The Responder (BBC, the anti-Line of Duty)

[jpaul]

yes, not so bleak as it was ultimately a resurrection/rebirth for the characters -

I did feel they could have done with one more episode, a bit more mop-up of some aspects of the story, but I love these smaller series that get to the point.

final episode aired -
yes - dense, not unecessarily drawn out like many series when they try and get their money's worth from the viewers and filming investment;
felt a bit contrived that he managed to satisfy everyones need's, but he had moral principals on his side; gratuitous coercive control narrative was rather unecessarily slipped in
felt like the film (spike lee ?) whose title I now can't remember where disparaite characters lives collide together and they then part each with a moral lesson.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Finished this last night. It was good, we enjoyed it. The ending was a bit poo though.

 

[Merlin5]

Absolutely brilliant drama. Watched four episodes last night and the final one tonight. Freeman has always been a brilliant actor to me, so much nuance in his performances.

It's odd though because on one hand he was very good as being the street hardened tough scouse cop and it was excellent acting, but at the same time I couldn't fully shrug off seeing him as the comic style actor from the Hobbit. So it's hard to be fully convinced.
A bit like if Ronnie Corbett was cast as one of the Krays.

I was disappointed with the ending,

Spoiler

I felt sure that the chief woman detective was onto Chris and that there'd be another episode. But it seems that's it and he got away with it all.

 

[robfosters]

I enjoyed Ray getting shown up as the sad, bitter little squirt he is

 

[Abraxaz1]

I was disappointed with the ending,

Spoiler

I felt sure that the chief woman detective was onto Chris and that there'd be another episode. But it seems that's it and he got away with it all.

Spoiler

I got a suspicion that when asked about it he can hand over the prescribed drugs that she gave him for his anxiety attack

 

[Greebo]

I'm confused by the bleak comments. Maybe it's becasue I'm northern but there's quite a few light-hearted moments to snap you out of the hard reality he's facing.

Freeman was impressive. Seeing as he's also the executive producer he was clearly confident about the role. It's such a huge risk performing outside your normal remit with a strong challenging accent on top. Especially for a southerner. If he did this to set out to prove something he clearly achieved it. Liverpool is a far cry from Middle Earth, Minnesota, Staines, Slough and Baker St.

I did feel they could have done with one more episode, a bit more mop-up of some aspects of the story, but I love these smaller series that get to the point.

maybe for me having suffered depression due to work stress and pressure and suffered a breakdown 8 years ago, perhaps it was just too close to home to me. So much of Freeman's character and what he said and did resonated with me.