STRIKE: THE INK BLACK HEART (2024, UK, 4 x 57m) ***½
dist. BBC; pr. co. Bronte Film and TV; d. Susan Tully; w. Tom Edge (based on the novel by J.K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith)); pr. Alex Rendell; exec pr. Neil Blair, Tom Edge, Ruth Kenley-Letts, J.K. Rowling; ph. (colour | 2.00:1); m. Adrian Johnston; pd. Robert Foster.
cast: Tom Burke (Cormoran Strike), Holliday Grainger (Robin Ellacott), Tupele Dorgu (Midge Greenstreet), Emma Fielding (Katya Upcott), Jack Greenlees (Sam Barclay), Stephen Hagan (DCI Richard Murphy), Christian McKay (Inigo Upcott), James Nelson-Joyce (Pez Pierce), Luke Norris (Phillip Ormond), Ruth Sheen (Pat Chauncey), David Westhead (Grant Ledwell), Kevin Bishop (Wally Cardew), Natasha O’Keeffe (Charlotte Campbell), Jacob Abraham (Josh Blay), Liza Sadovy (Mariam), Ellise Chappell (Kea Niven), Kitty Reed (Yasmin Weatherhead), Jack Donoghue (Gus Upcott), Maya Kelly (Flavia Upcott).
As the series has progressed (this is the fifth) it has become more and more difficult to dilute Rowling’s increasingly lengthy novels (this one ran to over 1,000 pages) into a four-part TV drama. The Ink Black Heart has been scenarist Edge’s biggest challenge yet, as the book was heavily ladled with transcripts of online chatrooms, as well as the usual subplots of the detectives’ personal lives. That Edge manages to mostly pull it off is a testament to his writing skills and ability to distil Rowling’s excesses, whilst attempting to retain a coherent plot. Burke and Grainger have established a splendid chemistry over the run and are fully into their characters. Sheen adds some welcome moments of sarcastic humour and the rest of the cast acquit themselves well. The story’s complexities may lose some viewers as it delves into the dark world of hidden identities but at the end of the day, it remains a well-directed, nicely shot and involving mystery built around likeable lead characters.
