After delivering one of the best shows on streaming 'Slow Horses,' it's no big surprise that Apple TV would adapt another Mick Herron novel.
'Down Cemetery Road' has been adapted by Morwenna Banks, Rose Henry, Emily Marcuson, Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley from the 2003 adventure novel.
Like 'Slow Horses,' it mixes adventure with dodgy acts of violence masterminded by shady British intelligence figures.
It has a maverick heroine who refuses to play by the rules and another earnest heroine who is way in over her head.
But does it scale the same heights as 'Slow Horses'?
Ruth Wilson plays Sarah Trafford, an Oxford museum conservationist who stumbles upon a conspiracy during a dinner party she and her banker husband, Tom Riley's Mark are hosting for their neighbours and a business associate.
Sarah and her guests are stunned during the dinner when a nearby house explodes, killing the neighbour of one of her friend, Sinead Matthews' Wigwam.
Watching the emergency services come to the aid of the family, Sarah is struck by the odd behaviour of some at the scene as the victim's five year old daughter, Ivy Quoi's Dinah is bundled into an ambulance.
Going to the hospital to enquire about the child, Sarah is puzzled by the authorities' refusal to let her see Dinah and her interest in her safety is further piqued by the erasure of the five year old's image from local newspaper coverage.
Eager to understand what is going on, Sarah employs Adam Goldley's private eye Joe Silverman to look into the case whose wife, Emma Thompson's Zoe Boehm is far from thrilled about him getting involved.
When Joe ends up being murdered and Dinah is once more ushered out of the hospital in mysterious circumstances, it sets Sarah off on a hunt for the truth along with Zoe that will put them on the radar of shady intelligence figures.
Their trek across Britain will also uncover a dark state secret about the actions of the military.
'Down Cemetery Road' is an eight episode adventure that is part 'The 39 Steps' and part 'Fargo'.
As they slowly unravel the truth, Sarah and Zoe find themselves encountering Nathan Stewart-Jarrett's rogue Army figure Downey and Fehinti Balogun's fearsome assassin Amos.
But behind those two figures are Darren Boyd's cynical Ministry of Defence official C, his incompetent mandarin Adeel Akhtar's Hamza and Pip Torrens' arrogant and shifty neurologist Dr Isaac Wright.
With various episodes directed by Natalie Bailey, Sam Donovan and Borkur Sigborsson, it's a high grade production as you'd expect from Apple TV.
However it's nowhere near as consistent as 'Slow Horses' despite one of that series' writers Morwenna Banks being its showrunner.
Some episodes like three, six and seven are really good, edge of your seat stuff.
However other episodes like two, four and five ramble a bit and like a lot of streaming shows these days, you feel it's too padded out like much of 'Killing Eve'.
Thompson and Wilson make for engaging heroines, though - the former stealing the show as an unconventional private eye in an unconventional marriage who reluctantly finds herself in an unconventional situation.
Thompson clearly has a lot of fun in a genre that she hasn't really dabbled in and she attacks her role with great gusto, clearly relishing the chance to star in a cynical, action adventure, conspiracy thriller.
Stewart-Jarrett and Balogun acquit themselves well too - the latter really embracing the chance to play a stoney faced, psychotic assassin.
There's a delicious cameo at one point from the veteran Scottish actor Gary Lewis as an English hating fisherman, whose boat is commandeered by Sarah and Zoe to get to a remote island.
However the show's weakest characters are its Ministry of Defence officials, with Boyd's C coming across as a not very convincing, 'Blackadder' style bully and weasel of a villain.
The normally reliable Akhtar also struggles as the bumbling official and victim of C's relentless bullying.
This is a huge weak point for the show and it drives home why 'Slow Horses' is in another league.
While Kristin Scott Thomas' Taverner and her MI5 establishment colleagues in that show are unquestionably incompetent, you still buy into their ability to climb the intelligence services' greasy poll.
They are smart, deeply flawed and often ruthless figures who you'd believe could plot their way to positions of power.
By way of comparison, C and Hamza just aren't credible enough - lacking the depth and dimensions to truly convince.
All of this means 'Down Cemetery Road' is a bit of a frustrating, uneven, unsatisfying watch.
Inside it, there's undoubtedly the elements of a great TV show but it feels overlong and too inconsistent which is a pity as it could have been so much more.
('Down Cemetery Road' was made available for streaming between October 29-December 10, 2025)
Comments
Post a Comment