Litvinenko

While this is a sad story and a tough subject to approach, the entire cast did a superb job. I cannot think of better actors to have done this project justice. Well done!

While for me, the 4 part mini series went quickly due to understanding the nature of the politics involved. You could see that the overall cast and most likely crew were very devoted to getting the story told properly.

Definitely award worthy as this is so poignant today. After listening to Marina speak of the struggles to get this series made and her take on it, I'm so glad it was not glammed up or changed to be "hollywood-ish".

The Metropolitan Police investigate the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former member of The Russian FSB, now a British Citizen, who is poisoned with deadly agent, plutonium. The Police get some time with the murder victim ahead of his death.

David Tennant was the face of this drama, every advert showed a picture of him, and there is a chilling similarity between Tennant in that hospital bed, and the real life Litvinenko, the big surprise, Tennant only features in one episode.

I really did enjoy it, it seeks to explore the story, details the investigation into the poisoning, and shows the farcical situation in which British officers went on an information seeking mission to Moscow. The one thing it doesn't do, is give enough insight into Litvinenko himself, they could have spent some more time detailing his past.

Episode one is the standout, it's an excellent, gritty, tragic affair, what follows is different, but enjoyable, not as gritty, sometimes a little frivolous, but interesting.

I'm struck by the role the media had in the case, they always seemed to be one step ahead, somebody was clearly leaking information.

A brave drama to make, especially when you think of the current state of affairs between Russia and The West.

It made for an interesting watch.

7/10.

This was stunningly good. The Missus wanted to watch it for David, her sex symbol, but it was once past that an excellent dramatisation of one of Putin's first big impacts on the UK.

A solid piece of drama with a well-written script that reflected the realities of the time well. Nice use of props, I didn't spot a single phone or computer that wasn't around at the time!

A lot of filming in Cardiff, which gave us a smile or two as London locations were clearly places we see every day :-)

The UK government's response to things is depressing, but hey, everything about this government has been depressing too, has it not?

If this was from a book by John Le Carrier telling a tale of a former traitor to the Russian state, who was poisoned to death whilst living in London by the most lethal poison on earth then you would dismiss it as piece of fiction.

But this was no Cold War piece of fiction but a truly frightening tale of the lengths that Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin would go to, to take out Sasha Litvnenko a former Russian agent.

Rather like the Salisbury poisonings this was Putins way of sticking up two fingers to the west. With compulsive evidence from CCTV to trace's of Polonium found, it became impossible to get the killers to trial due to a communist regime and diplomatic immunity.

With high production costs and superb performances throughout I would highly recommend this show. 8/10.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko (David Tennant), a former FSB agent who had relocated to London, was poisoned and taken to hospital. Detectives Brent Hyatt (Neil Maskell) and DS Clive Thomas (Mark Bonner) are sent to take his statement, and anything his wife, Marina (Margarita Levieva) has to say, only for Litvinenko to make the claim that his poisoning is the work of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. After his death, a seemingly straightforward murder investigation spirals into a saga of diplomatic relations and international espionage.

I can recall in late 2006 when the story of Alexander Litvinenko was in the papers, even if I didn't follow the story closely, but it definitely caught my eye, so I'm surprised I've dragged my heels so much getting round to this four part drama chronicling the events in the immediate aftermath of it happening. With the current sanctions placed by the UK on Russia in the aftermath of the on-going war in Ukraine, it highlights the amount of dirty money from Russia that's been keeping the economy afloat for so long, and just how much of a blind eye that's been turned to Putin's wrongdoing on British soil, and so there's an uncomfortable prescience to this if nothing else.

The story seems to have been recreated quite accurately and believably, without any corny sensationalism, sadly it plays out in a pretty robotic, workmanlike way that doesn't allow the human drama to blossom in quite the way it should. Performances wise, in the lead role, Tennant brings the titular character to life as well as could be hoped for, in a role with inevitably limited screen time, while there's sturdy support from Levieva as his emotionally overwhelmed but strong willed wife, along with Maskell and Bonner as the hard nosed detectives determined to get justice for the Litvinenkos. In the second act, as the murdered man's past becomes more clear, the tone uncomfortably shifts from straight laced drama to something a little more easy going, even if the dark core of the drama remains.

Overall, it's a perfectly serviceable drama, with all the cylinders firing in the right places, just somewhat perfunctory and without that extra energy required to really give it a kick. ***