TV Review – BANCROFT (2017)

Bancroft (TV) (2017; UK; Colour; 4 x 47m) **  pr. Phil Collinson; d. John Hayes; w. Kate Brooke; ph. Richard Stoddard; m. Edmund Butt.  Cast: Sarah Parish, Faye Marsay, Amara Karan, Adrian Edmondson, Linus Roache, Adam Long, Ryan McKen, Steve Evets, Charles Babalola, Anjli Mohindra, Lee Boardman, Art Malik, Lily Sacofsky. Detective Superintendent Elizabeth Bancroft (Parrish) is running an operation to against a vicious gang and adopts dubious methods to bring down the brothers who run it. Meanwhile, DS Katherine Stevens (Marsay) is assigned to a cold murder case and finds that there’s more to it than it seems – and that Bancroft has some secrets in her past that may prove difficult to hide. Over-the-top and lacking credibility, this crime drama is the latest in a long line of increasingly dark and contrived series to populate our TV screens. There is something compulsive about the performances of Parrish and Marsay that keeps the viewer going despite the implausibilities, but ultimately this is a cold experience with one twist too many and a finale that satisfies no-one with its calculated approach to demand a sequel. [18]