on last night’s telly
Dark Heart ★★★★
Considering the first episode of this drama ended with a sadistic masked killer warming up a chainsaw for their next victim, you could see why ITV launched it on Halloween.
Dark Heart is no schlock horror movie, though. It’s a gritty and disturbing six-part detective drama in a similar vein to BBC1’s Luther and ITV’s own Unforgotten (which was also written by Dark Heart screenwriter, Chris Lang).
The masked attacker was actually targeting suspected child sex offenders who had seemingly escaped justice.
It wasn’t what you would call a pleasant watch but I was so
gripped by it I barely had time to play, “Ooh, that’s him/her from Bodyguard”.
The him and her in question were Tom Brooke and Anjli Mohindra, who played DS Budd’s war buddy Andy Apsted and unlikely terror mastermind Nadia in the BBC spy hit. Here, they play police colleagues of the lead character, edgy and mysterious DI Will Wagstaffe (a commanding turn from Tom Riley).
At this early stage I’m guessing Staffe is the one with the dark heart – what with his turmoil over the brutal and still unsolved
murder of his parents that happened when he was a teenager, and his penchant for stalking and battering his sister’s no-good boyfriends.
If you are a little squeamish, the good news is that the grisly vigilante case is tied up by the end of the second episode (on tonight, 9pm).
The bad news is I’m told next week’s double bill focuses on the underground world of illegal organ harvesting.
Maybe save an episode of Paul O’Grady’s For The Love Of Dogs to watch after it, eh?
‘‘ Good news The grisly vigilante case is tied up by end of the second episode...
Bad news Next week focuses on the underground world of illegal organ harvesting