Red Election

My Review- Red Election SBS on demand

My Rating 6/10

My Review on this 10 episode nearly 8 hour trip to nowhere will be brief as when we got to our destination which was confusing and unsatisfactory we realised the journey had been a waste of time.

I love a good John le Carré type espionage thriller and The Red Election started off with a sensational beginning that got us in straight away and then added a fictitious British Prime Minister much more appealing than Boris called Adam Cornwall ( Brian D'Arcy) . The P. M. Is trying his upmost against great odds to campaign for a NO vote in a referendum for Scottish Independence It's soon made perfectly obvious that a mysterious espionage cell code named Redback has been detected by British Intelligence and is working through agents behind the scenes to plan terrorist attacks and manipulate a YES vote to break up the United Kingdom and gain powerful influence Politically and Economically in Britain .

Red Election has a great cast all acting their socks off I particularly liked Lydia Leonard as Beatrice Ogilvy the daughter of the head of British Intelligence William Ogilvy whose also impressively played by Stephen Dillane .

Beatrice soon realises that work and family don't mix when Beatrice the most intelligent and suitable applicant for a huge promotion is vetoed by her father in favour of a much lesser qualified applicant Levi . Resentment of course causes friction and jealousy between the two but Beatrice sallies forth to investigate the mysterious events and disappearances in Copenhagen .

We're now introduced to Katrine the most mysterious and baffling character of all impressively played by Victoria Carmen Sonne that's enough no spoilers just in case anyone wants to invest 8 hours of unsatisfactory series binging.

Have you ever attempted a complicated jig saw and just as you thought the pieces were all starting to fit together the cat jumps on the table and scatters the pieces all over the place .

Well the Red Election is like that jig saw in my opinion it's far too long with far to many characters and sub plots that steer away from the bones of a great script.

I counted 9 different writers contributed to the ten episodes of Red Election a perfect example of too many cooks in the kitchen .

There was talk about a second series that's looking doubtful as I read recently because viewers haven't picked up the first series and that's a shame because if there ever was a cliff hanger ending Red Election had it .

It left us both asking is that really the last episode? Looks like it was..........

Really liked this show but wish the threads were tied up unless there's another season.

Although I found the main character Beatrice a bit annoying at times.

God help Britain if its security was in the hands of the inept clowns who make up the secret service in this show. The "tension" and storyline relies on the bad guys continually and unbelievably evading the Keystone Cop-esque security forces. Appalling stuff.

At the end of the tenth episode I had to check several times that it was, in fact, the final episode. So much was left unresolved. Felt a little like i'd wasted the best part of 10 hours of my life I will never get back! Disappointing.

Don't believe the dismissive reviews already posted. Red Election is great fun - a Spooks-like spy drama based around European geopolitics, Russian expansionism, Scottish separatism and good old- fashioned Cold War espionage. The cast are great. It's tightly paced and completely binge-worthy! Bring on season 2!