The Loch

Compelled to write a review to the enjoyable crime drama set near Inverness. Despite similarities to Shetland and Broadchurch, this drama feels fresh. It reminds us of the differences between rural communities and the effect a crime can have on such a small community compared to a city.

The plot has you second guessing at every clue uncovered and the desire to uncover the truth is overwhelming. Suspenseful moments intertwined in a mix of both fast and slow moving plot points, if you are into British crime dramas, this needs to be added to your must watch list.

The story starts out great but by the end becomes not only far fetched but even disjointed BUT Laura Fraser as Annie Redford and Siobhan Finneran as DCI Lauren Quigley deliver acting as good as any you will ever see and a good bit of the dialogue is well written and funny. If I were to rate this on the story alone it would not be very high but there are so many aspects of this series, acting, dialogue , production values and location that are quite good that #1 I recommend it and #2 and was always keen to watch the next episode. Give it a whirl.

I use IMDb to give me a steer on whats hot and whats not. Having read a poor review on The Loch, I felt compelled to level the field.

I'm a big fan of Broadchurch and similar crime dramas. This one is no pup. Its developing characters and a complex story-line to compete with the best.

All of the characters are interesting and there are many plot lines and angles on this web of a story.

My only complaint is that its a series and I have to wait a week for the next episode.

The scenery and the cinematography of it - no complaints there!

The actors - reasonably good. They're often interesting to watch, even if at times what the writers had them do was terribly stupid.

The story - starts off well enough. A dark Scandinavian crime-type show, rooted perhaps in Italian gialli films. Some gory crimes with sordid backstories. Red herrings galore.

It starts unraveling at the end, though. The solution to the crimes is terribly contrived. Odds that any viewer will be annoyed: probably pretty high.

At least it's a short series? If it were to have a second season with writers that have more respect for the material, the cast, and the audience, I'd probably watch.

I will disagree with some of the other reviews on here, and say I quite enjoyed the first part, which had set a tone for a Scottish Broadchurch, sadly the episodes that have followed have felt a little hollow.

The positives, the location, camera work and atmosphere are totally on point, it's a very attractive show, looks wonderfully vibrant, you will marvel at the scenery, they couldn't fail with that location. The lead, Siobhan Finneran is great, a strong actress with charisma and presence.

On the downside, I find Finneran so good, that she's making some of the rest feel like non entities, some of the characters are so forgettable, they're not making enough impression. Hopefully that will change, Alastair Mackenzie is a fine actor, he's just been underused so far. At times I find it a bit slow, tedious almost, they could have condensed it down to four parts, and removed some of the padding. It doesn't have the hook to retain your interest that Broadchurch managed to gain.

Overall it's watchable enough, and has some tense moments, it just feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity. 6/10