Beautiful scenery. Reasonably engaging story, although by episode 2, I was already thinking that maybe they should have done a four part miniseries rather than an eight part one. It was slow, slow, s-l-o-w. But I really wanted to know what the answers were -- what happened to Gillian, will Anna be cured of her blank-outs, exactly how bad was the deal the owners of Sullivan's Ridge made to take toxic waste, and most importantly, who's lying, who's corrupt, who's on the side of the angels? Is Dutch crooked? Is it a conspiracy all the way up the police hierarchy? And so on. The questions turned out to be just reflections of a grab-bag of suspense devices, with no answers. Whole thing turned out to be rather pointless.
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pandral17 August 2016
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driscolllloyd-8734216 August 2016Let's not even attempt to explain away all the stuff we served up to seduce the viewers way back when our creative juices were strongest. Let's just say nothing. Let's just leave it up to them. They're smart. This episode was a tragic conclusion of no conclusion and the best most recent example of writers dodging all responsibility and running as far from closure as is fashionably possible. It was all left up to us. Imagine watching a ten hour whodunit and never being told who did it. Up to you. Your call. No answers. No explanations. This was Twin Peaks sans creativity. Nothing. A myriad of loose ends, red herrings, of cameras lingering on ghostly images, moss, bright lights, electric pulses, dead wildlife, disappearing teenagers, knowing gazes into the middle distance and unexplained relationships. We tune in for the final episode seeking plausible explanations and we got winsome looks, jumbled images, confusion and blunder. This is not a plea for simplicity. The more convoluted the better. But at the end of it all there must be credibility. Not a last minute new character or event. But in context. But here we didn't even get that. We didn't get any ghost in the machine. We didn't get the return of a previously unknown uncle. We got nothing. Too much William S Burroughs and not enough credible narrative. At least they didn't pretend the whole thing was a dream and for that we should be thankful? Perhaps that will come in the second season. Who cares? I will not be watching, having already invested 12 hours in sodden landscapes, moss lined forests, chairs in strange places and body doubles. Rubbish.
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psharpe-0123031 July 2016I really wanted to enjoy The Kettering Incident. I have had a life long love affair with Tasmania and by an amazing coincidence spent some time in Kettering and Bruny Island in January 2016.
I have just watched Episode 5, three to go. So why aren't I enjoying it?
First, the good stuff. The scenery and atmosphere captures Kettering perfectly (it looks like early winter). The blue light and deep shadows invades every scene, indoors included and sets the stage for ugly events.
Now the bad stuff.
The story line and some of main characters are not credible. It seems weird that a highly educated medical specialist (Anna Macy) would mope around like a sullen teenager. Then when she meets the most normal person (the geophysicist) who may have some answers she brushes him away immediately with no explanation as to why. A horrid murder occurs and there is no Homicide team sent down from Hobart which is 30 minutes away? Moss gross on building walls and other places and no- one thinks to contact the Dept of Agriculture?
Nobody (except Fergus) is likable in this show. Everyone seems to have a chip on their shoulder and smoldering anger seems to sit on the town like a gray rain cloud. I know the creators are trying to induce "atmosphere" but it is just darn depressing to watch, the constant sad slow moving story needs to find some lighter shades. -
simut1 September 2016normally i don't watch any Australian series but this one caught my eye. heavy going very dark storytelling. the characters are a little hard to relate to, but the scenery is fantastic.i i would describe the show's themes, it is very Twin Peaks, mixed with X-Files and stranger things. you get very distracted by several ongoing story lines.but i do love the small town feeling and the sense of desperation to find out what happened. my only real concern was the finale. i leave it to you to watch but, it left me feeling i got no return for me putting in the hard yards to watch each episode.to say a little disappointing it was would be understated
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dear-6320215 August 2016Did I miss something after seeing the last episode? I am left wondering how all the final scenarios tie up together. There were many unanswered questions like how was Anna transported from London to Tasmania. Something to do with her medication perhaps - memory lapses? A complete explanation from the script writer would be much appreciated. Please explain! I think the series was much too long and towards to end I just felt frustrated by the posed and unanswered questions from the characters. In fact I almost gave up watching half way through the series.
