What to say if you liked it

It was good to see a police drama that was different to the usual gubbins and featured a movie actor rather than a TV favourite.

What to say if you disliked like it

Aren’t there enough cops shows on telly anyway? And why does every drama need to be shown over two nights nowadays?

What was good about it?

• The cast list. Not only Robert Carlyle who adds so much (mainly menace) to everything he does, but the brilliant Robert Glenister (from Hustle) and the lovely Claire Skinner, too.

• Carlyle’s dark lead Tom Monroe, an uncommunicative maverick loner with a deceptively laidback, amiable style of questioning.

• Carlyle’s pronunciation of ‘morrdagh’. We cheered.

• The guy who could remember everyone from his 1976 primary school class and lots of details about them. How many of us can remember the name anyone we went to school with 29 years ago?

• The clever idea that Pat Fisher, who perished after running on to a motorway in a dramatic start to the story, was obsessed with the unsolved murder of a schoolfriend in 1976, raising questions about the events leading up to his “suicide”

• Steve the sidekick (Daniel) is too blind to notice his wife openly flirting with Tom

• The distinct lack of retrospective shots. It took 50 minutes before Monroe visited the school the doomed pupils all attended.

What was bad about it?

• Sponsored by Sainsbury’s which meant we had to endure endless sponsor credits featuring Jamie Oliver.

• The stereotypical characters. Moody, complicated lead and messy, disorganised, loutish side kick. Worst of all was the battleaxe B&B landlady.

• It was too slow paced and a bit too clever for its own good at times. Often we had to wait for the plot to develop while the director indulged in heavy-handed attempts to create a spooky atmosphere.

• ITV’s cockiness that it had a winner by releasing it on DVD seven days after transmission.

• It’s put us off joining Friends Reunited.