Dead reckoning
James Nesbitt is on the trail of an infamous assassin in a thrilling new drama from Line Of Duty’s Jed Mercurio
BLOODLANDS
Sunday, BBC1, 9pm
This is shaping up to be a good year for Line Of Duty fans. Though we’ve been waiting since 2019 for the latest instalment from anticorruption squad AC-12, the BBC has promised that we’re now only weeks away from the sixth series, which has been delayed because of the pandemic.
In the meantime there’s more than adequate consolation as the show’s creator, Jed Mercurio (who also gave us the brilliant Bodyguard with Keeley Hawes), is producer for another crime thriller full of shocks and twists.
Aptly, the setting for this four-part tale is Northern Ireland – not only where Adrian Dunbar’s iconic Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line Of Duty originally hails from, but also where AC-12’s story has been filmed since the second series.
The star turn is native Ulsterman James Nesbitt (above centre), coming home for a big meaty role as DCI Tom Brannick, a detective haunted by a past tragedy – the disappearance of his wife two decades ago.
The shadow of The Troubles looms over events from the start, when a car pulled out of the water turns out to belong to a former IRA gunman who’s nowhere to be found, dead or alive. After finding a postcard that bears a telltale clue, Brannick suspects the man’s disappearance – be it kidnapping or murder – is the work of a long-dormant assassin known as Goliath, whose victims he believes include his own wife.
But to uncover the identity of the killer will mean incurring the wrath of the powers that be, including his superior officer,
DCS Jackie Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch), who would prefer the politically problematic secrets of the past to remain buried.
The script from rising talent Chris Brandon quickly draws the viewer into an engrossing, intelligent thriller. Look out for Lisa Dwan (Top Boy) as a doctor who is pulled into Brannick’s investigation.
Bloodlands will be hard pushed to dampen our anticipation for the return of Vicky McClure’s Kate Fleming and Martin Compston’s Steve Arnott in Line Of Duty, but this new show does have the edge in one department: it features the breathtaking beauty of the Irish countryside and coast.