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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Tuesdays's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Television: ABOVE SUSPICION starring Ciarin Hinds and Kelly Reilly


ABOVE SUSPICION is based on books by Lynda LaPlante who writes and is a producer on several of the shows. I will say this right off the bat: ABOVE SUSPICION is not a nice show. It's a very dark police procedural about unpleasant people doing extremely unpleasant things. Even the cops are hard to like although you do like them a smidgen better than the vile criminals who ply their odious trade in every episode. Who knew that England was such a hotbed of loathsome criminality?

Obviously the British cop system is all about politics and how to rise to the top by making less waves than the next guy. (Oh wait, that sounds familiar.) Of course catching the bad guys counts, but doing it as briskly and quietly as possible. At least, that's the impression I get - nobody likes bad press. Secrets are routinely swept away in order to keep things tidy.

I will say that the newspapers over there seem to screech louder than ours and a juicy crime screams loudest. 'If it bleeds, it leads,' that sort of thing. There's also not a lot of comfort to offer the victims of these assorted crimes.

The episodes I've watched (Netflix DVDs) reveal some pretty repellent crimes in pretty repellent detail. So keep that in mind. I don't, normally, go in for this sort of thing but I admit that there's something repulsively compelling about the show. Probably the cast. Not that they're repulsive. Not really.

Shaun Dingwall, Ciarin Hinds, Celyn Jones, Amanda Lawrence and Kelly Reilly

As is usual in most Brit shows, the entire cast is pretty top notch and most of them look viable as detectives and so forth. The villains are also extremely well cast, most especially Simon Williams (who is still a handsome devil) of Upstairs Downstairs fame as a rather dreadfully creepy bad guy.

You know my affection for Ciarin Hinds, the Irish actor whom I go into rhapsodies over every now and then. Well, he's the star here although Kelly Reilly is supposed to be. He plays DCI James Langton, an over-whelming type-A personality who comes onto a case short-tempered and larger than life, aggressively ready to stampede over everyone and anyone in the interests of catching the bad guy and advancing his career. He's the best thing in the show.


Kelly Reilly plays red-head DC Anna Travis, a trainee who must prove her mettle. She is beautiful (of course) and goes in for high heels even when she has to traipse through the mud (?!) or hit the rutted back of beyond farm roads where one can't help feeling uncomfortable for her poor feet. It is, I admit, distracting. She also appears to only have one suit of clothing. But I'm digressing.

DC Anna is one of those intuitive detectives who seems destined for great things if only she can stop making stupid mistakes like sleeping with a newspaper reporter who goes through her case notes (in her pocket book!!!) while Anna has a post-coital snooze. Needless to say, she wakes up to find secrets of the current case splashed all over the front page of the tabloids. Lucky to still have a job she's forced to apologize to everyone down at headquarters for her ridiculous stupidity.

And by the way can someone please comb this woman's hair? Anna has a habit of looking as if she just rolled out of bed, hair usually dangling in her face. She also needs to buy some boots. And a couple of more work suits wouldn't hurt.


In the meantime, the beautiful Anna (despite her mess of a hair-do and limited wardrobe) has caught the eye of DCI Langton, though he is currently having a secret thing with his boss, a woman more in tune with his age and personality. Langton, to his credit, makes no move on Anna. It's all very nebulous. But we're given to understand that beneath the surface, attraction is briskly simmering away. Not that much is done about it. It's one of those either/or things. Of course I haven't seen the last episodes in the series which, I understand was cancelled in 2012.

Everyone who works down at police headquarters is unhappy. Did I mention that? Well, that's hardly a surprise considering the job stress and the rotten crimes that fall to their division to solve. But funnily enough, you do get inured to the violence after the first couple of shocks. At least that's how it worked for me. Oh, and the language, too. The F-word is fairly flung around, so there's that to consider as well.

On the whole, I recommend the show with the obvious cautions mentioned above.Which just goes to show that I must be a real Ciarin Hinds fan-girl.

Since this is Tuesday, don't forget to check in at Todd Mason's blog, Sweet Freedom, to see what other forgotten (or overlooked) films, television or other audio/visuals, other bloggers are talking about today.

19 comments:

  1. yvette, my Daughter loves Dexter, I was trying to watch, it was so scary and horrible. The language is why kids have such foul mouths. I was in town yesterday and two kid's carried on every word was
    worst than the other. They can't speak English.

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    1. Nah, Dexter's not for me. I tried to read the first book in the series, before the television show and disliked it immensely. Ugh. I know what you mean about kids and their language. I hate all that crap. HA!

