Midwinter of the Spirit

2015

Midwinter of the Spirit

6.2 | en | Drama

Country vicar Merrily Watkins just happens to be one of the few women priests working as an exorcist. When a man is found murdered by crucifixion, the police, aware of her knowledge of the paranormal underworld, turn to the Vicar for assistance. Before long Merilly is convinced Satanists are behind the crime and the investigation takes them into a very dark and dangerous world.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP3 Episode 3

Oct. 07,2015

An exhausted Merrily must gather her wits and take strength from her mentor Huw Owen as she puts the final pieces of the jigsaw into place. As the investigation reaches its conclusion, Merrily realises she needs to steel herself and summon the energy to fight evil in order to save her daughter's soul.

EP2 Episode 2

Sep. 30,2015

Merrily is on a quest for answers after a murder, a desecrated church and a clergyman's apparent `suicide'. She suspects a Satanic group may be at work, and is guided through a ceremony of lesser exorcism by Huw Owen, but nothing can prepare her for what she is about to uncover.

EP1 Episode 1

Sep. 23,2015

Priest and trainee exorcist Merrily Watkins is asked for help by police in solving a baffling and gruesome murder. She quickly becomes embroiled in a terrifying mystery and finds herself in real danger.

6.2 | en | Drama , Mystery | More Info

Released: 2015-09-23 | Released Producted By: ITV Studios , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/midwinter-of-the-spirit

Synopsis

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Cast

Anna Maxwell Martin , David Threlfall , Ben Bailey Smith

Director

Richard Clark

Producted By

ITV Studios ,

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Trailers

Cast

Anna Maxwell Martin

as Merrily Watkins

The Duke Say Your Prayers Constellations Hollington Drive Mother's Day Motherland And Then There Were None The Frankenstein Chronicles Midwinter of the Spirit

David Threlfall

as Rev Huw Owens

Art That Made Us Bing’s Christmas and Other Stories Troy: Fall of a City Code of a Killer Code of a Killer The Ark Black Sea Midwinter of the Spirit Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This

Ben Bailey Smith

as Lol Robinson

Cinderella Boys Will Be Boys Des Celebrity Showmance David Brent: Life on the Road Brief Encounters Ghost Fighting Corporation Midwinter of the Spirit Law & Order: UK

Reviews

chazview The premise sounded good, but it could've been better executed. Needed another episode to give the story some breathing room. More time for some character development at the beginning and more substantial detective work in the plot.Anna Maxwell Martin's character was rushed into her 'alternate' frame of mind so soon there wasn't a perceptible transition. We needed to see her as a strong willed character that went 'limp'. What we got was just a limp, wilted portrayal. I've seen her in other things, she's quite good at playing strong characters -- this time she didn't have the chance.Overall it was a jumbled, blurry story rushed to conclusion with abrupt 'ah-ha' revelations during the last 20 minutes. Just 1 more episode could've given it the space needed to be something much better.

katieintoronto No Spoilers - I've never read (or heard of) the books, so just watched this as a stand alone rather than comparing. Based on other reviews, it's better that way. I found it to be well done: good suspense building up through the first episode (that's all that's been on so far here), with enough creepiness to keep you jumpy. The evil characters are suitably evil, the mystery seems complex and possibly dangerous, and it's not yet clear how this will play out, which keeps you watching. I like the way the lead character plays the part, as something of a normal-ish Mum who's muddling along, as much as anything; although that said, it's a bit puzzling that she would have wanted to be an exorcist. Possibly that comes out later. A bit cliché, but so far it's working for me and I'd call it generally well done. I'll definitely tune in for the next episode.

alysafaeblackwood Good supernatural drama (best seen before you read the book, or watched objectively). My only issue? Thank heavens for subtitles! I only have partial hearing and found some of the softer spoken actors impossible to hear without them. David Threlfall as Huw Owen absolutely owned the role he played. I sincerely hope there will be future adaptations of Phil Rickman's books, but with more episodes, as three hours wasn't long enough to do them full justice. 6 or 8 episodes would have been better. I look forward to watching without advert breaks. The locations used for filming were beautiful and atmospheric and the characters mostly well cast.

Leofwine_draca I've never actually read a Phil Rickman novel, although I have had one sitting on the shelf for years and years, but I'm a big fan of the supernatural mystery genre - slow-burning delights written by the likes of Barbara Erskine (a favourite) amongst others. I sat down to watch this ITV miniseries adaptation of one of his books to see what I was missing.Not a lot, as it transpires. MIDWINTER OF THE SPIRIT is a typically clichéd, cheap-feeling piece of ITV drama that doesn't have an original bone in its body. A cast of boring characters go through the paces in a story about a sinister conspiracy to attack the Church, but it's all so humdrum and irrelevant that you won't really care.I like Anna Maxwell Martin (TV's NORTH AND SOUTH) but her protagonist, Merrily Watkins, is dull, down-mouthed, and mean-spirited. Hardly the kind of character you can get behind and care about, then. The supporting cast includes familiar faces like Kate Dickie (PROMETHEUS) doing a boring cop routine, and David Threlfall (who constantly seems to be trying very hard to get away from his SHAMELESS character) but they're pretty much wasted. Some of the supernatural stuff, which is very limited in terms of screen time, hints at quality, but this is a far cry from stuff like BBC's APPARITIONS. Instead we get at least half the running time spent on boring mother/teenage daughter melodrama, stuff that belongs in a soap opera and not here.