17 year old Emma Cooper is brought up by her father Chris in a single parent household . Her mother disappeared 10 years previously and now she finds herself having nightmares . Could this tie in with her mother's disappearance ? Might it be a combination of teen angst and her father finding a new girlfriend ?
I've always thought Martin Kemp is a much better actor than he's given credit for . His performance as Steve Owen in EASTENDERS shone amongst a mediocre cast . Having said that he's not done himself any favours by appearing in forgettable dramas like this . Most of the flaws aren't his fault which are down to a staid screenplay by Philomena McDonagh . Why is it only now that Emma has these bad dreams ? That's down to the need to involve an inciting incident but Emma never comes across as a real person , only a literary device to tell a story . A story that tries to be twisty and turning while remaining ambiguous but becomes more and more contrived as it goes along . The ending is totally ridiculous
The main problem is Bill Eagles compounding the problem by having menacing incidental music every time Chris appears on screen . Chris gets out of a car , cue a shrieking violin . Chris walks down the stairs , cue a shrieking violin . Chris talks to Emma , cue a shrieking violin that screams " This man is a murderer " . One feels slightly sorry for Kemp as you can imagine him looking at the screenplay thinking maybe he could give a layered performance only to find at the finished product that if he'd worn a top hat , twirled his moustache while tying Emma to a railway line he couldn't be a less obvious villain . You can see why Martin and Gary Kemp reformed Spandua Ballet
I've always thought Martin Kemp is a much better actor than he's given credit for . His performance as Steve Owen in EASTENDERS shone amongst a mediocre cast . Having said that he's not done himself any favours by appearing in forgettable dramas like this . Most of the flaws aren't his fault which are down to a staid screenplay by Philomena McDonagh . Why is it only now that Emma has these bad dreams ? That's down to the need to involve an inciting incident but Emma never comes across as a real person , only a literary device to tell a story . A story that tries to be twisty and turning while remaining ambiguous but becomes more and more contrived as it goes along . The ending is totally ridiculous
The main problem is Bill Eagles compounding the problem by having menacing incidental music every time Chris appears on screen . Chris gets out of a car , cue a shrieking violin . Chris walks down the stairs , cue a shrieking violin . Chris talks to Emma , cue a shrieking violin that screams " This man is a murderer " . One feels slightly sorry for Kemp as you can imagine him looking at the screenplay thinking maybe he could give a layered performance only to find at the finished product that if he'd worn a top hat , twirled his moustache while tying Emma to a railway line he couldn't be a less obvious villain . You can see why Martin and Gary Kemp reformed Spandua Ballet
