RIVER, BBC1, 9pm
Here begins yet another police drama. In order to set themselves apart from The Bill, or from sheer, numbing repetitiveness, these shows need a little gimmick. Shall it be about corrupt cops (Line of Duty), vengeful cops (Happy Valley), rural cops (Heartbeat) or Glasgow cops (Taggart)?
Each must strive for something to give it a unique identity, and River certainly doesn’t shy from the task because its main character, John River, is a troubled man who’s haunted by the violent death of his colleague, Jackie Stevenson.
This may seem rather derivative but Jackie keeps appearing beside River as he goes about his duties, even ordering burgers and milkshakes with him. She isn’t a ghost but a symptom of River’s deteriorating mental health.
This rankled with me. The appearance of Jackie can’t be called a sympathetic portrayal of mental illness as it implies that people who are so troubled start “seeing things”. Therefore, ghostly Jackie is nothing but the much-needed gimmick a new police procedural relies upon.
Nonetheless, River, played by Stellan Skarsgard, is good at being a blunt, gruff detective who won’t admit his weaknesses or give in to pressure that he resign. Into this swirl of pressure a girl has been murdered but the police can’t find the body, and the distraught mother takes out her grief and horror on River.
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