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  2. Nothing wrong with tousled hair! But painful-looking shoes...ugh. That might be more distracting to me than any profanities tossed about (these are bitter cops dealing with murderers, after all)...I'll probably give this one a shot sometime in the nearish future...

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    1. Oh but Todd, there's tousled and then there's TOUSLED. Not so terrific, I'm afraid. Well, really, the shoes are just black pumps, but it's just the idea of high heels sinking into mud. Then at one point she has to maneuver through a field of nettles in a skirt and heels. I mean, really.

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  3. Thanks Yvette - my folks really like this one - I was a bit less impressed from what I saw but as usual, you there is much to enjoy with the cast and this was certainly a big break for Kelly Reilly who should be going on to great things I hope (Mr Hinds is no slouch but moves me in a different way shall we say ...)

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    1. I know what you mean about Mr. C.H. :) This is certainly not a great show - but you know, dammit - it should have been. Still I have the last few episodes on my Save Queue.

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  4. When I saw the header I first thought of Above Suspicion with Fred MacMurry and Joan Crawford, based on the book by Helen MacInnes. Even though that movie wasn't exactly true to the book, I think I like it better than this one. At the present time I am rereading the book! :-)

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    1. Oh I love that book AND movie, Gram. In fact, I reviewed it right here at the old blog a while back. I think I like the movie just a wee bit more but either/or - Great Stuff. Oh I know why I liked the movie, Basil Rathbone!!

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  5. Interesting choice, Yvette. Never heard of this show and I'm unlikely to get it here unless Netflix comes to India. In the past I've seen tame police and detective shows like REMINGTON STEELE and CASTLE though I prefer the former to the latter whose episodes all seem alike.

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    1. The 'newer' thriller/police/mystery/detective shows are much different than the old days. No glamour, for one thing. Though CASTLE is relatively new isn't it? I've never watched it - just not that interested in the premise. Maybe Netflix (which, by the way, is expanding world wide) will show up in your neck of the woods one of these days. :)

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  6. I see you're still on your Ciaran Hinds kick. :^D

    Hey, there's Kelly Reilly! Again! Popping up all over the place. Until this month I'd never heard of her, let alone knew that she was a British actress. She's starring in a new American TV series pretty soon -- BLACK BOX. Yet another UK actor imported to star in a US TV show. ...sigh... I'll spare you my rant about that.

    Lynda LaPlante made a name for herself when she created PRIME SUPECT, the superior cirme drama series that single-handedly revived Helen Mirren's career and made her the star she is today. I might be tempted to check out one or two episodes of this show. Thanks for the review.

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    1. Well, given the crop of American 'starlets' it's no wonder they have to import the Brits. I think you're probably right about PRIME SUSPECT making Helen Mirren a household name, but don't hold that against her. Jeez. She can't help it if she's brilliant. :)

      I will always be on a Ciarin HInds 'kick' as you call it, m'dear. :)

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  7. I found this series at the library, so I put the first season on reserve, and will see what happens when I see it.

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  8. It's pretty grisly, Kathy. Forewarned is forearmed. :)

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  9. A few good things about dvds from the library: One can turn off the dvd. One can fast-forward through the gristly, brutal parts. One can put a newspaper up in front of one's eyes, or one can walk out of the room. I've done all of this.

    Also, one can just return the dvd's to the library with no cost. No money is wasted on the dvd's.

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    1. Definitely, Kathy. That's what remotes are for. :)

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  10. Well, it's ready for me at the library. I'm nervous, but will shut it off if it's too much.

    Now, on the other hand completely, the second season of VEEP is there, too, and I can't wait for that. It is hilarious from start to finish.

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  11. I've never seen VEEP. I think I'll line it up at Netflix - if it's available. Thanks for the tip.

    As for ABOVE SUSPICION, perhaps you'd like to try the other one. ABOVE SUSPICION starring Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford. Based on the Helen MacInnes novel. (Read the novel, then see the movie. Or the other way around if you like.)

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  12. Having watched the first investigation in this TV show, I'll agree about the violence, some of it gratuitous I'd say. The story could have been told without all of the blood and gore.

    That said, Ciarin Hinds is the star, and he's excellent. I wasn't familiar with him but will watch him in future movies. I thought Kelly Reilly was all right, not a terrific actor and her clothing wasn't right for a police investigator, at least not one in the States.

    I'll probably watch more episodes but fast forward through the gore.

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