***** (FIVE STARS)
Based on “A Distant Echo”, the first in a saga of novels by the famous Scottish writer Val McDermid (1955), this unique British miniseries stars a fresh, uninhibited and independent detective,
that demonstrates his enviable gifts of sagacity and stubbornness.
The plot is fueled by the popularity of a “true crime” podcast that investigates and analyzes the unsolved murder of a waitress in the seaside town of Saint Andrews, northeast of Edinburgh, more than a quarter of a century ago. The dissemination of the same sows nervousness among the police officers of the Scottish county of Fife, before the accusations of having failed in the investigation of those years. They then decide to reopen the case, assigning it to Sergeant Karen Pirie, played by the emerging and promising Lauren Lyle. The girl is a twentysomething without any
experience in crime, but being young, the same gender as the podcast author and the stabbing victim, they believe political and social repercussions will be avoided.
Pirie, assumes responsibility despite the lack of means assigned to him, including the help of Mint, a subordinate, in charge of actor Chris Jenks, known for “Sex Education”. She is determined to find the truth about the motives and find the culprits of this unresolved homicide, taking advantage of scientific advances that allow the evidence to be reexamined. Karen’s mix of youth, independence, ambition, tenacity and clarity of ideas generate immediate empathy with her character, devoid of neuroses or devious secrets. Her way of making her way in a completely macho police world and with many prejudices against women makes her much closer to our current inclusion problems.
The action takes place in two time lines, the present one with the detective unraveling the previous investigation, and the one from the past that shows us the actions of the suspects and the murdered girl. The structure is that of one case per season, with only three episodes, lasting nine minutes, very well developed to maintain the level and the tension until the end, while progressing with increasingly surprising new revelations.
It is certainly reminiscent of “Unforgotten”, another six-part police drama with old and unsolved cases from decades ago, where the group of detectives is led by another woman. But, the literary pen of Val McDermid, has designed a fascinating character that she herself adapted for television together with the actress and screenwriter Emer Kenny, who also plays the protagonist’s roommate. Tip: she doesn’t miss it.