A big plus was the beautiful Tasmanian Scenery. I hope Tassie tourism benefits!
Katie -
jb07-660-94439524 July 2016Edit: Having watched the final episode, we have concluded that the writers wrote themselves into such a mess that they didn't know how to get out of it. They hinted at UFOs, illegal dumping, a murder, and all other kinds of mysteries, only to end with nothing resolved.
What a mess, and what a waste of time. The producers and writers need to watch The Living and The Dead to get a hint at how suspense should be handled.
What a boring, boring, did I mention boring? show! It is like they have a thirty minute idea which they have decided to stretch over many episodes.
There are lots of scenes of lakes and mountains, and that is about the pace of the series.
It was promoted heavily on Foxtel as the next best show to be shown. Unfortunately it isn't. This is a very bad reflection on Australian film making, which can be so very good.
Now my review may turn out to be boring because IMDb has told me I haven't typed enough lines. How ironic. Well, hopefully this will fulfill the requirement. Maybe the film makers had the same problem. They were told they had to come up with X number of episodes, but only had enough ideas for one. -
jbing-8488226 November 2017I can't believe I just wasted 8 hours of my life getting to the end of this sick excuse for a story. Except for the lead character -- whose idea of acting was to walk around with a daze expression on her face-- the performances were passable. Much of the scenery in the rain forest was beautiful. But any merit this series would have had was destroyed by the writers utter ineptitude. They/he/she (the writers) switch scenes non-stop with scores of nonsensical mini- cliffhangers which are either left unresolved or answered with a trivial plot turn. Based upon the high ratings I can only assume that vested interests have stuffed the ballot box. This writing is soooo weak, so utterly lacking in the ingenuity that it takes to weave a story line and close the arc of a narrative, that it has left me wishing I had bailed out in episode 1 and wondering how a script such as this could ever get brought to the screen. Am I naive to think that writers should have higher standards and stronger work ethic? And that producers should have more common sense? Oh that my ranting would bring back my 8 hours. The horror, the horror....
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louieboy-8745630 July 2016I don't often write reviews on IMDb, but I saw all of the other low- rated reviews and wanted to give another opinion. The Kettering Incident is a very polished, well-made, compelling Australian series. The tone is dark and mysterious, creepy at times, with also a small sci-fi twist.
The plot follows a young troubled doctor from the UK who finds herself back home in Kettering, Tasmania after being involved in a missing person's 'incident' some time ago.
The lead acting is superb, although the supporting acting to a lesser extent. There was comment about Elizabeth Debicki being disengaging, but I disagree. She does a great job in portraying her character as a medicated, disturbed person who has suffered a traumatic experience. And her accent is flawless. Matt Le Nevez is also good as the shifty cop who you can't quite trust.
The scenery is spectacular. The look and feel of the show is really enhanced by the sometimes dismal, but equally beautiful Tasmanian setting. The sheer cliff faces of Bruny Island and the peninsula, the green, mossy bush land and imposing misty Mount Wellington and surrounding ranges are all used to great effect.
The show also does well exploring issues which are quintessentially Tasmanian. It portrays the anger some have surrounding deforestation on the island, and the hatred that exists between the loggers and the 'Greenies'.
Yes, The Kettering Incident travels at a slower pace, but so do all good murder mystery series. If you like other murder / police procedural / mystery shows such as Broadchurch, the Killing or Top of the Lake, then give The Kettering Incident a try. -
bitbybyteholdon5 September 2016A very different type of show, although I watch a lot of mysteries. The setting for the show is beautiful and adds to the mystery. I always love when a show is filmed in a locale that I'm not familiar with, as in this case. I was so fascinated that I did an online search for more facts about the locale, because there are times it has really breathtaking cinematography. I don't understand the really disparaging reviews. I don't agree and really got into the show. In other words, I was hooked and couldn't wait for the next episode or even the next minutes. I think the acting is very good and there are interesting twists with hints of the supernatural or sci-fi along with mystery, drama, crime, which are the three descriptive categories under the title, added by IMDb. I normally don't enjoy seeing anything with sci-fi or supernatural elements but I liked this one very much. Don't get put off from seeing it for those elements. I think you'll enjoy it and get engrossed in the story.
