’s television partner in the drama Grace, Zoë Tapper as his sister-in-law, Nikki Amuka-Bird as the distraught and scheming third wife Sally, the troubles and misfortunes of a family now at war over money is guaranteed to leave viewers desperate for more.
A novel way to present a detective drama, mixing both present and future tense to add anxiety to the procedural investigation, a remarkable way to capture the crumbling edifice of family dysfunction. Intelligently framed and designed, I, Jack Wright is addictive viewing.
Ian D. Hall