He Kills Coppers

For a mainstream drama on ITV, 'He Kills Coppers' is remarkably harsh, complex and realistic; a long way from conventional serial-killer cliché. An enigmatic villain, and the under-Britain he inhabits, is set against a story of corrupt policeman: there's certainly promise in the premise. Unfortunately, the acting isn't brilliant (Steven Robinson as the journalist is particularly poor) and the direction relies too much on the soundtrack to insert some otherwise missing emotion. The real problem is that the story seems abbreviated; a succession of events enticingly set out but never fully elaborated; what's left is perfunctory, a barely illustrated outline. It's a shame, as I can believe there was potential here.