High Country

A police sergeant ups her urban family and moves to the Aussie high country to run a local station. A murder case and a few run-in's with the locals keeps Sergeant Whitford on edge, and it only gets complicated when she involves a psychic with a dubious past.

It's a run-of-the-mill story of police officer moving to an inhospitable country and challenged every step of the way. What makes it interesting is the indigenous heritage of the sergeant, and the relationship with her partner, Helen. These elements will no doubt weigh in heavily as the series progresses, and hopefully improve it.

Leah Purcell does the best with the material on offer, that lacks an edge, or even any conviction. It is a mystery series with a few thrills that has moments, but no real creative tone or structure until the last part of episode two. Worth staying for further episodes to see in what direction it points.

When detective Andie Whitford is transferred to the High Country, she is thrust into a baffling mystery of five missing persons who vanish into the wilderness. Through an edge-of-the-seat high-stakes investigation she discovers the greatest mystery is her own and that her true identity lies at the heart of the puzzle.

This was the perfect series to watch on a cold Melbourne day given the spectacular scenery of the Victorian High Country.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and was hooked from the beginning. The character development was good and I got to know and care about what happened to them.

Hoping for a season 2.

There was a really good Aussie whodunnit in this, especially seeing the setting was so lush and expansive. However, the actual execution wasn't good.

Other reviews have said it but there's too much clutter. Too many characters and too many side quests. But these side quests (such as a cafe owner's son and the key suspect at the start being creepy to kids) just pad out the run time and then they go nowhere at the end.

In fact I have the biggest issue with the ending, it doesn't really have that satisfying wrap up at the end, there are some story points left in the air, like they expected they'd have another episode, bud didn't.

This can be really frustrating for a mystery series, especially when we don't know if Season 2 is coming.

There is much to commend this series but it falls short of greatness.

The plot and the mystery is well done and the script and acting are very good throughout. However, you can't help feeling you have seen it before. The reason for this is the plot line has been dropped into a paint by numbers tv detective drama structure with so my of the usual tropes present. For example, the retiring old policemen, the strained relationship with the partner, teenage child who is rebellious and feeling neglected to mention just three. However, despite this it is watchable amd is also designed for bi fe watching. Deliberately so in that each episode leaves you with a cliffhanger to lead in to the next episode. The only problem is that by the time you get half way though you realise that the cliffhangers don't really amount to much at all.

Another flaw, as mentioned in other reviews here is that while the main plot reaches a conclusion and you find out who is doing what etc, it still leaves a few loose ends unexplained or unresolved. This deliberate in an attempt to justify an2nd series. Except that although these thing are unresolved they aren't going to tempt you to want more and so it all seems flat.

High Country: Australian Noir which morphs into Folk Horror in a similar manner as Dark Winds did. Sergeant Andrea 'Andie' Whitford Leah Purcell) is transferred to the town of Brokenridge in the Victorian High Country, accompanied by her partner Helen and stepdaughter Kirra. She immediately encounters a doctor running naked through the woods. He's just killed his family and commits suicide. There are also five people missing in the area. Brokenridge is an odd place, a local psychic is suspected of murdering a boy years before and the sergeant (Ian McElhinney.) who Andie replaced is obsessed with the case. A survivalist is terrifying hikers in the woods and Andie has a few other murder cases on her hands. Oh! I forgot to mention the Yowie and the weird Rose who runs an artists colony on a farm. The woods and mountains are literally characters in this drama as they keep many secrets. There are far darker conspiracies at play here along with Ando's domestic traumas which are soapy enough for Neighbours and some interesting plot twists. It's a good series with fine acting especially from Leah Purcell and Ian McElhinney. Created by Marcia Gardner and John Ridley who Co-Write the series, Directed by Kevin Carlin and Beck Cole. Eight episodes on the BBC iPlayer. 8/10.