A series of ludicrous events in a terribly written tv police procedural. : Caribbean ex military policeman bizarrely pitches up in his MP uniform to suddenly become a detective in Aberdeen (explained by a leaflet he hands out, so that's ok then). He is embedded in team of several senior detective officers in a force who presumably has no Detective Constables, working from a Gucci modern generic office with Ikea up lighters (not some 60s dump full of unwashed mugs and overflowing bins in an underfunded police service). Despite being in a provisional Scottish city it seems all Aberdonians have been kidnapped - perhaps this is where the story is going. CID drive a BMW, not an Astra with 300k on the clock, They have all their investigation paperwork on an iPad
They don't carry radios, wander around a murder crime scene & the worst foot chase scene on TV history, cumulating in a school drama class quality arrest scene, presumably because the budget didn't extend to stuntmen. Then whilst trying to intervene in a kidnapping our hero oddly manages to fall into a van sort of locking himself in. I literally cannot wait to see what happens next but not for the reason the makers intended.
Kind of feels like a bunch of 6th formers have been given a budget to make a tv show with a really expensive HD camera.
Nice cinematography though, so the cameraman has done a good job. The lead actors I can see are good, the lead actor is very likeable and capable, but he has some awful material to work with. Zero budget for props etc.
They could have gone for something gritty dark and compelling, with interesting issues around racism, prejudice, and green issues / corporation corruption etc, but what this is is so lightweight and patronising to the audience. Ironic it is so lightweight as Aberdeen so windy, maybes they had a decent script that got blown away.
Think The Wire, think NYPD Blue, think Taggert. Then go 1 million miles in the opposite direction and you'll find Granite Harbour. Actually they could easily have edited this into a bit of a spoof comedy TBH. I've give it 2 stars for the laughs.
I was so glad to see Aberdeen feature in a TV drama. Shame, a real missed opportunity for everyone.
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