#@amelia bullmore: good.

[alisonscotlock]

top five actresses? top five famous women who aren't actresses? top five sapphic characters? ik this is a lot, feel free to answer any or all of them, it's up to you <3

oh my god lamorna ily tysm🙏💛

these are in no particular order bc i cannot choose faves. also i am gonna disagree with myself within 5 minutes of posting this...

top five actresses (on acting talent):

gemma jones

sarah lancashire

jodie whittaker

lesley manville

emily watson

top five(ish 👀) actresses (on how much i'm in love with them):

jemma redgrave

keeley hawes

amelia bullmore

emily watson

carrie quinlan

liza tarbuck

sally phillips

top five famous women who aren't actresses:

fi glover

jane garvey

sue perkins (ok she's done some acting but she is mostly Not An Actress)

claudia winkleman

natalie haynes

top five(ish) sapphic characters:

bernie wolfe (holby city)

serena campbell (holby city)

twig (the lost flowers of alice hart)

george (feel good)

tig (one mississippi)

nina dorn (two of us, 2019)

ask me my top 5 anything!!

[fyeahameliabullmore]

Amelia Bullmore (Rachel Liebermann)

What do you like about detective stories?

I think detective stories are basically smart puzzles but now we know the puzzle so well, we can enjoy the way in which each distinct detective story plays with the genre. I think they are very diverting and enjoyable and everything gets sorted out. By the end, the problem is over, and I think humans like that.

Why do you think Vienna Blood has been so popular with the audience?

Possibly because it is so rich. It looks amazing, it's shot on location, so the mise-en-scène is gorgeous and authentic and it’s highly scored. It has a very cinematic feel. The way Robert shoots is very lush and plush. I think it has a glamour and a playfulness due to the relationship between Oskar and Max - I think it has humour, intrigue and beauty. The themes of Vienna Blood are to do with the motivations of humans; dreams, desires, what's going on in the world. I think those motivations are underpinning the crimes.

What would Rachel think about feminism?

I don't think Rachel is preoccupied with feminism at all. She's a woman of her time. I think her ambition would have been to make a good marriage and have healthy, successful, prosperous children. And she's got those things and for her I think that's fine. As for the next generation of women, I think she's probably happy for them to work. But I don't think she craves more than she has. If she does, it's never mentioned.

How does Rachel feel about the changes in the family business?

I'm delighted Leah is working for the family business. Now it's Liebermann and daughter. Max should have done that, but he didn't. It's fantastic because they’ve put years of work into the business, so it's great that Leah's going to continue that. For Rachel, I think it's more about her relationships and family than her abstractly liking women doing well. She wants the people she loves to be doing what they love, and she wants the family business to be strong.

How is it to come back to a third series of Vienna Blood?

When I come back, I'm never on my own. It's never Rachel on her own with somebody. I'm always with my people, so I'm always with Max, my husband, my daughter. So… I get into my black, I get into my hat, and then they are the faces I know. And it's easy.

It's always great to reacquaint with the family. We don't always see each other in between filming but when we re-start it's like we never stopped. It's immediately a lot of talking, a lot of joking. There's just a very easy rhythm between us.

What’s been your favourite set so far?

I met my favourite set yesterday, which is Max's new flat as he has moved out. The family home is very solidly bourgeois, 19th century, and his flat is state of the art 20th century. It's got all the best bits of art nouveau and beginnings of art deco. It's clean and the lines are simple. It's absolutely beautiful.

Via https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/vienna-blood-series-3-cast-filming-locations

[bluetrekker12]

Somewhere around 1991 some actors came to our school to perform for A level students. I was 17 at the time and remember Amelia Bullmore. She had that presence that you can’t quite put your finger on, but which really good actors have. (I don’t recall anyone else from that day.)

Get a kick out of that memory everytime I see her in anything.

The Buccaneers (2023)

[farminglesbian]

it was an extremely minor plot line but hey, yes, traces had science girlfriends

[maiagaru]

Scott and Bailey s03e4

[alwaysbeyondhope]

Watching Scott & Bailey 2x3 Pipe Dreams and this episode is such an amazing fucking episode. Like a whole episode just devoted to the brilliance of Gill and Rachel.

And Amelia Bullmore’s acting is just *perfection*

why didn’t they just make these two official? They could have...at the very end of season four, they could have. Changed some things around with the shortened season five. It would have been so good.