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burdessa25 July 2016I'm glad I didn't read the other reviews before I started watching The Kettering Incident because I'm absolutely hooked! I just stumbled upon it and I'm so glad I did. I personally find it to be an intriguing balance between what is revealed and what is held back in each episode. What some reviewers find "slow paced" I just find to be good mystery and tension.
This certainly isn't the only crime show from Down Under I've enjoyed. I was a big fan of "No Activity" (which was a comedy, so quite different from this) and "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" is one of my favourite shows. But as a Canadian, I really have to rely on the internet to access Australian shows, and I don't always hear about them. I'm glad I came across this gem!
The tone and pace reminds me a little bit "Wallander" (I've only seen the British version with Kenneth Branagh), but perhaps with a supernatural twist? I haven't finished the series yet, so I'm not really sure what the "answer" is. Can't wait to find out though! -
grantss16 August 2016Anna Macy (played by Elizabeth Debicki) is a highly-regarded doctor, working at a hospital in London. Suffering from frequent headaches and other ill-health, she returns to her home town of Kettering, Tasmania. She left the town under a cloud 15 years earlier after her best friend Gillian disappeared. Back now, she finds that the old animosities remain. Moreover, the strange phenomena that accompanied Gillian's disappearance remain and another girl has disappeared.
Started very intriguingly. There was a slow-burning intensity about the main plot with some interesting sub-plots. Elizabeth Debicki put in a solid performance in the lead role and the supporting cast were fairly good too.
The series did seem padded, however, but I figured that it would soon ramp up the pace and the payoff would be worth all the effort.
Sadly, no. The pace never quickens. The whole thing just drifts throughout. As for a payoff, the conclusion is convoluted, random, confusing and anticlimactic. It all seems set up for a second season, though apparently this is a mini-series.
Disappointing. -
chilenainus12 September 2016I came across "The Kettering Incident" without knowing anything about it and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the material, the story line and the characters. Kettering is a place in Tasmania where UFO's were sighted in 1976, and though nothing is said in that respect, the whole supernatural flavor of the series is geared to an audience that will clearly figure out something otherworldly is going on in this town. When Anna Macy(Elizabeth Debicki) comes back home to Kettering after 15 years, strange occurrences plus the disappearance a local girl- as it happened 15 years before- start taking place in town and as the show progresses the episodes give you more questions than answers, makes you doubt everything and nobody seems to be above suspicion. Good show with touches of the supernatural and police drama which reminds me a bit of "The X-Files". Can wait for season 2. Highly recommended.
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Manners-Kumar5 August 2016Perhaps the last two episodes will redeem the series but I doubt it.
Six episodes in, there is an ever expanding list of mysteries. Most of the characters seem unconcerned or at least not willing to follow up on the problems that have arisen. There have been few hints about what could be causing the strange occurrences and barely any curiosity.
For me, I would like to see at least one sympathetic character. There are none. Our lead is the capable Elizabeth Debicki who plays a troubled young woman. She has been given horrible dialogue to work with and honestly, she is far too young to play an experienced doctor.
After it's all explained, I think I'm going to say "so what?" The setting is very beautiful. Too bad about the story. -
dearkelany9 November 2016I really enjoyed this series. Based on the synopsis on Amazon, I didn't expect a show full of paranormal events akin to something you would find in a really good season of the X- Files. I was reminded of the storytelling in Lost - always more questions are raised than answered. But that is what kept me watching Lost for several seasons because let's be honest, once they start answering questions with implausible stories or bad cg aliens then we lose interest. The mystery is what I enjoy. And this show throws them at you thick and fast. I found this show to be utterly intriguing with some very fine acting from the whole cast. Lots of tension and suspense, yet not too creepy to scare me off. (Almost, though) This is a great show for fans of shows like The X Files and Stranger Things. I am looking forward to the next season!
