Requiem
BBC ONE, 9.00PM
Over the first two episodes of this gripping horror-flecked crime drama, the team of writer Kris Mrksa and director Mahalia Belo have carefully laid the groundwork for the series. Spooky flashbacks, lurking strangers and sudden splashes of violence, all underscored by a spine-tingling soundscape, have built up a powerful, if fragmented sense of foreboding.
We’ve been as much in the dark as nervy cellist Matilda (Lydia Wilson), trying to make the link between her mother’s suicide and missing Welsh girl Carys Morgan. Now, however, the tone shifts slightly and things come together in a more conventional, plot-driven way. Ever more certain that she is in fact Carys, a tenacious Matilda ramps up the pressure on the residents of Penllynith to come clean about “her” disappearance, pressing the missing girl’s mother Rose (Claire Rushbrook) for more information. All of Matilda’s digging, however, causes tension in the community, bringing buried grief to the surface. Rose’s mental health starts to deteriorate, her husband Aron (Richard Harrington) seems mysteriously jittery, and a meeting between Matilda and barmaid Trudy (Sian Reese Williams) provokes bitter self-recrimination. Toby Dantzic Club and Drama Club, who join forces to make a film together. There’s lots of fun to be had amid the teenage angst, with pre-digital period details, such as the Discman and VHS players, getting a nod.