[pea-green]

episode concepts for a happy sally wainwright show

the yorkshire farmer who wasn’t put through his own wood chipper

these characters are happy at the beginning of an episode and remain emotionally intact throughout

amelia bullmore approves of suranne jones’ relationship choices

this man’s complicated relationship with his parents is sad but definitely won’t drive him to murder

the happy and alive lesbians

characters put t’kettle on out of a desire for tea (not because the rug has just been pulled out from under their lives)

this northern town has more than one person of colour who enjoys quality character development

the woman who wanted her pregnancy

the upbeat theme music can be enjoyed on its own terms and not as a shocking counterpoint to the sudden acts of violence committed in the episode’s last 3 minutes

sophie rundle has a good day

[dottiep]

For those of you who have been tainted by Miss Priestley and by extension Amelia Bullmore, do yourself a favor (if you haven’t already) and watch Scott and Bailey. Bullmore is the boss and is a smart, funny, assertive badass. Also, Jones is insanely good; she develops Bailey into a fabulous character. They are incredible together in scenes. Watch it. 

[rainaweather]

I love Amelia Bullmore in Gentleman Jack so much! She’s so damned good.

[mirandacaroll]

SO I finished Gentleman Jack and here is a point by point run down of my thought process during the show: 

oh good it’s in Halifax again that’s nice 

oh hey it’s the hot boat girl from GoT

oh to be Sally Wainwright and just take the most beautiful women on television and put them in your show so you can write them into all kinds of fun and gay situations

oh to be Sally Wainwright and write families and conversations and real people SO WELL

why do her intros/theme songs always resemble what a cheap romance novel would sound like if were an intro

let’s be real I was going to watch this no matter what garbage it would turn out to be because I’ve basically been waiting for Suranne Jones to play a wlw ever since I first saw her on screen 

and so has Sally apparantly

my god 

she’s really going all out with this one

she really has her.. walking like THAT and dressing like THAT and talking like THAT

god she’s good at walking

and talking

(although where is her accent??)

why yes I believe miss Elizabeth is quite aware of the things her boss gets up to with other women... 

oh she’s wearing rolled up sleeves

oh boy

oh we’re getting into her past. good.

oh not good!!!! not good at all! oh. oh no. oh honey.

god Sally I love the way you write not just women but men as well, and not just bad men, with their almost given bad-ness and bland-ness, but the good ones especially, the sweet old men and the clumsy boys who are just Trying Their Best

I WOULD DIE FOR AUNT ANNE

also you, like Amy Sherman Palladino are truly incapable of writing realistic heterosexual relationships and by that I mean everyone is gay mostly

oh it’s a fellow lesbian friend of Anne’s lol

oh wow the subtext is real

wait. oh they’re definitely just eyefucking over their tea now. this is not subtle at all. am I seeing things? 

oh god they’re actually .... oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh hello!!!!! damn!

‘fig leave cover-up’ new and hip word for bearding I’m calling it! 

‘Fred’ is def shooting up on my top ten list of names for my future daughter

I see Miss Walker heard about Anne Lister in the local lesbian group chat even though she only just joined three days ago

IT’S AMELIA BULLMORE

Gill / Rachel shippers RISE 

the way Suranne says ‘good’ 

the way she flirts with Miss Lister good lord

the scene where they are standing there waving is sooo SW. 

oh she’s walking again

oh I could watch this forever

SW you really said gay rights this time and did not take any prisoners and I LOVE you for it, let’s hope our local Dutch old people network will pick this up like they did Last Tango so we can slowly convert everyone in the world to your special brand of Halifax Lesbianism. 

[alisonscotlock]

TAG GAME: EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

tagged by @sarahlancashire 💖

scott & bailey - this is the show that got me into fandom and fanfiction (reading and writing) and basically without it i would never have met any of my internet friends. aside from that, i am not immune to fictional middle-aged female detectives with wine-red nail varnish - gill murray and julie dodson i’m looking at you both. special mention to any and all episodes written by amelia bullmore bc gdi the woman is a comedic genius

home fires - i don’t really go for war stuff usually, but this cast drew me in and thank the gods it did bc this was gorgeous. this is the show that gave me my username bc alison scotlock is the loml. it has it all - great stories, beautiful cinematography, excellent acting, a great soundtrack, plentiful pretty ladies for the milf lovers amongst us...

