Cleddau

Just finished the English language version. Starts well, good cast, typical but credible murder mystery. Sadly many of these shows seem to be written without planning a proper ending so get lost in the woods. After a dozen red herrings it becomes obvious who dunnit. Why? There's only one person left! The ending is utterly ludicrous. Save your time by watching something better. The cast is excellent and do their very best to rescue this turkey from the mess it sinks to. You can actually see mike's in advance what's going to happen next. I feel sorry for the actors who have to wade through this bilge.

We like so much British TV we thought this would be good. It has Erin Rhys and she was great in The Mallorca files and there were other competent actors in the cast. The downfall begins in the "Welsh noir" of the writing and kinda twisty romantic sidestory and the plot of the murders. The colors and scenes in the filming are too dark or somber,, The sidestory in the end becomes the main plot and the solution to the mystery becomes more clouded or uncertain and for these reasons it leaves one very unsatisfied. It is similar to the Welsh series Hinterland or Y GWYLL which also started with promise and interesting quality but just got depressing. We were let down by the ending and twists in the storyline and abruptness of the finish and lack of resolutions.

This six part Welsh drama is set in the town of Pembroke Dock. When a nurse is found murdered in Cleddau Woods police are reminded of a similar case that occurred some time ago. Since a man is already in gaol for the previous killing it looks as if there is a copycat at work... or they got the wrong man before. DS Rick Sheldon is leading the case but when links to the old case are found DI Ffion Lloyd, who also worked that case, is called in from Cardiff. This leads to some tension as they had been involved with each other before he left her for the woman who is now his wife.

I thought this was a solid addition to the 'Cambri-Noir' genre; I'm certainly glad my newspaper recommended it as I doubt I would have seen it otherwise. The case is interesting as are the main characters. There are a good selection of suspects which should keep the viewer guessing. The relationship issues are perhaps unnecessary but don't detract from the story too much. Pembrokeshire may be an attractive part of these islands but the way this is shot manages to create an ominous feel. The cast does a fine job bringing the characters to life; most obviously Elen Rhys and Richard Harrington who play DI Lloyd and DS Sheldon respectively. As the story approaches its conclusion there are some nice twists and turns. By the end the case may be wrapped up but it feels like we might not have seen the last of these characters. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to viewers who enjoyed shows like 'Hinterland' from a few years ago which also starred Richard Harrington.

These comments are based on watching the series in Welsh with English subtitles as shown on S4C. I believe an English version titled 'The One That Got Away' will air later, presumably on BBC4 if it follows the pattern set by 'Hinterland'.

It's very hard to carry a murder mystery over 6 episodes unless the script is great, and this script is far from it. In my experience Welsh crime dramas are glacially slow, it's a slow and painful process keeping up with them.

It is so full of cliches, like a bad American police procedural. A DI is brought back to her former station to work on a case similar to one she helped solve 10 years before. She teams up with her former colleague/lover. From there it's downhill full of cliches. Every new piece of evidence sends them down another rabbit hole. This isn't a "Grace" or a "Vera" or any of the top British crime dramas.

Great cast members like Richard Harrington and Elen Rhys deserve better scripts. This should have been 3 separate crime stories, 2 episodes each and it would have been more successful.

We watch all the UK detective series and tried this because Richard Harrington is always pretty good since we first saw him on Hinterland. And he's good here too. Can't say it's aterribly original plot, with the reliable blend of false identities, family secrets, and discord between the male/female detective leads. But it held our interest well enough. However the last 30 seconds of the series, the thing which gives the show its name, is just preposterous. It simply couldn't happen based on what we'd just seen for 51 minutes. Not unless the entire criminal justice system has been ignored. Wales has to do better than that.