An action-packed slog

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I enjoy the show and despite some people saying the endings were not clear, I thought they were pretty good. Sometimes you were undecided whodunit. Or not to see it til the last minute. The thing I did not enjoy is the misogyny of the main character who shouted at people, especially the women and seemed to use women like servants, calling them names as he did so. The stories were good despite him. Would have been great without him.

There are 3 series on TV that I would vote the best ever and Trial and Retribution is one of them, however I would only apply this to the first 6 stories. Everything about it is superb. The stories are really interesting and gripping, good acting from the main characters, and the 'guest' actors for each story line are also excellent. Actors like: Helen McCrory, Iain Glen, Richard E.Grant, Tim Mcinnerny, Charles Dance. From T&R 7 onward the series definitely misses D.I Pat North, played superbly by Kate Buffery. I enjoyed the personal story lines, with all the great supporting characters like Lynn Walker, Satch, as well as Mike Walkers family; his mother, Violet and brother, Jimmy. I would have liked DI North to have been in future episodes and preferably would have liked to have seen Mike and Pat married. There was no real explanation why they split up and Pat's quiet, yet no-nonsense personality was perfect for Mike. To replace the wonderful Kate Buffery with the awful Victoria Smurfitt was a travesty. Her character is very irritating and she is just not as good an actress as Kate Buffery.Although the later stories are not in the same class as the first 6, Charles Dance was brilliant in No. 7 and 'The Lovers' No. 8 were excellent to which I would give 9/10.The remaining episodes, I would give 6-8/10.

If you are wondering whether or not to give this a go, then my advice is to always make sure the character of Pat North is in the Cast. Excellent, well rounded character who proves a brilliant foil for (at times) nasty Mike Walker. While I understand that in 'real life' police are not all good or all bad for that matter, did we really need the appallingly two dimensional - and thoroughly unlikeable - Roisin Connor? No.A genuine low point in La Plante's characterisation work, this woman is so awful you want to punch her.......or the script writers. Not believable at all. As the Seasons go on, her character turns more and more into a Panto Villain Cop, if you can imagine this nightmarish vision. .....and did we really need yet another nasty Irish woman stereotype? Again: NO.This is a good strong entertaining English cop drama if you like the genre (and I do), but the Pat North years were definitely the best. Those would be a 9 out of 10. Wonderful stuff.

Linda LaPlante is a terrific writer, and the first episode of this series was fairly well done and interesting. The second episode, however, about the brutal murders of 3 women, was badly written, badly directed, and badly acted. The endless, busy camera work, with the screen divided into 3 parts, was distracting and ineffective. The trial scenes were interminable, with endless pontificating and bad acting by both the actor playing the lawyer for the defense and the actor playing the lawyer for the prosecution, to the point that I thought it was some sort of bad joke, but unfortunately, it was not. Linda LaPlante usually produces work much better than this. I have no idea why this was so below her usual high mark, but if you're a LaPlante fan, don't waste your time on this; it's sure to disappoint.