TV Review: ‘Criminal UK’ is Theatre for Your TV

Criminal UK. Series created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith. Written by George Kay. Directed by Jim Field Smith. Produced by Idiotlamp Productions and broadcast on Netflix. Pilot released September 20, 2019: seven episodes (3 in Season 1, 4 in Season 2). Watched in October 2020.

I’m not a huge fan of police procedurals, although I do have my share on my watch list: The Rookie and Castle (primarily for Nathan Fillion), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (if that counts as a police procedural and not workplace comedy), and I guess Sherlock could technically count if you stretched. But I have only seen a few episodes of the various C.S.I. and Law & Order shows. It’s just typically not my proverbial cup of tea, as they tend to focus on trauma porn rather than the actual procedures.

However, I had heard that David Tennant was in an episode being all creepy (again), and that the show was excellent. So, since I was looking for a distraction from the real world (and the upcoming November elections), I decided to give the show a try. (Warning: there is a spoiler for one episode in the review below. Read at your own risk.)

Set in a police interrogation room, it’s a standard set up: the show is an anthology focusing on one suspect (a different guest star each episode). Our police investigators are trying to get the person to either confess or at least lead them to the real criminal. We watch the interrogation play out in real time, as the police try different tactics to get the person to break.

The main cast is used sparingly but effectively, composed of five main characters. A special shout out to Katherine Kelly (who plays Detective Chief Inspector Natalie Hobbs) and Lee Ingleby (who plays Detective Inspector Tony Myerscough), as they are the primary main characters, and they are able to hold their own against the guest stars.

What I found fascinating is that you’re seemingly dropped in the middle of the show, and you get the feeling that you missed the episode where we get to know all about these people and their histories. But while I found it confusing at first, it ends up working well, their backgrounds slowly given to us in small bits and pieces, and I found myself rooting for the characters by the end.

Instead, the focus here is on the criminal in the title. And you can easily see why this show has drawn the interest of actors such as David Tennant, Haley Atwell, and Kunal Nayyar.

The show is like a one-act drama in the best way possible. The limiting of the sets, the action playing out in real time, and the focusing on the interrogation makes this like watching a theatrical production. The acting is phenomenal: subtle in the best way possible, filled with tension and emotion without being overly dramatic. The direction is tight, and the writing is great. Having it be such short seasons makes it easily bingeable, and I finished the series quickly as a result. And the best part is that we don’t get any gory scenes of evidence or violence. It’s all just acting.

But it’s not all good. It is, alas, blatant copaganda, and the one episode where the criminal is not accused is anti #MeToo. But those two issues are minor when up against such excellent writing and acting. I give it the highest praise I can think of: I hope they get Martin Freeman in for an episode for a future season.

It’s an easy binge and well worth the time invested. Criminal UK streams on Netflix, with two other versions (France and Germany) in their native language.