Back in October we brought you the news that Arrow Films would be releasing the BBC One Drama RIVER on DVD this month, here at Blazing Minds we’ve been lucky enough to see the complete series of 6 episodes.
We thought would keep our review back for a little while as we know that the series has its penultimate episode tonight on BBC One.
RIVER tells the story of John River (Skarsgård) who is a brilliant police officer whose genius and fault-line is the fragility of his mind – a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest. A man who must walk a professional tightrope between a pathology so extreme, he risks permanent dismissal, and a healthy state of mind that would cure him of his gift.
Struggling to come to terms with the recent murder of friend and colleague ‘Stevie’ (Nicola Walker), the investigation into her death begins to show her deepest secrets, River has to question everything he thought he knew about his one true friend.
The series stars top British talent that includes Nicola Walker, Lesley Manville, Adheel Akhtar and Eddie Marsan, and is produced by Kudos, the same company responsible for recent beloved series like Humans, The Hour and Broadchurch.
RIVER – Not Just Any Police Officer
RIVER is not your typical “cop drama” DCI John River is a man who is being taken to the edge by the not only the murder of his close friend and colleague, Stevie (played by Nicola Walker), but also by other victims that need to move on.
The introduction of the two character of River and Stevie is done as one of those moments when you do get a slight shock factor when Stevie first turns around at a crime scene and then you realise that something is very different about the show.
As the series progresses we delve deeper in to the psyche of River and his passed. The creator of the show, Abi Morgan, has brought us not only a series with a twist, but also a series that a feel of mystery as we learn more through each episode of Stevie’s past and who she was in life, plus we get see the man who is River and how he deals with the revelations and with those that are haunting him.
But there is so much more to RIVER than just the two characters, the show intertwines other characters in to the series, such as River’s boss, Chrissie Read (played by Leslie Manville), as her life has changes due to her husband (played by Michael Maloney) is brought in to the story for investigations and how her life is turned upside down.
The wonderful part of the series is that majority of the characters have flaws and this is something that is brought in to the story lines so very well, with these flaws being key parts of the overall story that runs throughout the six episodes.
One of the things that really stands out in the series is the character played by Eddie Marsan, Eddie Cream is a Victorian man that pops up from time to time to antagonise River, Marsan’s character is a sheer cauldron of fear for River, as in each scene he brings out the dark side of Skarsgård’s character, even to the point of him trying to beat the living daylights out of Eddie in a police cell.
Overall RIVER is a superb series, although it is serious you do get some very good comedic moments to bring in a lighter side and these are usually when Nicola Walker and Stellan Skarsgård are on-screen together, the last episode certainly pulls everything in to place.
River Series One Review
Name: River
Description: John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
Summary
A superb series that has you gripped from the very start to the very end.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
