Collision

This is a smart and intelligent mystery. John Tolin is a police detective (Douglas Henshall) who is asked to investigate a pileup on a minor highway (A12) outside London. Three people are killed and Tolin reviews the evidence to find out what caused the crash. He ends up probing into the lives of ten people caught up in the accident. What starts as a straight forward car accident quickly turns into a story full of twists and turns as the police start to dig. Tolin unravels a number of mysteries which involve murder, smuggling, whistle blowing and a government cover-up. There are another couple of deaths after the accident.

The characters are ordinary people with complicated lives and the acting is excellent. Douglas Henshall who plays a scientist on "Primeval" is playing a policeman with problems. He's tough, tenacious, damaged and flawed. Also examining the crash is Ann Stallwood (Kate Ashfield) who seems to be a former lover. She was also the love interest in Shaun of the Dead.

The cast is full of experienced and recognizable British character actors who have appeared in numerous films and shows like Chariots of Fire (Nicholas Farrell), Vera Drake (Philip Davis), Valkyrie (David Bamber), Robin Hood (Lucy Griffiths) and Hornblower (Paul McGann). I have been living abroad and fondly remembered Jan Francis from Secret Army and Just Good Friends. She was very attractive in the 1970s but is now playing pensioners, which made me feel old.

Collision grabs your attention and is very enjoyable. However there were a few loose ends which I felt were not satisfactorily tied up. Overall, I would recommend the series.

Interesting spin on the usual police investigation story, that starts with the incident and then unravels the story over the 5 episodes as the main characters piece together what happened. Douglas Henshall is excellent as usual, in his trademark moody Scottish leadership role (see 'Shetland' for more Henshall) and the background story move along reasonably well. This had so much potential, with the calibre of the acting and the plot, it could have easily have been renewed for more than one outing, if only the producers had the foresight to take the format forward. The basic premise of the show, that of a road traffic accident and the subsequent investigation of all the many variables that led up to the crash, offers the possibility of many different season arcs as the characters investigate different scenarios over a number of episodes. If this had been an American show, I'm sure it would have been renewed.

Nice twist at the end, which adds a whole new dimension to the whole story :)

"Collision" is a very engaging, human type of thriller. There's a certain air of improbability to the script, however. It's not so much that there's such a wide cross-section of people represented here (that goes without saying in a country so diverse as England), it's the fact that everyone has such a complicated network of secrets and lies which are directly or indirectly exposed by the crash. The acting is mostly very, very good. Douglas Henshall makes an especially engaging leading man. He acts his character on a more personal level, feels more familiar than most police characters. He's really what makes this miniseries work.

The script is really quite brilliant, in its own way. The final conclusion makes you see the big picture with a sort of completeness that makes all the preceding events come into clearer focus. Not something you could watch twice, but it's certainly worth seeing.

What an absolute gem of a find. A brilliant cast and a very clever story with a sting in its tail. Absolute quality drama that truly should get another airing during the Covid drought. Hard to locate unless you pick a prime site but still worth shelling out for. Doug Henshall as always gives his classic brilliant understated shine.

Excellent TV mini-series that doesn't suffer from the "Netflix effect" - making things long just because you can.

Each of the 5 (yes, only 5) episodes it tight & moves the plot along nicely, without a lot of the fluff or filler you often see in series 8 or 10 episodes long.

The acting is superb, and the casting for each part was impeccable. All the actors look as well as act the part. And it all looked & felt real - none of the "oh come on, no one would do that" I often yell at the TV.

Does show how random parts of life can be.

Highly recommended.