yonderland - only wanted to choose one show by the six idiots and honestly it could have been any of them, but yonderland won because it’s just so CLEVER while being utterly silly, which is absolutely my kind of thing. negatus is supposed to be the baddie but is just... silly and incompetent, which makes him adorable. lots of wise elder vex’s lines became lil echolalia things for me for months after i watched it

call the midwife - this is the show that has been with me for the longest time. it started when i was 15 and it’s seen me through so much and it’s my annual ‘let’s have a big cry every sunday in january and february’ comfort show with a side order of intense emotions. i have loved and/or appreciated 99% of the storylines, midwives and nuns. phyllis crane and sister julienne are my LOVES

dinnerladies - victoria wood. need i say more? this show is like an old friend to me. i can’t remember the first time i watched it but i must have seen it over 15 times. victoria’s writing is incredible and all of the cast are VERY good at bringing her characters to life. this is a get to know me and also my family kind of show - it’s the one we will all sit and watch and laugh along to and we quote it every day

last tango in halifax - look, i’m not saying some of these shows to get to know me aren’t mildly to extremely traumatising, they’re just the shows that have had the most impact on my life. sally i will never forgive you for THAT and also series 5 was so weird, but this was the first show with wlw in it that i watched after i came out and also caroline elliot is another loml (ok i have a lot...)

mum - sitcoms with added pulling hard on the heartstrings are where it’s AT. this is SO well-written and i’m a sucker for that realism. if you think it’s slow and boring then you’re watching it wrong. cathy walker, i love you. she’s so gentle. you know this show is good bc there’s a het relationship that i cry about. it’s the yearninggggg

holby city (series 14 - series 21) - again, this is not The Best by a LONG shot, but berena was my whole life when i was not great mentally and had very little else. they are my ultimate ship and bernie wolfe has my whole entire heart and basically the ik they’re fictional but if the two of them can go through the most traumatising shit and still be “happier than i ever thought possible” finding the love of their life at over 50 years of age, that gives me boundless hope <3

not tagging anyone, but if you see this and would like to be tagged, consider yourself tagged!

[freshginandtonic]

State of Play (and the state of Australia’s press freedom)

This week I got to thinking (insert Carrie Bradshaw voice here) about one of my favourite television shows, ‘State of Play’. I try to rewatch it every three to six months, scheduling it in like a dental check-up. There is in fact a big screen adaptation of the same story, starring a then-hot Ben Affleck and Eternal Queen of the World Rachel McAdams that came out in 2009, but I’m here to talk about the BBC originale.

I’ll skimp on the plot bc it twists and turns more than my stomach after I’ve had full dairy milk, but here’s the main thrust: a young kid gets shot on the streets of London the same morning as a young political researcher falls (or gets pushed hmmm) under a train. They’re connected by a single phone call. The researcher is discovered to be having an affair with her boss, who happens to be an MP. A conspiracy is introduced that may involve all of them, the British govt and a shady oil company. Enter stage left the scruffy maverick journalist and his team trying to find the truth. Have I whetted your appetite yet?

Now here’s the reason this particular series was floating around in my subconscious. On Monday multiple Australian newspapers ran redacted articles and documents on their covers, as part of a campaign called Your Right To Know. They were all heavily edited and asking the same question: ’When government keeps the truth from you, what are they covering up?’, as well as my personal favourite ‘News restrictions. Secrecy. Jail terms for journalists and whistleblowers. It couldn’t happen in Australia? It’s happening now.’ This exact same thing happens in State of Play. Now this isn’t by any means a political website (lol, blog) and I’m not here to make it one, but hopefully we can all agree that press suppression is Bad, and holding the govt to account, plus questioning their decision-making and actions is Good. We all know the govt (and practically all govts around the world) do some Questionable Things. Things that we don’t, and probably won’t know about for a number of years, if ever. Despite whatever political beliefs you subscribe to, when it comes to govt cover ups I dare u to try watching the masterpiece of cinema ‘Enemy of the State’ and come out of it not being slightly paranoid and mad about the unknown powers our or any political authority may have.

But getting back to the current issue. Since 2002, there have been 75 pieces of federal legislation have been introduced, intending to protect the public from national security threats but their purpose is essentially to stop the public from knowing what the Federal Government is doing. Journalists are being targeted, raided and silenced. We all know press suppression always starts before the really bad shit hits the fan.