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living-dead-girl-340-67682014 January 2017I TOTALLY wished I had known beforehand that the final episode was going to be a horrible ending, leaving me with more questions than answers. I really would NOT have watched it if I had known beforehand! I've heard that they are thinking about doing a Season 2 but there's no guarantee that they will. And that doesn't help me right now. I admit that I was very hooked on watching the show, which is the reason that I gave it 3 stars instead of one, but I was hooked because I couldn't wait to find out what was really going on. I feel like all the time I took out to watch this show was wasted because the major questions I had were NOT answered. I wanted confirmation that there were aliens and UFOs but you don't get any. I would also like to have seen why there were so many moths, what was the significance of the color red, and why was moss growing everywhere, even on people. If you are thinking about watching this show, I'd advise that you wait until they have come out with Season 2.
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lolacollins214 September 2016If you don't like thinking when watching a show or if you prefer to be spoon fed the plot or have everything tied up in a pretty bow for you then this is NOT the show for you. Watch a Disney or Marvel movie.
This show forces you to actively engage, to think outside the box and seek out clues in the scenery, the music, the spoken and body language of the actors. Pays to record and re-watch, that's how I spotted some clues missed in the original screening. Thrilled to hear Joan Jetts song Crimson & Clover, blast from the past.
I am okay with not knowing after all it's only season 1 and it is a mystery series... why be surprised? Why roll on the floor and kick your feet because your juvenile instant gratification tendency was unfulfilled as I noticed a lot of people did.
It's an unusual series and the geography of Tasmania where it's filmed is just utterly stunning and pristine. The cinematography of Ari Wegner was of the high quality expected from world class Aussie cameramen in the vein of John Seale, Don McAlpine, Dean Semler, Andrew Lesnie and co.
They are working on a Season 2, the problem is Season 1 was filmed in 2014 when the lead actress Elizabeth Debicki was relatively unknown, she has since worked on The Night Manager, Macbeth movie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and movies due this/next year The Tale and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
This series is not for everyone and that's okay but don't mark it down because you didn't have the patience to wait for the story to play out or the capacity to understand the clues provided.
All the cast including the children were solid, oftentimes with Australian shows someone is not pulling their weight, I didn't find that with this show. -
I was intrigued by The Kettering Incident from the minute the first previews were shown, and it hasn't disappointed. Set and filmed on location in Tasmania, this Australian production is not only visually stunning, but rich and compelling. Everything from the directing to the writing to the acting is perfect.
Without giving too much away, the basic story is of Anna Macy (Elizabeth Debicki), a doctor working in London who returns home unexpectedly to Australia. The townspeople of Kettering are not too happy about her arrival and when a teenage girl goes missing, the memories and mysterious disappearance of Anna's childhood friend are brought to the surface along with a myriad of questions, secrets and strange events.
The opening credits create a haunting atmosphere of flickering lights and fluttering moths and birds in the misty dark green of the forest, no doubt a sign of things to come or maybe of things past. Each episode is as foreboding as the last and moves along at a nice even pace, while at the same time threatening to unravel, keeping the viewer engaged. I sometimes find it frustrating only getting little bits of information at a time, but here I am completely captivated by it and have found myself watching each episode more than once.
Debicki is outstanding and displays great depth in what is quite a challenging role. Her quiet, but strong presence is magnetic and ethereal. Alongside Debicki is an array of fine Australian actors including Matthew Le Nevez, Henry Nixon, Anthony Phelan, Alison Whyte, Ben Oxenbould, Damien Garvey, Sacha Horler and Suzi Dougherty. All are excellent as they bring to life the heart of Kettering, each character multi-faceted and complex.
The directing and cinematography is just breathtaking. There is an otherworldly aspect to it. The lingering shots of the forest, mountains, lonely roads, the moon peaking through the clouds, the glow of a street light in the dark of night, and a colour palette of greens, blues and greys all add to the mesmerising beauty and eeriness of the small town. The music is also fantastic and suitably ominous.
