From Darkness (2015) User Reviews

It's watchable, it's not one of the best.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 19 October 2015]

Three quarters of the way through this series, I feel I can provide a well balanced review based on what I've seen so far.

It is quite slow in parts, there have been more slow pauses and deliberate gazes then I have ever seen. The production values are a little disappointing, it feels quite clunky.

The story is interesting, but it's been done better so many times, Waking the Dead, Messiah etc.

I have to say I found Anne Marie Duff quite a strange choice for the part, she's an excellent actress, maybe too good for the part. Johnny Harris I have enjoyed more, he fits the role much better.

It's improved as it's gone on, Part 3 was rather good. It will be interesting to see who was responsible for the murders.

Good show, how such a case takes a toll on all involved

[robertemerald · 7/10 · 26 December 2019]

From Darkness really reminded me of The Missing (2014). Both shows had a lot of style. The Missing was how a tragedy effects the people around that tragedy, and in eventually solving that case we get to see humanity in its rawest form, with all the self-interest, cowardice, bravery, hope and despair. If you are looking for a police procedural production then it would be fair to say that the actual case is certainly interesting, with added dimensions beyond the original murders that would put it in the not-been-seen-before category. I wouldn't call the case wildly original, but, to be fair, it can claim credit as an expansion on ideas we already know. From Darkness is not really a police procedural though, but a rather a drama around a police procedural. If you took away that drama so we knew nothing of the investigating officers and their families then the whole series would have been over in one episode. It is quality drama however. Certainly the framing of shots, cameras used, techniques, cinematography, symbolism, colour, etc, were excellent. The sound design reminded me of The Dark Knight, but it worked a treat, so so what. As drama this is quality that we have come to expect from the Brits, gut wrenching, tearful, infuriating, strung out on a taunt wire and ringing. The actors have plenty to work with, and do a good job. For me, I always find the balance of these new shows to be a little selfish, in that it is the victims I want to feel sorry for first, and the families and investigating officers second. These days however such shows tend to draw you in directly, indeed, from the opening shots, into the lives of the officers first and formost, and then it is only through them, their eyes, that we can feel for the victims. I find it irritating that a case need be burdened by former relationships complicated by burning, unanswered questions, immediately impacting on current ones. In short order, we find ourselves in a world of pain that has very little to do with the case. To enjoy modern crime shows I always have to agree to agree, and try not to feel I'm intruding. It is for this reason that I can't enjoy such shows as much as I would like to, I guess I'm more an Agatha Christie type, where the detective has foibles, not problems. One has to admire the professionalism of From Darkness though, and I'm sure all involved will go on to create many fine shows.

Not as bad as others day

[kris-523-976233 · 6/10 · 27 October 2015]

My biggest gripe of this series, as well as a number of other recent crime/police shows is the obsession of having a woman as the boss copper. I can't remember the last time a man was the top cop,I mean woman are constantly bemoaning that they can't get the top jobs but in TV land they have all of them in the police.

OK whinge over. I have to say I basically enjoyed this series, thankfully they didn't drag it out to 6 or 8 episodes like some others I could mention. The main thing I didn't really understand was why it was important to bring Claire back from retirement after all those years, they didn't need to. Performances were very good from the two main leads and the Scottish scenery was as nice relief from Manchester, I mean who would willingly live there? Yes it could have been better, pace could have been faster certainly but at least the identity of the murderer wasn't obvious. It isn't awful like a lot of other reviews just not as good as we expect from Auntie Beeb.

Didn't see the ending coming either.

Wasted opportunity, mired in emotional drama, robbing the plot of its impact.

[msghall · 25 October 2018]

Featuring a stellar turn from the always reliable Anne-Marie Duff, this detective series escapes from excellence. So close, but the emotional bantering between the two main characters distracts from the impetus of the plot. In the end, it seems like the majority of 'From the Darkness' is comprised of relationship explorations and artistic mood shots. Too many times, I became involved only to find myself drifting away during the too many moments of personal angst. Overplayed, the emotional impact of the horrors of the situation in which these characters find themselves is dulled and a detriment to the overall impact. Which is a pity. A show like this needs cohesive plot, uninterrupted by relationship and personal turmoil. Perhaps the audience for this series is an altogether animal from my preferences, but more judicious editing is needed to make this the top notch show it should have been.

Watchable crime mini series

[woooz · 6/10 · 18 August 2021]

Entertaining but not spectacular.

Unbelievable in parts. A few enjoyable twists. Villians are suitably deranged. Only 4 one-hour episodes making it easy to binge.

The people rating this less than a 3 are just being ridiculous and dramatic. I've given it a 6 as that's as far as I'm prepared to go but it's more of a 5.

(Also, i quite liked the ending, which was perversely satisfying.)