To cap off the dystopian nightmare our country is falling into, new research has revealed  87 per cent of Australians value a free and transparent democracy only 37 per cent believe this is happening in Australia today. Love!! this!! for!! us!!

The issue of press freedom is constantly raised in State of Play, over 15 years ago. Fortunately British reporters are more protected than they are here in Australia where they have no constitutional safeguards, while in the UK journos are protected under the Human Rights Act. They're not perfect but it’s a more than our own country has done. 

A scene plays out in State of Play which is what I’m sure (I mean, hopefully) went down in the newsrooms of the Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph and countless others earlier this week - an editor runs a redacted front page calling attention to a huge issue - in this case Bill Nighy’s superb Cameron Foster is targeting the UK govt over their dealings w an oil company. He runs the headline ‘The story we can’t show you. Because Westminster have gagged us. Ask U-Ex Oil why. Ask your MP why.’ It’s a deafening threat to their foes in Westminster and basically a declaration: whether you try to bury the story or not, there’s no way it’s not getting out. Later we see the final story being printed and delivered, uncensored to readers - a victory for the fourth estate’s triumph over government might.

The show was written by Paul Abbott, who has his own fascinating and tragic backstory and directed by the man who helmed the last four Harry Potter films (and two spin-offs), David Yates. 

Beyond the plot, the series tackles issues of class, race (a black kid is killed in the opening scene and subsequently profiled as a drug user despite there being no evidence to support the theory), and adultery, (don’t get me goddamn started on this sub-plot) while examining the personal repercussions that come with reporters - or anyone finding a story and sticking to their guns on it. That’s not to mention characters becoming completely desensitised to the death and destruction that follow them. One of the most fascinating exchanges in the series is between a police officer and a reporter. One refers to the events around them as a case, with real lives and people involved, the other a story that has a deadline, damn the consequences. It’s clear then the price for exposing the worst of humanity is to lose some of your own. 

John Simm is our leading man, the aforementioned scruffy journalist Cal McAffrey. Boardwalk Empire’s - or Nanny McPhee and Trainspotting depending on your vintage - Kelly McDonald is his fellow lead reporter Della, seemingly the everywoman among the occasional madness, and she has a special place in my heart due to her large number of denim jackets. 

I’d like to also acknowledge to the excellent supporting characters beginning w James McAvoy who gives a spectacularly smarmy yet hot - despite a terrible wardrobe - performance as a journo working for a rival paper who then joins the team. Amelia Bullmore and Benedict Wong round out the main gang of reporters as Westminster correspondents Helen Prager and Pete Cheng. David Morrissey plays the perpetually sad and wounded politician Stephen Collins who is an absolute puzzle. Special mention to Bill Nighy as their editor-in-chief who says things like ‘I’m the sceptical one, so don’t push it Tonto’ and ‘bring us a bottle of red and four glasses’ when confronted with a piece of incriminating evidence. Another shining star is Liz the newsroom intern who is too good to describe here but is possibly the best part of the entire series and gets away with the best lines (excluding ‘ole Bill).

I kept an article that talked about State of Play and other smilier films and series on my cork board for about seven years, till the paper got yellowed and fragile. It described the tactics the journos in State of Play use as ’..Like a road map of the horrors of modern British journalism: phone-tapping, withholding evidence, more lies than the News of the World. And these are done by the good guys; the people they go after are murderers.’

In short: I’m never going to be able to describe all the ways I love this show, but for now I say: watch it. Watch it for six hours of absolutely cracking television, the character arcs, the terrible 2003 fashion choices, for Bill Nighy, for young James McAvoy. But most of all watch it bc you’ll see what’s going on right now reflected in every action and every scene. When characters are arrested in their newsroom, intimidated by both politician and policemen alike think of what’s going on rn in our dang country. When Cal protects his anonymous sources remember that Australia’s shield laws  are still quite limited the it comes to preventing journalists from being charged over naming confidential informants. And most of all when the team are pressured into dropping the story by the higher-ups, think of the blacked out papers we all picked up on Monday morning when our press agencies decided to ask ‘what are they covering up?’

As Cameron says ‘Big day. Big story. Big hitters.’

[piratekane]

may 8, missing scene

A true missing scene, somewhere between Vanessa and Charity’s first scene in the living room and the press conference debacle...

“I come in peace,” Vanessa jokes, her hands up in front of her body in surrender. When Charity barely reacts, Vanessa’s shoulders slump. “I’m not here to check up on you, honest.”