Creators Vicki Madden and Vincent Sheehan, and all involved have made something special. The Kettering Incident is high-quality Australian drama at it's very best. I will be sad to see it finish, but I'm also eagerly waiting to see what happens next and how it will all end. Not to be missed! -
I'm rarely sold by ad campaigns but this one got me early, and I'm grateful. Clea's rendition of Crimson and Clover played dreamily over glowing lights and floating moths as the traliers expanded over the weeks until we glimpsed some of the nightmare to come last night. Woods and Krawitz exploit the Twin Peaks mountains and forest locations, the camera rolling at magma pace over a gorgeous slate-filtered Tasmanian backdrop. There's even something of the early X-Files atmosphere to this, made modern and Australian as a deeply intelligent script drip-feeds character and back-story in creepy and surreal flashes. As good as it is, this show belongs to Elizabeth Debicki, who is on career-making form as the disheveled and twitchy Dr. Anna Macy. A far cry from her American-accented turn as the Bond-girl-like Jed in the Night Manager, Debicki's nuanced Thin White Duchess performance pitches perfectly between vulnerable and unsettling. Delivering her lines in low, cultured tones and frequently shot as an unmoving silhouette framed in door or window frames, or in centre close-up (that scream is a visual and auditory shock) this is compelling stuff indeed. 9/10.
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chris-bushwacker31 August 2016I say "possible spoiler alert" because no matter what I describe, the reader will be no wiser anyway. The 2 is for the scenery, as a few others have already said. Yes the pace was slow but that doesn't bother me if it is building up to something. Unfortunately nothing is resolved, though plenty of herrings are thrown into the mix at a surprising rate for a show that merely crawls along.
I love anything to do with strange goings on in remote wilderness, lights in the sky, possible alien activity, confused lead characters with mysterious memory loss, strange mutations, hidden government facilities, taciturn locals and long-buried secrets, and this series seemed to promise at least some of these. Well it promised a great deal more than it delivered and the abrupt editing and fascination for shooting so many scenes in either semi or absolute darkness was confusing as well as infuriating.
The taciturn locals all seemed to be sharing the same part. I could not tell one from another until 2/3 of the way through, and when anyone referred to an absent character by name I had no idea who they were talking about. Some characters who started out downright weird (Dutch, the woman doctor whose name I still don't know) swung from possible villain to seeming OK, to ... what exactly? Nobody knows, not even after the final episode, when the only thing we were presented with was more questions.
Poor Fergus the earnest police officer, eternally perplexed and as frustrated as any viewer, tries manfully to work out all the answers. He seems the only halfway normal person in a community where people disappear, are murdered, forcibly abducted and left in the woods, mysteriously caused to crash their cars on the road, sometimes just popping up again as though it hadn't even happened. Watching this I began to wonder if I had mirror cells duplicating in my own body, such was the fractured, nonsensical narrative I was trying to make sense of.
Surely someone, somewhere could have come up with an actual story? Even a far-fetched one, rather than an endless series of scenes that didn't connect or have any relevance to each other, and the ultimate betrayal of the viewer was no ending at all. All I can say is now Anna is down a hole in the dark, hopefully Fergus will just leave her there. -
Kikis22 August 2016So many hyped shows this year and so much disappointment. Surprisingly, this one was pushed the hardest (I had "Crimson and Clover" stuck in my head every day for months before the show even debuted) and the only one that managed to live up to it. Sorry, Jessica Jones.
I came in expecting the X-Files, alien impregnations and all, and was disappointed for a good 5 minutes. Turns out old unsolved missing children cases and small town politics are a good mix. Plus I'm a sucker for a good conspiracy, even if it's more Michael Palmer than Whitley Streiber.
Like already mentioned, the photography is gorgeous, but also apt considering the main contention between the mill and greenies. For me the pace is in the sweet spot, anything faster would ruin the atmosphere and wouldn't give enough time to each theory. I might think differently if I were waiting a week between episodes, rather than watching a couple at a time on demand. There are a few stand out performances, but more importantly there's no terrible ones, no jarring moments ripping you out of the moment.