Overly focuses on female lead.

[maldwink · 7/10 · 3 January 2021]

I get a bit weary of these detective noir that show characters in anguish ridden moments for just that bit tooooo long. And honestly, views in the credits showing the characters perspective including the eyelashes is a bit OTT. I watched and semi-enjoyed. Easy to see why no follow up. A focus on place rather than people might have worked better.

So........very.......very.......BAD

[qui_j · 2/10 · 14 October 2018]

This is just a terrible series from every possible perspective! The script is bad, the plot unrealistic, the editing is a jumble of scenes that appear to be stuck together in a random manner, and the cinematography goes overboard with close ups of eyes, nostrils, mouths, all to the point of ridiculousness. Even if one tried to follow the incomprehensible plot, it all appeared so disconnected that it was impossible to unravel. As other reviewers have pointed out, The writers seemed to have been trying to make this like a Scandinavian noir detective series where all the characters have some life issue, however this just falls flat here! The ending suggests that the creators had hoped for a second season but thankfully the BBC must have decided that one was enough pain to inflict on viewers! Do not waste your time on this....you'll regret it!

Wow. What a load of yuck

[lucylou3700 · 3/10 · 6 June 2021]

Not a single likable character in this whole show. By the time I got to episode 4 I honestly just didn't care who the killer was, who lived, who died, who was shagging who. The main character is so unlikable that I really hoped she would end up dead, but sadly, she lives to continue ruining other people's lives.

Hard to believe this is a UK crime drama.

[nancyldraper · 4/10 · 31 July 2020]

The writing is slow and laboured. There is an absence of anything that would draw you into the action or the minds of either the investigators, the perpetrator or even the victims. I found myself bored and will abandon the series half way through the second episode. I give the series a 4 (poor) out of 10, {Police procedural}

Awesomeness!

[Glenn_K9 · 10/10 · 6 October 2015]

What a great story line and acted so well in the first of four series by Anne-Marie Duff . I found this mini-series left me sitting on the edge of my seat for more. Totally character driven with a story line bound to disclose a ruthless serial killer. Having left the force after having been severely attacked during her investigation Claire Church is harassed by her former partner DCI John Hind. The serial killer has resurfaced after years of hiding. There is an intense chemistry between Hind and Church but what draws Church back to the case was her relationship with the victims of the serial killer whom has resurfaced killing at an accelerated height . Will Claire be able to resist the urge to jump back on board or will she remain in her peaceful country side escape?

The BBC Should have scrapped this

[blakedw · 1/10 · 26 October 2015]

Some of the criticisms of this series are unfair. For example, people complain about the long silences. Yet these actually provide a blessed relief from the dialogue, much of which can only explained as a Google translation of the original Gaelic. The start makes no effort to convince us there is anything realistic about to happen. Two bodies dead for many years are found in Manchester. The police inspector in charge immediately disappears to an island in Scotland, taking his sergeant with him. No careful buildup of the investigation here. The Scottish trip is to see his former colleague and lover, who worked on similar cases. She understandably refuses to go back with Jim, so we have a knockabout scene in which he threatens to arrest her. She goes, says her piece and goes back to Scotland. I'm a bit hazy after that, though we get more recent killings and maybe a new killer. There seems to be another fat bloke with a beard as well as the policeman. Somewhere without me noticing the inspector gets taken off the case because of some complaint. But he sticks with it. One review says that the female lead had to be persuaded to do it the show because she had "semi-retired" from acting. The word semi should be removed from that description as far as this fiasco goes. One review suggests that the ending may be designed to open the way to a second series. But surely nobody, NOBODY, could be so deluded as to think we could subjected to more of this nonsense. The big mystery here is how this came to be shown at all. Why didn't a BBC executive have the courage to say "This is such rubbish we can't show it. Just throw it away." But courage is not a big thing in the BBC nowadays.

Achingly bad

[Jmacleish · 1/10 · 15 October 2015]

Are you looking for a tight, tense detective drama set in the bleaker parts of a rainy UK city?? Then go watch Luther! Actually, go watch anything but this... From Darkness is awful.

They've obviously gone for a ponderous intense Scandinavian thing that every Detective drama seems to try for these days. A bit generic, but not necessarily a criticism. Unfortunately, FD appears to have been scripted by morons. People don't talk to each other like that, ever. The plot is mostly rubbish too.

I was bored after 20 mins, but dragged myself through the first 2 episodes. It got very very very slightly better but I still don't care about any of the characters, or the plot, or anything in the series - although the scenery is very pretty (Scotland - not Manchester!). A shame as Duff and Harris are terrific actors in everything else and this is a waste of their talent and time, but watching and even reviewing is waste of my time to be honest. There's a shedload of decent police dramas out there so go find something else, if you can - try Luther it's very good... Exactly the same way this isn't.

