River (TV series)
| River | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Abi Morgan |
| Written by | Abi Morgan |
| Starring | Stellan Skarsgård Nicola Walker Eddie Marsan |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Kudos |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One BBC One HD |
| Release | 13 October 2015 |
River is a six-part British television drama series, created and written by Abi Morgan[1] and starring Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker. It premiered on BBC One on 13 October 2015, and will be shown internationally from 18 November 2015 by Netflix.[2]
Plot
Episode 1
Detective Inspector John River is haunted by visions of his recently murdered colleague, Detective Sergeant Jackie 'Stevie' Stevenson, and attempts to find her killer despite his exclusion from the case on the grounds of his close proximity to the events surrounding it. He becomes embroiled in the circumstances of a potential suspect he has pursued and is placed under increasing pressure both from his superiors within the police force and from the media. He is simultaneously facing demands from the mother of a missing teenager to find her child’s body; despite the girl’s boyfriend confessing to her murder no body has been found, and DI River and DS Stevenson had promised the mother that they would find her daughter's remains.
Cast
The cast of River includes:[3]
- Stellan Skarsgård as John River, a detective inspector in the Metropolitan Police Service.[4][5]
- Nicola Walker as Detective Sergeant Jackie "Steve" Stevenson[6]
- Adeel Akhtar as Detective Sergeant Ira King
- Lesley Manville as Chief Inspector Chrissie Read
- Eddie Marsan as Thomas Neill Cream, the Lambeth Poisoner
- Georgina Rich as Rosa, the police psychologist
Production
The series was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Ben Stephenson.[7] The executive producers are Jane Featherstone, Manda Levin, Abi Morgan and Lucy Richer. Filming began in London in October 2014.[6] The series was made by Kudos and will be distributed globally by Shine International.[8]
Critical reception
After having seen the first episode,Sam Wollaston in The Guardian noted, "Stevie’s not the only person haunting him (ghosts, or whatever – he calls them 'manifests'). Mondeo man (who may have been involved in Stevie's murder or may just be a drug dealer) turns up at a press conference. A tragic girl – a modern-day Juliet Capulet – whose disappearance River is working on, turns up around the copper's flat. 'How do you let go of a person if you don’t know why they've gone?' the girl's mother asks River. This, you suspect, is the key to why these people aren’t properly leaving when they die". Finding River to be "Kinda Wallander meets Sixth Sense", Wollaston added, "It's more than just crime drama – it's about personal tragedy, demons; it's a study of loss and grief (which it shares with the greatest Nordic noir of them all: the first series of The Killing). It's also a study of that – killing – and why people do it. And why they did it – Mr Cream brings a historical perspective to it. And Abi Morgan, the creator of the series, brings a characteristic humanness to it all; it's as much about who the people are as about what they do to each other. Good enough for me".[9]
In The Independent, Daisy Wyatt began by saying, "This one is slightly different from the likes of Broadchurch and The Missing. It is still well-written and shot beautifully, but the criminal investigation is not the crux of the drama. River's mind becomes the crime scene as he struggles with psychotic hallucinations – or 'manifests' as he calls them – of past victims, namely colleague Detective Jackie 'Stevie' Stevenson, played by Walker". Wyatt found the lead character, River, to "[cut] a relentlessly sullen figure with his big, puffy face. He is so emotionally distant that it's hard to even begin to feel sorry for him", adding, "It's not quite clear what brought the Swedish officer to London. Perhaps it was the chance to fill his Scandi-chic flat with Seventies knock-backs from vintage shops in Brick Lane", before concluding, "There might be more than meets the glazed-over eyes to this solemn character after all".[10]
References
- ^ "Abi Morgan to pen new detective series for BBC". The Daily Telegraph. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Deadline Hollywood, October 13, 2015: Netflix Acquires BBC’s ‘River’ Starring Stellan Skarsgård Linked 2015-10-14
- ^ "BBC One River, Episode 1: Credits". BBC Online. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Jeffery, Morgan (28 February 2014). "Stellan Skarsgård to star in BBC One crime drama from The Hour creator". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ "Skarsgård gör brittisk deckarserie". SvD. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Production starts on BBC One's River starring Stellan Skarsgard". BBC. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ "BBC One announces brand-new drama series RIVER, by Emmy award-winning writer Abi Morgan". BBC. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ White, Peter (24 September 2013). "BBC1 orders Abi Morgan crime series". Broadcast Now. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Wollaston, Sam (13 October 2015). "River review – pairing personal demons with a peculiar police partnership". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Wyatt, Daisy (13 October 2015). "River, BBC1 - TV review: It's hard to feel sorry for Stellan Skarsgard's Scandi-chic police officer". The Independent. Retrieved 13 October 2015.