Episode #3.6

This season winds up with a couple of the most riveting exchanges of dialog in the whole series. Child abuse is described in compelling detail from the perspectives of both a victim's survivors, and a psychopathic perpetrator. Tough sledding, but brilliantly insightful.

2018 has been an amazing year for drama, there have been some incredible shows, Bodyguard, Killing Eve etc. All great, but all suffered one thing in common, none of them ended on a high, all had average to good endings, Unforgotten's third series changes that run, this episode was sensational.

Part six has it all, it's tense, exciting, disturbing, and intensely entertaining, the story was compelling, the conclusion very hard viewing. The impact on Cassie was incredibly well handled. I loved how the main characters had back stories, but it never turned into a soap, it was always underplayed.

Alex Jennings is superb, Nicola Walker is off the scale, the acting, hers in particular was sensational, some of the best acting I've seen for a long time, it was quite extraordinary.

It's a winner. 10/10

I watched the first couple of seasons of "Unforgotten" as season four was highlighted on the Guardian's top TV of 2021 list. They disappeared before I could watch season three though, however, the impending arrival of season five saw them return to ITVX and I watched the third season. Despite its grim cold case theme, I still rather enjoyed it.

When a body is discovered during refurbishment work on the M1 motorway, Cassie (Nicola Walker) and her team are called in to investigate. They determine that the body belongs to Hayley Reid, a 16-year-old from a village in Hampshire who disappeared on New Years Day in the year 2000. The investigation comes to focus on four friends, Chris (James Fleet), Tim (Alex Jennings), James (Kevin McNally) and Pete (Neil Morrissey) who were holidaying with their families in the area at the time. Ironically, at the time the body is discovered, each has a separate reason for not wanting to become involved in the inquiry.

Again, I don't really like police procedurals that much, so it says something that I have watched three seasons of "Unforgotten" and plan to keep going. I rolled straight from the first season into the second and did feel that it suffered a little bit by being more of the same, so perhaps the gap I've had here ahead of the third season helped as this was the best season of the show so far. The case was really strong and presented all the principles as viable suspects and (without spoilers) I did like the resolution of this one being a different to just being someone who made a mistake and has been living with it for twenty years.

The personal storyline for Cassie was interesting, as she genuinely starts to wonder whether she should stick at this job, particularly when her accident in this one has catastrophic effects. I know that Nicola Walker is only doing one more series, so it does feel like we're feeding into a storyline with a resolution.

Bit of a gap and then onto season four I think.

The only reason for less than a ten is that I am more oriented toward the crime and the criminal. I don't mind other plot elements being wrapped up, but I thought it used too much of the episode. We finally get to know the perpetrator and their actions. Then it is a bit anticlimactic. Still, I think this is some of the best acting in any venue anywhere. I also like that the casting uses rather ordinary looking people, not pretty actors playing ordinary roles. I had never heard of this show and have been enthralled by the three seasons.

I discovered this show on a Friday night and had watched 3 seasons by my return to work on Monday. I do not enjoy American crime or mystery programs at all because the characters are stale and boring. I simply do not watch them.