Well you've been warned, I'm about all done here. Run along now, off you pop......

Terrible, unrealistic, boring at times, no consistency.

[totheteeth · 1/10 · 26 October 2015]

So disappointing. As someone who will watch any TV drama (1 part, 2 part, or a whole series) that has a loose mystery/crime plot, I couldn't believe how painful it was to watch "From Darkness".

The main things that GREATLY annoyed me were:

• The two main characters are UNABLE to have a normal conversation without whining and complaining like two hormonal teenagers - making EVERYTHING personal and incapable of doing one's job.

• We guess we want to find out what TERRIBLE thing happened to her or what she was forced to do/witness back in Manchester in her policing days. We eventually find out it was that she got pregnant by a married man and has an abortion. That is it. I know, it must have been hard, but she made it harder by not talking to him about it. A LOT of people must go through this and don't move to a tiny island in Scotland without internet! Originally it gave the impression that it was something traumatising possibly related to the murders...

• WHAT is with the TERRIBLE crime of her taking ANTIDEPRESSANTS??? Norrie seems to think her taking these tablets was a gross misplacement of trust, and that he clearly wasn't making her happy by himself. He forced her into agreeing to not take antidepressants for him! This is a serious misrepresentation of people suffering with depression. Totally unacceptable.

• Interminable shots of Claire looking moody.

Painfully slow moving and full of over blown meaningful looks and gazes

[pfischer-72246 · 4/10 · 4 October 2015]

I wasn't able to finish watching the first episode...

Lots of shots of Claire Church gazing deeply (into the past) with accompanying visual and sound effects. Close ups of quivering lips and tears and other such artifacts.

Little else going on, the usual "boss (es) not happy with progress".

Then the flashbacks started, that did it for me, had to hit the kill switch.

The most entertaining part provided by DS Anthony Boyce, the Oxford educated dog-hating, orange juice drinking, seasick, hung over assistant.

I kept waiting for it to get better

[viviendostine · 10 August 2021]

There was every opportunity for this to be another ripping British detective drama. It had moments when you are fooled into thinking the script will get back on track, and then ....wtf is this nonsense...

I managed to limp along to the end and regret it.

Its not even that the writer was piling cliches into the script, there were some good twists and plenty of opportunity for original storylines. But the idea that anyone would let the main character anywhere near a police investigation is laughable. There's the stereotypical flawed character, and then there's ridiculous... and we go well beyond ridiculous here.

Really enjoyed it!

[zoehume-14-554151 · 10/10 · 9 June 2019]

Great little find for a rainy weekend. Shame they didn't make a second series.

Cliché's galore in a steaming pile of nonsense

[bookadog · 1/10 · 25 October 2015]

I was hoping for Luther, Sherlock or at the very least some entertainment. Laborious close ups and atmospheric music cannot substitute for a good plot and some tense action. Implausible plot developments and characters changing character every 2o minutes makes this feel like it was written by a 12 year old and that would be unfair to all 12 year old, unless they were actually 8 year old pretending to be 12 year old. Vastly underwhelming and ultimately a waste of everyones time. Such a shame that lead actor Johnny Harris after such a standout performance in This Is England 86 and Fortitude has really hit a low point. I hope Anne-Marie Duff can regain her composure for the upcoming Suffragettes movie. If Luther is reading this, arrest everyone responsible and Sherlock ? please investigate the missing entertainment.

Drivel

[fraulineconqueress · 2/10 · 22 October 2015]

Weak plot, slower than a wet weekend in Whitby, with a poor script. 3 down 1 to go and not sure I can be bothered. The main character, whose name actually now escapes me, is annoying and dreary. This could be so much better. The plot has no complexity, the characters have no depth and there is nothing to grip the viewer. It's clear that there is something deeply troubling the main character and the sexual history between the two is as cliché as it gets, but it's in no way convincing. Something like Silent Witness manages to do week after week, with almost perfection, what this is trying to do on it's own. Sorry, BBC. Must try harder.

Awful

[paul-quinn27 · 3/10 · 26 October 2015]

Yet another British triumph of style over substance, with long, agonising looks into the distance and police procedural work that makes no sense at all - e.g. a civilian "consultant" trapising around crime scenes unescorted and unsupervised. It's focal point is the now standard protagonist-with-painful-past who has "history" with a former colleague. Wow, how original.

It's the pacing that did it for me and like that dire series a couple of years ago with Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan (so poor that I can't be bothered trying to remember the name), it seems to take forever for the characters to react or respond to any on screen stimuli, even when in mortal danger. Instead we are treated to extreme close- ups of their angst-ridden faces - example ***SPOILER*** the main character breaks into a suspects house, quickly finds irrefutable evidence, then stares at it vacantly for what seems like forever. In REAL life, she would have GTF out of there and called the cavalry.

