Karen Pirie

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with people giving bad reviews...I guess you have excellent tv shows in your country and you don't have to watch all the garbage that netflix has to serve.

No this is not another Shetland. Nor inspector Morse, Vera or any other show that has been on tv for years. It will probably be a mini series. And I am still trying to figure out how someone claims to have seen three episodes, when only one has been aired.

Moreover, this is not a thriller. It is a crime show

I didn't notice any problems with the sound, since I 've been watching this with subtitles, but I guess there are, since enough people complained about it.

I liked the story, the characters, the actors And yes many people had home computers in 1996, but police interrogations were recorded with cameras using film. I do not remember digital cameras. Correct me if I'm wrong.

It's nice to see a slow paced police drama that doesn't feel slow or boring. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope there will be more.

All the cast were excellent and there was good character development between the leads.

It definitely feels like this could go further, and make a nice change from the tired shows like Vera.

I know there had been complaints about the sound quality on episode one, but we watched it on the ITV Hub and had no issues at all.

Not sure about this extended review format that IMDB are now insisting on. It's rather unnecessary and just means people who want to praise a show end up going on like this.

The series, set in the university town of St Andrews, on the Fife coast, opens in 1996. A Police woman stops a student who is covered in blood; he claims that he and two friends found a seriously injured woman in the grave yard of the cathedral. When she gets there the woman is dead. The three students are detained but despite their somewhat implausible explanations there is no evidence that they committed the murder so they are released. Twenty five years later the case is still unsolved and after a 'true crime' podcaster uses it as an example of the police not caring about women the case is reopened. Wanting a woman to lead the reinvestigation they turn to DS Karen Pirie. She is teamed with DC Jason Murray. The case will see them talking to the trio of students again as well as to the victim's brothers, one of whom has a propensity for violence. As the story progresses various secrets are exposed and alibis broken; we also learn more about the victim.

When I sat down to watch this I expected it to be a standard ITV Sunday night mystery that would be wrapped up in one two hour episode; as the end of the first episode approached it was clear that wouldn't be the case. Thoroughly gripped I was concerned that I'd now have to wait a week between episodes but thankfully all three are available on ITV Hub so I could enjoy the series over three nights. The story got off to a great start before effectively introducing key characters; most obviously the eponymous DS Pirie. She is a solid leading character; making a refreshing change from the typical older character with some sort of emotional baggage. The story progresses nicely with the events of the present being intertwined with key events from 1996. The location is good; making a refreshing change from stories set in a big city while avoiding becoming a Scottish 'Morse' which could have happening in a famous university town. The acting is impressive; I particularly liked Lauren Lyle's performance as Pirie. On the strength of this story I hope we see more of DS Pirie.

I'm generally highly critical in my reviews and often can not understand why people score obvious rubbish highly. For a change, it's nice to be able to aware a series a 10.

When so many series have more holes in the pot than a golf course, it's nice to come across a gem like this which is as near perfect as one could hope for and with an excellent cast featuring a rising star in Lauren Lyle.

Yes, the point is regularly made by experts in the real police that too many roles are cast where the investigating officer is far younger than would be the case in the real life. Lauren Lyle is only 29 and hence that criticism would be entirely valid (and which has been made here by other reviewers who have completely missed the point) except for one rather key fact: she was chosen to lead the cold case investigation because she was thought a dead certainty to fail. Of course, someone that young would never be assigned to this sort of case in real life but if you don't understand why she was appointed to this case in this tv series, then you really have missed the point of the story.

Anyway, this is as close to perfect as I've seen in a while and let's hope more of Val's Karen Pirie novels can be made into television series in future years.

In terms of sound I can't really complain, since headphones were in use.

Really liked it, with its decent twists & turns, plus good performances imho. Nothing is what it seems at first. Got flashbacks hearing Slam - Positive Education, scottish DJ Duo

At first I also thought she would be too young etc. However, if you watch the whole series you'll know why. Same applies to the point of the podcast starting a 25 year old murder to be reinvestigated... I get the feeling those people haven't watched the show, at least not till things are really unfolding.

And it is quite realistic having VHS tapes in 1996, since agencies like the Police were/are at least 5 years behind in terms of technology.