[Reader Beware: contains spoilers.]
Having enjoyed Collision very much, I was pleased that the twitterati reminded me that Injustice was coming up so I didn’t miss it. But I did miss some of it. Staying away last week meant that Case Histories took precedence on Monday evening, so I joined on episode two. It felt like I had missed nothing. What on earth could have gone on in episode one? A whole load of backstory? Could an episode packed with backstory prove interesting?
Wednesday delivered another hiatus as The Apprentice won the battle of the remote in the hotel room. So came Thursday and then the denouement on Friday. The odd thing was this: I didn’t feel the need to catch up. And I wondered if Horowitz and Green had not been eating a healthy amount of oily fish lately on the Suffolk coast.
James Purefoy made a very convincing and realistic barrister, perfectly named as William Travers. He sounded so much like one it was possible to see him at the head of the queue for Ken Clarke’s job in the cabinet (for it must surely be vacant soon). There was also something spooky about him, something not quite right, giving Dervla Kirwan’s wife more than a dollop of naivety and a bigger stock of blinkers than stables hold for their horses.
Nathaniel Parker may have risked his loyal female following with an excellent turn as a dirty old man tempted by female flesh half his age but his corporate lawyer character – Martin Newall – was simply unconvincing. The depiction of the corporate world and his character’s role in it was very far from real. This man would never have survived the first filtering interview for such a job, Cambridge or not. It was all to serve the plot, stretching the fiction too far. It was this that led to my main disappointment.
The second disappointment came with the plot of Newall murdering the young woman. Here we had holes bigger than you’d find in a disused quarry and a portrayal of police investigation as severely limited in capability. Yes, there was mention of forensics and the fact that Newell’s DNA was found on the stocking used to strangle her. Yes, he’d stripped her of her stockings earlier when they’d had sex. But in using a stocking to strangle her wouldn’t there have been a concentration of that DNA where he’d held it, stretched to breaking point?
Oddly, when challenged by Travers at the end, the change in Newall’s character was palpable and he suddenly became credible. The man outed as a murderer was confident, erudite and a convincing character for a high level corporate lawyer.
It was hard to find a character to have sympathy for in this. Certainly it could not be found in the leads. Living in glossy, palatial homes and looking good in Barbours don’t make for interesting characters and sympathetic characters. Lots of shots of people in pensive mood don’t create added atmosphere when delivered two a penny, and they actually slow down the plot development.
Realistically, no one is perfect, but do so many people have such dark and bad sides?
There may be more of these as the Horowitz and Green production company is called Injustice Films Limited. Having said that, it may just be a new company for them as Greenlit was sold to Target Entertainment Group in 2008, with Jill Green staying on as Managing Director until 2010.
This series of Injustice is not their best production.
It went at a very leisurely pace and yes there were huge holes in the plot but I still enjoyed watching it.
Posted by: Yvonne Johnston | 12 June 2011 at 18:31
Thanks Maxine. I will now pop over...
Posted by: crimeficreader | 12 June 2011 at 17:40
You can always watch on free itv "catch up" (their equivalent of i player) which is how I saw it. Ep 1 - a blur ;-) I ranted about this show and others (incl Case Histories which you review in your next post) at my blog yesterday so can't work up any more energy over them now...but as ever I enjoyed reading your opinions. Nice articles, both.
Posted by: Maxine | 12 June 2011 at 12:31