I really couldn't believe it, but in the last ten minutes or so of this three-part series, Public Enemies, they tied up all the loose ends. I was actually thinking, oh, we only have three segments of this - it obviously went on much longer. It reminded me a little of another British series, also a three-parter, where more info was packed into part three than the total of the other two.
The story concerns a probation officer, Paula Radnor (Anna Friel) who is back at work after three months of suspension. One of her parolees, supposedly under her watch, committed another murder.
Radnor's new case is a man, Eddie Mottram (Daniel Mays) who served ten years for killing is girlfriend. Naturally, Paula is pretty tough on him due to the fact that she's being watched just as carefully. Paula makes sure that he moves into the bail hostel, visits the parents of the murdered girl to inform them what areas Eddie is allowed to be in, and makes sure Eddie knows what he can and cannot do. He gets a job and a girlfriend; when he doesn't tell her why he served time, it falls to Paula. When Paula sends Eddie to an anger management class, he loses his job.
One day, Eddie goes to Paula's house and informs her that he was innocent. He and his sister want Paula to help them get his case looked at again.
This is a good series, with a few twists along the way. The acting by Friel, Mays, and Lorraine Ashburn as Paula's boss is top drawer. My problem with the series is that Friel is so damned beautiful and so classy, I found it hard to buy that she might be attracted to Eddie. I could see his attraction to her, but I really didn't get it going the other way.
My other problem is that the ending seemed rushed and abrupt. As I said above, in ten minutes we had the denouement of the whole thing. If you're going to do a three-parter, you could at least plan to spend more time on the ending.
As I said, I saw another British series in several parts that did the same thing. Unfortunately I can't remember its name. Maybe it had the same producer.
The story concerns a probation officer, Paula Radnor (Anna Friel) who is back at work after three months of suspension. One of her parolees, supposedly under her watch, committed another murder.
Radnor's new case is a man, Eddie Mottram (Daniel Mays) who served ten years for killing is girlfriend. Naturally, Paula is pretty tough on him due to the fact that she's being watched just as carefully. Paula makes sure that he moves into the bail hostel, visits the parents of the murdered girl to inform them what areas Eddie is allowed to be in, and makes sure Eddie knows what he can and cannot do. He gets a job and a girlfriend; when he doesn't tell her why he served time, it falls to Paula. When Paula sends Eddie to an anger management class, he loses his job.
One day, Eddie goes to Paula's house and informs her that he was innocent. He and his sister want Paula to help them get his case looked at again.
This is a good series, with a few twists along the way. The acting by Friel, Mays, and Lorraine Ashburn as Paula's boss is top drawer. My problem with the series is that Friel is so damned beautiful and so classy, I found it hard to buy that she might be attracted to Eddie. I could see his attraction to her, but I really didn't get it going the other way.
My other problem is that the ending seemed rushed and abrupt. As I said above, in ten minutes we had the denouement of the whole thing. If you're going to do a three-parter, you could at least plan to spend more time on the ending.
As I said, I saw another British series in several parts that did the same thing. Unfortunately I can't remember its name. Maybe it had the same producer.