Thursday, March 13, 2014
Line of Duty, BBC Two, review
Line of Duty (BBC Two), which reached its penultimate episode on Wednesday night, has been so good that the expression "I know it's only March, but I think we have our drama of the year" has already become a cliché.
Each episode has been gripping and last night's was no exception. Lindsay Denton (Keeley Hawes), having been bundled into the boot of a car and driven to a multi-storey car park by two bent coppers, looked to be coming to the end of the road. But suddenly, in a flash, the situation was reversed and she had one of the coppers pinned to the wall with an Audi.
This unusual use of German engineering meant that she was able to record the trapped man's apparent confession, putting her in the clear. The police raced to the car park, Deputy Chief Constable Dryden (Mark Bonnar) was hauled in, and we seemed to be heading towards a neat and quick conclusion. However, Line of Duty is never that straightforward, and the episode ended with the revelation that Denton had recently had an abortion, which probably means everything gets turned on its head again.
But at the heart of the episode was a scene of singular dark brilliance. It lasted a full 17 minutes, and saw DCC Dryden being intensely questioned by DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and DC Kate Fleming (Vicki McClure). Given the itchiness of much modern TV drama, few series would have the nerve to give so much time (almost a third of the episode) to a single, intense event. But writer Jed Mercurio is a master of the thrust and counterthrust of these interviews – remember the breathtaking sequence in episode three when Denton turned the tables on the officers questioning her? – and this was a tour de force. As the unlikeable Dryden shifted, squirmed and then fought back, we slowly, subtly, got the feeling that maybe things were not as they seemed.
I know it's only March, but I think we have our 17-minute scene of the year.
Source : http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568414/s/381c243d/sc/38/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cculture0Ctvandradio0Ctv0Eand0Eradio0Ereviews0C10A6935470CLine0Eof0EDuty0EBBC0ETwo0Ereview0Bhtml/story01.htm
