THE SHADOW LINE

ack in 2011, the dramatic landscape looked very different to how it does now. Cop dramas tended to stick to the format of a self-contained case that would be resolved within a single episode. However, the popularity of shows such as The Sopranos and The Wire had proven there was an appetite for a grittier kind of show, with a more long-form narrative. It was the latter that many drew comparisons with when The Shadow Line was aired in

May 2011, but one that the show’s director

Hugo Blick refuted, citing instead 1970s conspiracy thrillers Three Days Of The

Condor and The Parallax View as touchstones. Christopher Ecclestone plays Joseph Bede, a mild-mannered owner of a flower-importing business that acts as a front for heroin smuggling, who is also dealing with looking after his terminally ill wife. When his boss Harvey Wratten is murdered after being released from prison, Joseph discovers that he owed a Turkish

Bdrug baron Bulkat Babur £1million. So, he makes a deal: he will help Babur import drugs to make back the money owed, plus pay Joseph back the money he’s invested and a lump sum to pay for the care of his wife, then he’s out. On the other side is DI Jonah Gabriel (Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave), who is back on duty with a bullet lodged in his head following a botched undercover job. As he investigates Wratten’s murder, he closes in on his business and on Joseph. But, along the way, he uncovers a larger conspiracy that involves money laundering and the deep state. With it’s slick plotting and editing – including an astonishing chase that will leave you on the edge of your seat – plus powerhouse performances from Ecclestone and Ejiofor, along with a top supporting cast that included Rafe Spall, Stephen Rea and Anthony Sher, The Shadow Line stood head-and-shoulders above its contemporaries. It may have demanded a bit more of viewers, but it also gave a lot more back.