blanche-2 Laura LaPlante has written many excellent scripts for British television, notably Prime Suspect and one of my favorites, the 1992 version of "Framed." Here she gives us "Above Suspicion," starring Kelly Reilly and Ciaran Hinds. The story arcs are done in a series of episodes -- the first story, about a serial killer, guest-starred Jason Durr in a fantastic performance, and the second story concerned someone who was copying the Black Dahlia murders. It was so interesting to me that the British detectives had never heard of the Black Dahlia, which in America is a famous case.These episodes are pretty graphic. Kelly Reilly, as a woman in a man's world has a lethargic way about her, giving the impression that she can't do her job. I think this is an acting choice. - quiet, obedient, but resourceful and smart. It's not a particularly well-written role. Reilly is gorgeous, with striking coloring and a beautiful figure, and very intense eyes that seem to bore into the various characters. The script seems to depend a lot on the camera work, with her in closeup. The role definitely could be stronger.Ciaran Hinds plays the somewhat unpleasant boss. He does a good job, almost too good because I really don't care for him.Good enough that I would watch another episode if one came out on Netflix.

pdtp911 I adore a great British psychological thriller like "Wire in the Blood" or "Prime Suspect" but this is not one of them. I should have known that when the first two scenes consisted of the discovery of the maggot covered body of a girl followed by one of the most graphic autopsies of the gas bloated corpse I have ever seen, that it would be all down hill from there. Superior murder mysteries merely hint at or suggest the gore and violence because the real story lies in the unraveling the minds and motives of the killers and discovering the equal complexity of the detectives who strive to solve these puzzles. Although Kelly Reilly as D.C. Anna Travis is quite beautiful with a killer body, she appears to be mildly retarded, habitually unkempt and completely one dimensional. I suppose this was an attempt on the writer's part to make her quirky but it just made her less interesting. Except for a few moments when she springs into uncharacteristic action, she seems altogether somewhere else. Hinds could have delivered his "performance" as a stereotypical chauvinistic pig who hits on anything female, in his sleep. Jason Durr is the real star of the show but even his performance was a bit "over the top" in the end. I would recommend this show to all those who love violence, crime re-enactment, blood and guts. It is for viewers who basically only watch police mysteries to play the voyeur.

jc-osms I do like a good TV thriller - "Wire In The Blood", James Nesbitt's "Murphy's Law", Sam Ryan-era "Silent Witness" and of course "Inspector Morse" all spring to mind, but this hackneyed "Junior Prime Suspect" re-write failed to overcome its stereotypical characterisation and (with one exception) by-numbers acting to leave a lasting impression.The plot is very second-hand to these eyes with Kelly Reilly bringing a Jennifer Aniston-type weight (i.e. none at all) to her part following in the big footsteps of her late cop dad, all high-heels and pancake make-up and how she convinces big bad lecherous superior Ciaran Hinds that she can do the job and become "one of the boys".I for one was sorry to see Hinds reduced to this one-dimensional role, the typical high-ranking chauvinist "guvnor" identifiable from any number of previous LaPlante dramas, who hits on his junior female officer and expects the older females to run after him bringing him tea and sandwiches (no tomatoes!).You at first think you're watching a whodunit but after you realise there are no other potential suspects on show and remember LaPlante's MO, you merely await the unravelling of abused child-cum famous actor-cum split-personality psychopath at the hands of the doe-eyed Lewis, although said breakdown is superbly conveyed in broad Mancunian by an excellent Jason Durr.That performance apart this came across to me as very much formulaic fare, with the by now over-familiar LaPlante techniques of split-screen depiction, unimaginative flashback inserting and undramatic cross-cutting of scenes, dumbed down for mass consumption by a writer long overdue an attack of originality.

Rhysoedwards I must say, that Above Suspicion was very good and very entertaining.It was reasonably disturbing, frightening, humorous, dramatic and gripping all at the same time. I have not read the books, so my opinion of this adaption may be false, yet i see no strong fault in this TV drama at all! I was a little confused by how the main character Travis was portrayed, as for the woman who is supposed to be the star of the show, it wasn't shown particularly well, neither by the writers or the actress.In fact, the star of the show was Jason Durr with his complex rising actor abused by his mother and the prostitutes that occupied the brothel she ran when he was a child. Even before the interview sequence where the horrid maniac that his character turns out to be is revealed he is still the most watchable actor in the entire show.Trually a talented man on a very good drama.Fantastic.R.