Season 22 has mostly been rather unimpressive, with only "The Stitcher Society" and particularly "Happy Families" rising above good and half the season being average or less. "The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy" turned out for me to be the worst episode since "Night of the Stag", while "The Scarecrow Murders" and "For Death Prepare" were wastes of pretty good concepts. "The Witches of Angel's Rise" did sound quite intriguing, despite being unsure of a few things.
It thankfully managed to be an intriguing and unsettling enough episode, though a flawed one. It is nowhere near as good as "The Stitcher Society" and "Happy Families", but it is a huge improvement over "The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy" and the previous two episodes. "The Witches of Angel's Rise" is not great, with some big issues particularly later on, but even the flaws have been executed far worse in other episodes and there are a lot of great things still.
Beginning with the good things, it's a typically good looking episode, especially the scenery which the photography clearly loves. The music is pleasant and haunting and who can resist the unforgettable theme tune. Most of the acting is fine. Annette Badland continues to be a joy as Fleur with some amusing lines, and still stand by my opinion of her being one of the most consistently great and refreshing aspects of the later episodes. Janine Duvitski and Clive Mantle do a good job in their supporting roles and are particularly good of the solid supporting cast.
Did like most of the atmosphere a lot, there is a real creepiness often and the sombre tone of some scenes didn't bother me at all. Neither did the diversity, and am quite frankly getting really annoyed seeing and hearing the increasingly overused and abused word woke being casually thrown around. The murders are some of the most eerie and most inventive in ages. There are also some relatable themes that are better fleshed out than most of the later episodes to have more serious themes to usual. The mystery is intriguing, is tighter paced than the previous two episodes and the dialogue probes thought.
Having said all that, "The Witches of Angel's Rise" could have been better. Nick Hendrix struck me as rather bland and he doesn't have much spark with Neil Dudgeon, who is increasingly looking and sounding as if he is growing tired of playing Barnaby. Holly Willoughby served absolutely no point to the episode in her short screen time and came over as out of place and annoying.
Worst of all is the final half an hour, which is very rushed and over-stuffed from trying to include far too many revelations in quick succession. The final solution is too cramped, which would have been solved if starting to be revealed earlier so that it took longer to explain and didn't feel as too last minute. It is also too complicated, has a too obvious killer and a too extreme they killed for that-like motive.
Concluding, a bit mixed here. A lot to like, but significantly flawed as well. 6/10.
It thankfully managed to be an intriguing and unsettling enough episode, though a flawed one. It is nowhere near as good as "The Stitcher Society" and "Happy Families", but it is a huge improvement over "The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy" and the previous two episodes. "The Witches of Angel's Rise" is not great, with some big issues particularly later on, but even the flaws have been executed far worse in other episodes and there are a lot of great things still.
Beginning with the good things, it's a typically good looking episode, especially the scenery which the photography clearly loves. The music is pleasant and haunting and who can resist the unforgettable theme tune. Most of the acting is fine. Annette Badland continues to be a joy as Fleur with some amusing lines, and still stand by my opinion of her being one of the most consistently great and refreshing aspects of the later episodes. Janine Duvitski and Clive Mantle do a good job in their supporting roles and are particularly good of the solid supporting cast.
Did like most of the atmosphere a lot, there is a real creepiness often and the sombre tone of some scenes didn't bother me at all. Neither did the diversity, and am quite frankly getting really annoyed seeing and hearing the increasingly overused and abused word woke being casually thrown around. The murders are some of the most eerie and most inventive in ages. There are also some relatable themes that are better fleshed out than most of the later episodes to have more serious themes to usual. The mystery is intriguing, is tighter paced than the previous two episodes and the dialogue probes thought.
Having said all that, "The Witches of Angel's Rise" could have been better. Nick Hendrix struck me as rather bland and he doesn't have much spark with Neil Dudgeon, who is increasingly looking and sounding as if he is growing tired of playing Barnaby. Holly Willoughby served absolutely no point to the episode in her short screen time and came over as out of place and annoying.
Worst of all is the final half an hour, which is very rushed and over-stuffed from trying to include far too many revelations in quick succession. The final solution is too cramped, which would have been solved if starting to be revealed earlier so that it took longer to explain and didn't feel as too last minute. It is also too complicated, has a too obvious killer and a too extreme they killed for that-like motive.
Concluding, a bit mixed here. A lot to like, but significantly flawed as well. 6/10.