Collision

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.

After a slightly slow beginning and maybe an episode to get used to the several lines of converging storytelling, as well as the numerous flashback back stories, this high quality drama starts to become somewhat riveting. The highly proficient cast do superb justice to the fantastic script, and the viewer will see many faces here that went on to successful careers. It's nearly a decade old but that doesn't seem to distract from the quality or watchability. It's terrific, a many layered jigsaw puzzle that delights. The opening credit sequence is bland, but mercifully short. Everything is working well here. Highly recommended.

Collision, from across the pond, was apparently a five-hour miniseries, cut to just over three for DVD. It stars Douglas Henshall, Lucy Griffiths, Kate Ashfield, Philip Davis, Sylvia Syms, Paul McGann, and Matt Ryan.

It's a sort of Bridge of San Luis Rey with vehicles. John Tolin (Henshall) is a police detective who has had some sadness in his life, though we're not sure what when the story begins. He has a wheelchair-bound daughter (Jo Woodcock) about to go to college and no wife.

Tolin agrees to investigate a multi-car collision on the A12 highway which killed three people. He and another investigator (Kate Ashfield) work together in spite of having been involved in a relationship that ended badly.

The investigation leads to more questions than it answers. Tolin delves into the lives of the people involved and finds corporate espionage, an unexplained death, smuggling, and someone living under an alias; one person, driving an antiques van, has disappeared.

After the accident, there is a murder and another death, and a married man seemingly falls for a younger woman he met as a direct result of the accident.

Low-key, compelling drama that will keep you guessing.

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 :)