London Kills

Vivienne Is played by a ridiculous actress, as far as the character of Sgt. Mophead goes. (Holy bad hair, Batman. And, what is with those shiny black therapeutic lifts she's wearing?) Whenever she thinks she's sniffing out a lie she becomes insufferably, visibly skeptical and snarky. Its like an instant transformation into a 13 yr old mean girl. Ugh, the revolting, off-base 'gotcha' faces she pulls! Meanwhile, she's a common liar, herself. Also, she's controlling, acting as though she knows best at all times, and is the only one able to place appropriate guardrails in front of the actions of others.

Unfortunately, novice DC Billy that every so often pairs with her, leans into this childishness too hard, and so she comes off as a bit of a petty fool, here and there. Mostly, she just seems acquiescent, is smiley and accepting, with a generally pleasant demeanor and slightly dumpy clothes you could go chop wood in.

Detective Rob is just walking while sullen, constantly. What an angry bore! And, I'll never understand a painted-on looking comic book/cartoon-cutout hairline. He gets targeted at times in S03 and S04, but maybe it's all those waist-belted leisure jackets he wears that get people prejudiced against him?

I know nothing about the average fitness level of a detective in London, but these people largely cannot chase down suspects effectively. When they run, they seem... heavy, like they're slogging through thick treacle.

Sometimes they figuratively pat each other on the back for piecing together practically nothing, playing like they're making sly, intuitive moves instead of putting together basic facts.

Their boss is often ignorable, although frequently petulant and rude, and he gets to dress with a modicum of wrinkly flash. He plays fast and loose with power and rules, Mr. Edgy does, and with touches of privilege, alcoholism, and sexism laced in.

I didn't mind the double-decker bus shots so much in watching S03, it was the dozens of times the metal box exterior of their office building appearing, and too much footage of them getting in and out of cars, and seeing the exact same 'uniformed officer footage' walking the hallways that did get annoying over the last two seasons.

My pet peeve though is that anyone ever interviewed NEVER has a, solicitor present That is very unrealistic.

What is the fixation with London Transport buses? EVERY street scene used to connect plot changes has several buses passing through. We get that this is London. Not necessary to have buses passing by time and time and time again. Also, how about a different view of the police building and the CCTV sign? The technique of having actors exchange knowing glances is tedious as is the out of focus shots inside the police station. Why does Vivienne always show up after the two constables at each opening murder scene. Not much imagination. It could be better. Aside than all those negative comments we watched and enjoyed the series.

While I did enjoy watching London Kills, and watched all 4 series, if I stop and think about it there are all kinds of questions, curios and downright weirdness.

Obviously low budget, as in the first 3 series we never see anyone in the police station but the main 4 or 5 on this murder squad. Once we get to series 4 extras dressed as cops walk up and down the halls in a rebuttal of many reviewers' comments that there appear to be no other employees in this station. But we see the same shots of the same cops walking down the hall over and over again.

I could not believe that in nearly every episode of the first 3 series the same bus #15 was seen from behind and the same white van turned left in the same exterior establishing shot - again and again and again. Came to pass that I found myself waiting for bus #15 and its accompanying white van each episode and I was not let down. Same for the green bridge with "Flash" graffitied across it in white paint. It became a very familiar sight. "Ah! There it is!" I'd say each time the same view of it appeared, like I was keeping score. And other similar exterior shots reused again and again.

Acorn TV is an American company owned by AMC, so no doubt it is making sure their US audience gets plenty of notice that this is a British show, although the name should be enough of a clue. I'm not complaining; I'm an Anglophile in Canada and happy to see Tower Bridge, boats on the Thames and various tourist attractions around the city continuously, one after the other, again and again.

Do suspects in the UK not ask for a solicitor when being questioned? Are police interviews never recorded? They appear to be in every other Brit copy show (and I've watched many). Do London police always arrest everyone even remotely close to a crime and ask questions later? Are all UK cops psychic and know things they could not possibly know (had it not been written in the script?)

There were some nice twists in some of the episodes, things that kept me watching, but some head-scratchers too, like how the heck could they possibly know that?

People who weren't guilty seemed to be forever confessing to the crime to cover up for someone else, while the guilty party was often, of course, the one you would least expect. I don't know if these cops were driving their own cars or what, but does the police service provide Mercedes and Audis? I don't know, if I ask too many questions I might hurt myself. There are many. However, I liked it enough to watch all 4 series (20 episodes in total) so it wasn't all bad.

When BBC's daytime soap opera does off air it is replaced by some good dramas. Shakespeare and Hathaway have been great in the last year. This summer we have been given London Kills. A detective drama focused on Hugo Speer's droll murder detective whose wife has been missing for 3 months. The first thing to say is that the acting is good. It's a solid script and the main cast work well together. The issues start to arise with the repetitive nature. Murder happens, wiring person confesses, right person is caught and it starts again. Always sitting in the background is the missing wife storyline. It's hinted at but not really explained. The main issue though is the ludicrously low budget. The main office has no one else working in it, the cafes and pubs are empty and the streets are equally empty which all takes away the realism. It is a shame because actually it is not a bad series. It just doesn't flow that well and feels a tad clunky at times. That said the writers have done a decent job and there have been much worse programmes and will be worse.

The show has secured a season so may well grow but for now its a case of not bad but low budget does soil certain aspects of the snow.