Crime

The overall story is ok, the acting is good, a lot of the dialogue is interesting if you are interested in Scottish banter BUT the main character cries constantly (like 5+ times per episode) and is so mentally unstable that in my opinion, it is uncomfortable to watch. I get that he is haunted by demons etc but he clearly should not be a cop. When you cry constantly and scream over a dead body it's time to had in your credentials. We have so much true crime and crime drama that we know the emotion of the main character would have him sidelined in a heartbeat.

If they reduced the emotion by about 30% it would have been a much better show.

Thought season 2 would have toned it down a little bit but unfortunately no, he is still constantly crying.

A rare show where just about every cop therein is unlikable. Here we have a collection of drunks, drug addicts, racists, woman haters, homophobes. Sex addicts ... not to mention the liars and vicious beasts and the female who made sex tapes.

They go unchecked by the law or by superiors in their department.

And are we supposed to see them as victims? The cops played by Scott, Vanderham, Elliot and in season 1 Sives should have all been fired and decertified to keep them from EVER being on a police force anywhere.

And the scenes with Scott and his "therapist" are downright insulting.

The only character who comes off as human and believable is the one played by Ken Stott.

Basically a good murder mystery police show, but the mix of the mystery and police work is over shadowed by Dougray Scott's over acting as the tortured soul is too much.

The story gets dragged out too far by his psych issues which dominate the storyline.

It also adds a lot of unrealistic issues in the workplace which in real life would gave him out of a job in a day or so, Ken Stott is terrible, he comes across as s total buffoon, again in real life he would have trouble holding a job as a postman.

If there ever is a series 2 they need more plot and detective work and less dramatic psycho analyses.

I warmed to this by about E3. It then held my attention until the end. There were plenty of flaws, but I could live with them. Although the story and some of the characters are a bit extreme, I liked the little touches of humour and the great tussle between Lennox and the evil Confectioner (who, for some reason, is not even credited in the cast list).

I suppose the main problem I had was the credibility of the extent to which Lennox's past has affected him. There were also some odd little plot elements that didn't seem to fit.

But this was a strong highly engaging drama.

If, like some of the reviewers here, you long for the halcyon days of Taggart and long for there to have been "anuther murda" then you may come away from this disappointed. If you've read Crime by Irvine Welsh, this is only very loosely based on the original novel. In fact there isn't much about it that's similar save for the protagonist and the subject matter. In true Welsh style there are lashings of booze, drugs, intrigue, violence and also big laughs. It gets dark towards the end and there are some genuinely affecting themes here - not fit the faint hearted or easily triggered. It's not perfect, some of the acting is pish and characters are not all wholly convincing but all in all well worth a watch for anyone. Dougray Scott is absolutely outstanding. Give it a go.