Jack Taylor

I really liked the first episode of this series. Makes me want to watch more. Taylor is tormented. He has a good heart, we feel he is a good person, yet he has demons. Alcoholism runs in his family. We try to keep it in the family, he sarcastically says. His mother is not nice at all, and he asks the question why does your closest ones always know how to find your weaknesses,, where to look for faults. Maybe because they put them there, is his answer. Jack cares for the outcasts, the betrodden, maybe because he sees himself in them. Episode one starts with Jack being fired from the force when he is drunk on patrol and stops a car driving a cabinet minister and proceeds to punch the cabinet minister in the face. It's all over the local news. Then a beautiful woman approaches him and asks him to find her missing daughter. This amazing woman he admits is out of his league, but she awakes something in him, a drive. I won't spoil your viewing only to say I enjoyed this first episode.

Not sure where to begin. I like Iain Glen as an actor, but the accent is dodgy. Good opening episodes, but then became very cliched. He gets a younger sidekick eventually - think Scrappy Doo being added to Scooby - who in turn is replaced by someone even more irritating - with a dodgy Mancunian accent. Overall pleasing, but stretches credulity at times.

I enjoyed the series but less so as it went on. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that. The big question is why did Jack turn into some sort of pirate voice during the course of it. There's good supporting cast to back Iain Glen up and the show has the story arc punctuated with the discredited policeman issues to keep you interested, however it just ultimately feels a bit too contrived and a bit too repetitive. Ultimately I lost empathy with his functioning alcoholic character at the half way point. But for a late night binge it isn't so bad

This is not your idealistic, admirable sleuth. Quite the contrary. But he is diligent, intuitive and relentless. Murder and mystery shrouded in darkness and an alcoholic haze. Iain Glen leads a good cast with good performances. The stories are not complex and you may get ahead of Jack as he solves them, but, all in all, its a good watch. I give this series an 8 (good) out of 10. {Criminal Mystery}

I can't understand why they changed the format so drasticly. It was too slick, appeared more low priced. The plot was flat as was the acting. the photography missed the gritty grounding of the first 6.