The Stranger

This eight-part ITV mini-series based on a Harlan Coben novel provided three hours of breathless lockdown entertainment for my wife and I. With more twists and turns than a Pleasure Beach rollercoaster, you couldn't rest for a second before the next plot turn came around the corner.

Richard Armitage is the happily married solicitor whose life is turned upside down and inside out when a mysterious young woman reveals to him a dark secret of his wife, which eventually leads to their separation and even deeper consequences as matters progress. Turns out that this young woman has made a cottage industry unearthing skeletons from other prominent citizens resident in Armitage's seemingly blissfully happy village, but what at first seems to be a simple get-rich-quick ruse turns nasty when the local coffee-shop owner is murdered.

But of course that ain't all, not by a long-shot. Being a Coben adaptation, there are about a bazillion sub-plots raging and cross-cutting in the background, including a cantankerous retired cop who won't give up his old flat to a property developer, a teenage girl supplementing her income by selling sexual favours via an online sexting app, the narcissistic big-shot at her beck and call, an embezzlement scandal at the local boys football club, a soft-drug-fuelled silent rave held by the local teenagers which goes horrendously wrong for one young lad who ends up naked and near-death in hospital and as for the poor alpaca which becomes a ritual sacrifice at the party...

And there's even more, as Armitage's old rake of a father, who owns the property company trying to buy out the reluctant home-owner, also has a dark secret from his Casanova past and just to top it off, there's a crooked cop who'll do anything to finance the medical bills to find a cure for the mysterious illness his daughter is suffering.

I'm almost breathless just recounting all this. Anyway, while it's all completely bonkers and fantastical, somehow all the connections make a sort of crazy sense leading to a satisfying conclusion when the mystery of Armitage's wife's disappearance is finally solved.

With an interesting and varied cast including the likes of Jennifer Saunders, Paul Kaye and Steven Rea, the pace never flags as intrigue is piled on intrigue and one cliffhanging situation leads to another.

Dull, it certainly wasn't.

This eight part thriller opens Adam Price, a married father, is approached by a young woman who tells him that his wife Corrine's miscarriage two years previously had been faked... she was never pregnant. He has difficulty believing her but finds evidence to suggest she was telling the truth. Shortly afterwards Corrine vanishes; a text tells him that she needs time to think things over. There are also suggestions that she might have been involved in a theft from the local football club where she was the treasurer. If that weren't enough there is also a naked boy found drugged and comatose in the woods after a party and the severed head of an alpaca! The police enquiry is led DS Johanna Griffin.

This is an intriguing thriller with plenty of twists and turns; some are a little far-fetched but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the series. There is a fine sense of mystery concerning the whereabouts of Corrine and the identity and motives of the mysterious stranger of the title. Some mysteries, such as the identity of the person who decapitated the alpaca are wrapped up pretty quickly but more emerge as the series progresses. The cast does a fine job; most obviously Richard Armitage as Adam Price and Siobhan Finneran as DS Griffin; there are also notable performances from Dervla Kirwan as Corrine; Paul Kaye as police officer Patrick Katz; Anthony Head as Adam's father, Edgar Price; and Stephen Rea as Martin Killane, an ex-police officer who is employing Adam as a lawyer and helps with his investigation into the stranger. The ending is a little disappointing but not excessively so. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of mystery dramas who like multiple interlinked character arcs and a few good twists.

I've read through some of the reviews and notice quite a few didn't like it. My only complaint was that they tied up the end in less than ten minutes when they could have went on for at least one or two more episodes. Nonetheless, we loved it and enjoyed the suspense and how everything was tied together.

This right part series will surprise and entertain you. You'll reach the half way point and feel that a solution to the events is virtually impossible, there truly are so many plot threads in the first few episodes. Stick with it, as it is worth your time, the best episode is Part 7, which had me on the edge of my seat, the conclusion will be divisive, though personally I liked it.

It may have you questioning how much of your information is online in different places, particularly on social media.

Plenty of red herrings to keep you puzzled, and scratching your head. I love a mystery, if you enjoyed the series 'Safe' you'll appreciate this one. Lots of action too, with some great car chases and on foot chases.

A magnificent cast, so many perform, though I'd share the accolades between Richard Armitage and Siobhan Finneran, the pair are terrific.

Personally I hope they leave it as just the one series, though I'm sure there's an itch to do a second.

Really enjoyed, 8/10

I found this enjoyable, interesting, and entertaining, which I think was the show's intent, I am surprised by some of the outbursts from others - this is a TV show and not life or death?! Worth a binge in my opinion.