The Inheritance

I liked the opening device with the family introductions done via a video taken at a family Xmas party by the soon to die Larry Lamb.

This is an easy watch all round that isn't going to win any awards but does what it says on the tin. If you're looking for a pacey little family thriller full of twists and turns and dirty hidden secrets give it a twirl.

I couldn't quite work where it was set, seemed to be 'generic up north' with a patchwork of regional accents.

Original and ground-breaking no, a brilliant cast no, a bit soapy yes, but it had some good hooks and it lured me in. Worth a look if you enjoy family dramas.

The first episode of this drama made me want to see more. In the next couple of episodes you could feel the screws tightening down on the three siblings problems and that was watchable drama. Otherwise it became a predicatable wandering plot with good moments few and far between.

Some good characters, some bad. Unfortunately despite some decent actors in the parts the siblings were just gormless bimblers easily conned and clearly no idea what was going on around them in the world let along their immediate bubble.

Some utterly unbelievable moments and wasted talents of great actors such as Kevin Whately. Others such as "perfect Pete" were simply irritating.

The final nail in the coffin lid was the terrible final episode, beaten only in the really stakes by line of duty. OK there was a conclusion building wise and the baddies got locked up ( very cheesey) but otherwise nothing at all concluded and no resolution for what had been torturing the siblings.

In fact it was that poor a ending I wasn't even sure it was the final episode lol.

I'm not sure precisely what it was about this that made the "journey" enjoyable. There was definitely a feeling of the characters being given time to breathe and events were left to unfold at a sensible pace.

The problem, of course, is that much is made of the "secrets" that various characters are keeping from various other characters. So you're encouraged to believe that maybe several of the characters had the motivation to murder. But, of course, at the end, they reveal the actual culprit and all that potential collapses to a single not very significant point.

So, enjoy it for the ride, but expect to be disappointed by the ending.

I'm a fan of 4 part dramas, enjoy them more than the longer running ones which really should be compacted into less episodes. So with that in mind The Inheritance definitely scores in my estimation as the storyline didn't drag. With all murder mysteries everyone is given a motive and one by one the most obvious suspects are eliminated. That's where it comes a little undone as the final reveal seemed a bit weak in the motivation department. On the plus side full praise must go to James Collier. He's terrific in this and very strong leading man material so I hope he gets more roles as a result. I'd love to see him carry an entire series on his own.

I enjoyed the concept of this series and found it very interesting and relatable. I have a similar situation in my family with a split family and siblings though in my case it wasn't a shock that came out at the reading on the will! I liked the dynamic among the siblings and the first two eps especially kept me hooked. Like many mysteries it lost its way a little toward the end and didn't know how to resolve in a clever way but it didn't spoil my enjoyment. Good Christmas viewing on my5 and I recommend it with the caveat that you take it for what it is. Final question that went unanswered- where was it meant to be set?