“That other offer is off the table, too,” Charity mutters. She’s using the bar as a shield, her arms braced against it uncomfortably, looking past Vanessa instead of at her, her eyes clouded and apprehensive.

Vanessa carefully settles onto a stool, her palms flat against the sticky bar. If she inches forward, put her forearms flush agains the top, her fingers would be touching Charity’s. Vanessa knows that’s all it’ll take - she knows a well-placed touch and a small pout will turn Charity to putty in her hands, but she also knows it’s Charity’s choice to bend and she won’t take that away from her; Charity will give in when she wants to.

“I’m just here to be here,” Vanessa says lightly.

“Don’t you have a job? Can’t you be there?” Charity pulls a pint and puts it down in front of Vanessa, frowning as if she’s not sure why she did that, then waving it away with a shake of her head.

“Skiving off.” Vanessa says dismissively, only a little guilty. “Pearl has it under control.”

“Pearl?” Charity asks. “Pearl Ladderbanks? Does she have anything under control?”

“Don’t gawp,” Vanessa scolds, grinning at Charity still. “What’s the worst she can do? Paddy let a snake loose. I lost a vial of ketamine. And that’s just in the last three months. Pearl can’t top that, can she?”

Vanessa watches Charity’s eyes soften, the way they always do when Vanessa makes some comment or another about being struck off. It still smarts, but she’s brushed it aside for now; Charity is her focus. Charity needs her.

“Babe,” Charity sighs.

Vanessa sighs and waves her away. “It’s no problem, yeah? I mean, I was offered the manager’s position elsewhere, recently. Might take you up on that.”

Charity stares at her for a heartbeat before rolling her eyes. “The position is in flux at the moment.”

“Anything I can do to... convince you I’m the woman for the job?” Vanessa asks, lowering her voice. She leans a little further over the bar, one hand forward, her fingers just a little closer to Charity’s. She thinks she sees Charity’s hands twitch and she fights back a smile, licking her lips. She picks up her pint with her free hand and takes a swallow, not looking away from Charity’s eyes.

“It’ll take a bit more groveling than that, babe,” Charity mumbles. She pauses, eyes narrowing as she thinks. “A night on the town, maybe.”

“A test, then.” Vanessa nods seriously. “I was always very good at those.”

Charity shudders - just barely, but enough for Vanessa to notice the ripple in her arms. “I bet you were.”

“Charity,” Vanessa says quietly, aware of the ears around them tuning in. Nothing stays secret in this village; Vanessa has learned that the hard way. “I just-“

Charity groans. “And there’s the ‘Ness I know. Making every moment into a Talking Heads monologue.” She starts to turn away from the bar.

Vanessa feels a rush of panic seize her and she grabs for Charity, her fingers tight around Charity’s wrist. “Wait,” she says, unable to keep the desperation from slipping out in her voice. Charity has been so far these last few days - stalking Bails, Vanessa knows now - and it feels like she slipping further and further back every time Vanessa gets close enough to touch her. 

She feels out of her depth and Charity is out of reach and everything is out of her control. 

“I’m not lecturing you,” she promises.

“Well that’s new,” Charity mutters. She doesn’t pull away, though, and Vanessa counts it as a small victory.

She turns her hand, smoothing her fingers across Charity’s skin. “I just wanted to know if you fancied me coming over, in a bit. Properly, I mean. I can bring my Scott and Bailey DVD set and a bottle of wine and we can-”

“Have a cuddle?” Charity finishes, an edge to her voice. She’s still holding herself like a piece of glass, fragile and breakable and Vanessa is trying to be so careful not to cut herself.

“Be there,” Vanessa corrects. “I want to be there for you.”

Charity’s shoulders soften. “So you’ve said.”

“And meant.”

Charity squints at her. “You’re sure you’re not going to go to Tracy’s big thing?”

Vanessa smiles softly at the way Charity manages to make a press conference sound like a funeral. It is, in a way, Vanessa thinks. “And risk lamping that excuse of a man on live television?” Vanessa scoffs. “I’d not last a day in prison.”

Charity looks her up and down slowly and a fire lights low in Vanessa’s belly. “I don’t know, babe. I’ve been there, yeah? You’re ripe for the picking.”

“Is that a compliment, Charity Dingle?”

Charity shrugs a shoulder. “Fact.”

