(Season 1) Dreadful script yet somehow engaging ... I'm not sure if I stuck with it because I am originally from Glasgow and grew up in the 60s and 70s or if it had some merit that kept me engaged. It bore an atmospheric resemblance to his later work, Shetland, which I love, but was sadly embarrassing in comparison. If they called the lead "fat" one more time I was going to scream.
Obviously, there was something seriously wrong with the casting and I couldn't get past that. Give her a fat suit if nothing else but to cast a fit, attractive and seemingly intelligent young women in the part was crazy. I haven't read the novel it was based on so I've no idea if the character was supposed to be fat or if this was purely the script writer's invention. I pondered if it was supposed to be a running "gag" but it was delivered so vehemently and nastily by so many different people, including herself and her hopelessly love-lorne colleague when he first saw her in the bar... it just didn't make any sense and was definitely not funny. There are certainly many "heavy" highly competent actresses out there who would have been perfect for the part. Did the producers want to play it safe and not appear to offend an actual fat person? And it was insulting to the character of Glaswegians to have everyone make rude and insulting comments about it throughout.
The script was appalling and much of the dialogue was embarrassing to any Glaswegian. Certain classic "catch phrases" were so over-worked and certainly had lost a lot of their popularity and charm by the 80s. Reminiscent of watching and episode of THE VITAL SPARK. It's true there was a tradition of misogyny in Glasgow (the Men's Union at Glasgow University, the bars that relegated women to the "Lounge" etc. ) but that was pretty much phasing itself out by the late 70s. The newspaper was staffed by educated Scots and Brits, my father amongst them, so it certainly wasn't representative of reality.
Nothing felt authentic to me and the one-dimensional characters made so many ignorant and stupid choices and comments they jerked me out of the momentum of the drama. Glasgow was made to look run down, drab and unappealing, inhabited by a bunch of ignorant yahoos with out-of-date kitchens!!
I had concerns regarding the believability of the show from the opening. The appalling direction and editing of the passage of time gave the impression that Brian was kidnapped within minutes in the middle of an expansive open park in bright daylight. We even got a crane shot emphasizing the openness of the area. The fact that none of the boys kicking a ball right beside him saw anything and that the mother couldn't see anyone traversing the massive, wide open park with the child within minutes of noticing his disappearance, set the stage for much of the stupidity and flaws that followed.
It would take too long to point out all the problems and flaws but the mother tipping a bucket of "pish" out of her window over her rival colleague sticks in my mind. Did she keep a bucket ready in case any annoying reporters showed up? Or are we to believe Glaswegians were still living without indoor plumbing in the 80s? Was this the director's attempt to convey the clever, "particularly Glaswegian" sense of humour?
The lead up to the dramatic denouement was ruined for me as soon as the co-worker naively wrote down the phone message from the curt anonymous caller telling her to meet him in a deserted parking lot at 11pm. Really? She sauntered off without even telling anyone (supposedly to keep the scoop to herself) without any apparent concerns. Really? Perhaps she envisioned herself meeting "Deep Throat" in an episode of the X-Files. And why did the killer bother to move the body from the empty lot? Setting himself up to DNA evidence possibilities.
The two-part mini series was riddled with similar, glaringly stupid plot points, dialogue and behaviors.
It was all so heavy handed and I thought the acting acceptable rather than remarkable. (The fact that the lead actress gained an award for her acting in this leaves me stunned).
An interesting moment that didn't go by me was a quick flash of two other background women walking through the office ...presumably visitors since they were attractive and well dressed so surely couldn't work in the same "male dominated" office oblivious to the mistreatment of the "copy boy".
In spite of all the flaws and serious irritations, I did enjoy the basic story and wanted to know how it was going to end. The ridiculous wimp of a colleague who attached himself to her (and was later coldly rejected) nearly prevented me from my goal as I suddenly thought I was watching an episode of The Nancy Drew Mysteries.
I tried to give the second "season" a go but since our cold hearted and selfish lead still felt it was her job to solve the mysteries that the police were incapable of doing, it simply wasn't worth it so I gave up half-way through the noisy and boring Part One.