I should add that's a tentative 9. The ending could make it or break it. Too many red herrings? All the wrong clues given and the right ones withheld? But I like the direction enough so far that I have high hopes. -
markfranh30 September 2016Neil Young introduces his wonderful song "Don't let it get you down" with the now famous lyrics, "It sorta starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether".
The difference between Young's song and The Kettering Incident is that Neil Young was brilliant and this isn't. "Fizzles out" doesn't cover it at all.
My God but this was awful. I see another reviewer gave up after Episode 5. My wife and I wish we'd given up mid way through Episode 1. Sadly, we didn't. We stuck it out until Episode 8 hoping to make some sense of it but now feel we've been robbed of 8 hours of our lives.
I could say more but what's the point? It's mediocre at the start and just goes downhill from there. That about covers it and there really isn't any need to spend any more time writing this.
Sad thing is that by the end of 8 it's clear they intend a Series 2 of this. Hard to believe and one can only hope they come to their senses and abandon the idea. We won't be sucked in a second time and would think few others will bother to watch it either.
Bottom line: don't waste your time. -
oldozsapper16 August 2016**** spoiler alert ***** The devil is in the detail...
Aside from the poor damn lead whom must have had a hell of a time with the script, the interminable dragging of an entire town into the drama, the entire was an intellectual challenge with no enjoyment whatsoever in the journey.
So many people disappear the town becomes depopulated by the "conclusion" but it doesn't. Then the lead is diagnosed with brain lesions in a mill town with a population of two dozen, how? No CAT of MRI scanners in one horse towns in Australia people, flat out in major regional cities. Then a tree dweller has CAT scans of most of the people in the "town", village?
Its just an annoying waste of time attempt at sci-fi, I'll take Quatermass or day of the Triffids any day... -
SLOW, SLOW, SLOOOOOWWW!! I enjoy thoughtful mysteries but this dragged me down like an anchor. despite the beautiful scenery this was a colossal waste of time. Every actor depressed, no comic relief, no likeable characters, and no closure. The main character, supposedly an educated doctor, mopes around like a 15 year old who can't go to prom. Typically the BBC broadcasts excellent stories but this was pitiful.
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I just spent 8 hours of my life that I will never get back ! The absolute most boring...pointless...dull...confusing.... morbidly sullen and depressing pile of rubbish I have ever watched. Australian TV is in dire need of an intervention. Was that an ending? What's with all the moths??? Yellow balls? Moss? Dead fish? Red freckles? Immoral community without redemption. Does anyone really care what happens to anyone in the town? They all deserve to be covered with green moss, and die of suffocation. I want 8 hours of my life back. I guess the low hum of low frequency sounds that permeated the series was supposed to convey anticipation and dread, instead of a good plot.
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simonmoon25 July 2018There are so many problems with his series. The writing, the characters, and the plot are all faulty. I can forgive the science being bad, and the super-natural elements contrived, but the way people act and the way the conventional world works should remain believable. A crooked cop making 1000 times what's possible selling party drugs in a tiny remote village. A group of anti-logging environmentalists, who can effectively stop loggers without police intervention. Casting of actors that seems to have been done without regard to age or appearance. Why is Renae with someone who looks 25 years to young for her ? Why is the handsome, randomly caring and sometimes competent, mysterious, drug dealing cop, having an affair with a frumpy middle-aged woman ? Why would the main character sleep with the drug dealing cop, who has been a creep to her ? Why do people keep secrets for almost no reason ? Why do police officers witness crimes like the burying of a body without doing anything ? Why is there a doctor who gives tours of a women's prison, because of corruption, instead of moving to a new town, or alerting state authorities of local corruption ? Why is their so much un-milled lumber at a mill that needs lumber to mill ? It's not how police work ? It's not how environmental activists work. It's not how the lumber industry works. It's not how a small town economy works ?