Avoid.

Lessons in what not to do

[mark-338-155607 · 1/10 · 13 October 2015]

When I heard about this series I was all ready for some good drama and great cinematography as the BBC tends to get these kinds of series so right. How wrong I was.

From the terrible dialogue which seems to have been adapted from a story with completely different characters, to actors struggling with a director who is way out of their depth.

The cinematography is something to be laughed at, even a first year student in drama school would have a much better eye than this. The shots range from capturing the vista with only the actors head at the bottom of the frame (they were the funniest scenes I have EVER seen!) to the foreground being filled with a wall or ketchup bottle!

Reading about the main crew it all became clear, these guys had been the main driving force behind Coronation Street and Emerdale, shows which carry no weight at all.

The BBC should be ashamed of such poor, poor film-making and how Dominic Leclerc and Polly Morgan sleep at night I have no idea. If I could have selected 0 out of 10 I would have.

Avoid at ALL costs!

Please avoid at all costs (and the ending cuts off)

[ic771 · 1/10 · 27 October 2015]

Poor direction and characters you cannot empathise with. There are plot holes too.

Final insult. The ending cuts off. So you have no idea what happens with the two main characters.

Sadly, you don't really care. You are just depressed you will never get those four hours back.

If anyone knows the writer, director, producer etc – please tear out the last 10 pages of their current book so they know how we all feel. And punch them in the face too. Thanks

BBC – what were you thinking?

Poor

[marinella-mermaid · 4/10 · 28 October 2015]

We started watching this mainly because of Anne-Marie Duff and Johnny Harris, and episode 1 was good enough so I stuck with it (but not my husband). That's 4 - or 3 to be fair - hours I'll never get back.

Each episode kept pointing to a poor finale, but as I work in drama I really wanted it to be better than it turned out to be.

Main problems were: Underdeveloped characters, except maybe for Hinds (Johnny Harris).

Pointless plot diversion: Megan, Claire's stepdaughter, was she there just to be the diverting red herring at the end? The woman police chief, should get an award for most wooden acting since Pinocchio.

Rushed conclusion in episode 4, totally unbelievable and clichéd characters like the original killer (why didn't he run her over??) and the vengeful victim.

If the BBC want to emulate Scandinavian dramas they should import their scriptwriters and directors.

Disjointed and poorly conceived

[robertoakley · 2/10 · 26 October 2015]

This series was set to knock Downton off the top spot. Unfortunately, a disjointed plot that may as well have been 4 separate unconnected hour long vignettes. The ridiculous scene where they go to the suspects house and terrorise their family, coupled with the female moriarty type figure who goes from victim to world class counter-surveillance operative was stretching the plot to its limits.

Where did the fat beardy bloke who perpetrated the actual crime come from at the end? All over the place like a mad woman's proverbial. Failed to deliver on what was shaping up to be a brilliant series in the beginning. The ending was even worse. Anne-Marie Duff's character was supposed to be a damaged police officer, but the way that she was allowed to run amok in an investigation when clearly unstable was bonkers. This series made me sad, sad I tell you!

A load of tripe from start to finish

[john-70-690278 · 2/10 · 28 October 2015]

Yet again the Beeb has managed to produce a whacking great turkey. This is one massive bore from start to finish, full of supposedly meaningful looks and camera work, portentous noise (it can't be called music) and pretty well nothing else. The plot, such as it is, meanders around to little purpose, while the characters are caricatures and demand little attention and less interest. Each episode seems to be longer than the previous one, and the last seems to go on, and on, and on, like a bad bout of 'flu. As for the ending, when it finally arrives it's a blessing, even if it is horribly drawn out and utterly idiotic.

As is so often the case, it's frequently difficult to tell who is who, so bland are the personalities, and the acting in general is as wooden as can be. It's full of angst and everyone has 'issues'; what it doesn't have is any significant amount of detective work or suspense. It's rubbish, and the sooner I hear that it's been consigned to the dustbin of history, the better.

Great scenes in Scotland.

[keith-801 · 3/10 · 26 October 2015]

Watched this mainly because I'll watch anything with scenes on the West Coast of Scotland. As far as I can tell it was filmed on the island of Luing, just to the south of Oban. Well, the ferry scene at the beginning of episode 2 was defiantly filmed there. Whether they film-makers were trying to be deliberately obscure or not is hard to tell, but they carefully avoided filming any kind of signs etc. keeping the viewer guessing the whole time :-)

As for the programme itself, my wife wasn't interested in watching beyond the 1st episode....Really a bit slow with poor dialogue, the narrative floe was not very realistic at all and would not be the way any kind of normal people would interact.