Vanessa touches the tips of her fingers to Charity’s pulse and feels it beat back against her.  “I’m sure I’m right where I want to be,” she says softly. “I want to be with you and nowhere near that arsehole.” She smiles as Charity starts to give. “Tracy has enough of an audience anyway, doesn’t she?”

Something flashes in Charity’s eyes - just quick enough for Vanessa to see it and lose it again.

“Okay,” Charity concedes. “But we’re starting from the beginning of Season 1.”

“You’re only saying that because you like Amelia Bullmore,” Vanessa accuses.

“I’m surprised you stopped drooling over Suranne Jones long enough to notice,” Charity scoffs.

Vanessa presses a hand to her heart. “My second love.”

Charity rolls her eyes but her hand twists, lacing her fingers with Vanessa’s. “Half an hour, then? Chas should be done chundering soon.”

Vanessa wrinkles her nose. “I have to drop Johnny by the childminders and then I’m all yours.”

“Thought you already were,” Charity says lightly, glancing away.

“You clean them bins out?” Vanessa asks, remembering the chore Charity had been tasked with earlier.

That looks comes back again, then slips away before Vanessa can sink into it and try and sort it out. It’s a flash of something Vanessa thinks she recognizes - maybe it’s anger or maybe it’s annoyance. Maybe it’s at Chas or Tracy or Bails or her. Charity follows it with a tight smile that loosens slowly as Vanessa squeezes her hand.

Vanessa grins widely and pushes up, using the stool to balance herself as she leans over the bar. Charity meets her halfway, their see-you-soon kiss quickly sliding into something else - something hot and desperate. Charity’s eyes are still closed when Vanessa pulls back, but they open when someone whistles from the tables, cheering them on.

“In a bit, yeah?” Vanessa asks.

Charity nods, a smile that’s not quite whole on her face. She hesitates. “‘Ness, I...” she shakes her had. “Go on, kid. See you in a bit.”

Vanessa winks on her way out the door, a spring in her step. We’re going to be fine, she thinks to herself. Just fine.

[farminglesbian]

“Whereas, you know, often on TV you see quite world-weary, jaded, senior officers and this woman--all of them, actually, it’s one of the great things about the show--is they love their job.” --Amelia Bullmore

(series 1 behind the scenes.)

[alwaysbeyondhope]

I finished Scott & Bailey last night. ugh it was so good.

Then went looking for fanfiction. And the amount of Rachel/Gill and Gill/Julie fics out there is amazing, and not something I thought I needed until I was reading it.

And then was browsing through Netflix and found a show (show? movie? can’t remember) that had Pippa Haywood in it and I was like “I know her!!”

So now I may have to watch that. Although Save Me and A Touch of Cloth are also still on my list to watch - cause Suranne Jones, man. Fuck me.

But I was also pleasantly surprised by Amelia Bullmore, and I’m interested to see what else she’s been in. Because she’s another example of just... ✨ women ✨ , ya know?

[haroldgross]

New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/a-couple-forensic-mysteries/

A Couple Forensic Mysteries

I recently saw a couple of procedurals, each with their own twist on the form. Both are really quite good.

Traces The main, and impressive, aspect of this 6-parter is the naturalistic dialogue of the specialists and the police. Other characters are more in keeping with a dramatic mystery, but when the experts talk, it feels real rather than forced or contrived. Led by the young but rising Molly Windsor as a very damaged survivor, we follow three crimes that influence one another. With Laura Fraser (The Loch), Jennifer Spence (Bletchley Circle: San Francisco), Martin Compston (The Aftermath),  and Vincent Regan (Lockout) in some of the primary roles to keep it moving, the story manages a range of characters and complications. It also provides a nice forensics course and openings for a following season without feeling like they haven’t wrapped up what they needed to in the first. With the great Val McDermid providing the initial idea and guidance to show creator and writer Amelia Bullmore, the quality is built-in.

Pembrokeshire Murders I don’t usually like true-crime based mysteries. They far too often come off as crude re-enactments or thin recountings of fact. This three-parter, however, just comes across as any BBC well-told mystery. The structure is a bit rushed as its main audience already knows the outcomes, but it is all done in very dramatic (as in original fiction style) ways so that even those of us who don’t know about these murders stay riveted on the discoveries and results. Luke Evans (Blitz) is the center of the story, though he’s surrounded by a solid cast.