Eyewitness

CHANNEL 4, 9.00PM

Walter Presents, Channel 4’s strand showcasing the best of foreign drama, launches an atmospheric six-part thriller about two teenagers who witness a multiple murder in rural Norway. The opening scenes certainly grab the attention and what follows manages to avoid most of the nowfamiliar tropes of Scandi-noir crime drama thanks to a nicely judged script and fine performances. That said, there are moments in this opening episode that stretch credibility as far as it will go, as the two young witnesses decide to form a pact to keep what they know secret. Counterbalancing that is a plot that constantly piles on intrigue and, more than anything, a terrific Anneke von der Lippe in the lead role. She is Helen Sikkeland, a former Oslo homicide detective whose quiet retirement to a police station in the sticks is shattered when the forces of organised crime chose her village as a locus for murder. The full six-part box set is available to stream after broadcast at channel4.com.