Viewers slammed the first episode of Jed Mercurio’s new series Bloodlands last night as they criticised the crime drama for its ‘boring plot’ and ‘dizzying’ camera work.
Anticipation had been rife after it was announced Line of Duty and Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio had worked on the new four-part thriller, which is set in Northern Ireland.
The programme stars James Nesbitt as police detective Tom Brannick, who re-opens the cold case for serial killer Goliath after a possible suicide note is found in an abandoned car in Strangford Lough, a large inlet in County Down.
But many of those watching were left bitterly disappointed by the first episode yesterday, with some saying the shaky camera work had left them feeling ‘dizzy’ and others branding the plot ‘boring’.
Viewers slammed the first episode of Jed Mercurio’s new series Bloodlands last night as they criticised the crime drama for its ‘boring plot’ and ‘dizzying’ camera work
One commented: ‘I’m feeling seasick already. HOLD THE CAMERA STRAIGHT #Bloodlands.’
Meanwhile another wrote: ‘What is going on with the camera..Feel a bit dizzy.’
The BBC One series, directed by Omagh and Dredd’s Pete Travis, is set in the fallout of The Troubles – a period of conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted around 30 years, from the late 1960s until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
In the first episode, it quickly emerged Brannick’s wife was thought to be among four victims of an assassin in the months leading up to the Good Friday Agreement.
Many viewers of the drama said they’d been left feeling dizzy by the shaky camera and deemed the script ‘boring’
The killer was nicknamed after a crane at the Harland & Wolff shipbuilders in Belfast, and there are suspicions he, or she, was within the police ranks.
When a vehicle was pulled from the water, the team discovered a postcard depicting a landmark yellow crane taped to the car’s wing mirror which the detective believes links the case to Goliath.
CI Brannick’s colleague, DCS Jackie Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch), encouraged Brannick to leave the Goliath investigation in the past and to instead focus on the abduction of the vehicle’s owner: ex-IRA gunman turned ‘legit’ local haulage magnate, Pat Keenan (Peter Ballance).
But Brannick and his partner, DS Niamh McGovern (Charlene McKenna) decided solving the Goliath case was their best hope of solving Keenan’s kidnapping.
The police thriller, which stars James Nesbitt and Lorcan Cranitch in the main roles, left viewers unimpressed
Keenan’s family, who are suspicious of the police, hadn’t reported him missing, and, in one shocking scene, sectarian violence flared after a patrol car was petrol-bombed.
Brannick helped rescue his fellow officers, smothering the flames and burning the lining of his coat in the process.
The final sequence saw Brannick and McGovern pursuing a local dairy farmer who had reported suspicious digging activity on an unpopulated island on Strangford Lough 20 years ago, but whose statement was never followed up.
Taking a search team out to the desolate island against Twomey’s orders, the detectives found a burial site.
The series follows a detective who re-opens the cold case for serial killer Goliath after a possible suicide note is found in an abandoned car in Strangford Lough
Beneath the ground were three skeletons with bullet holes in their skulls, with one wearing an owl pendant necklace that Brannick’s wife always said ‘helped her see in the dark’.
Despite anticipation for the series being high, viewers said they’d been left unimpressed by the jerky camera work and said they found the storyline ‘dull and boring’.
One wrote: ‘Well, #Bloodlands isn’t the new #LineofDuty and it never will be. I’ve got no issues with the accents, I actually love the Irish accents, it’s the wobbly camera work I can’t get behind.
‘It’s so odd that this is from the same people that make the brill Line of Duty. It’s…different.’
Some viewers criticised the first episode of the four part series as ‘dull’ while others called the script ‘boring and rubbish’
Another commented: ‘Watching #Bloodlands, the wobbly cameras and weirdly timed zooming is driving my eyes and brain crazy.’
Another wrote: ‘Not what I expected…Very dull..slow and boring…hopefully it picks up next week.’
‘Boring, rubbish script and some awful acting, a bit like a day time drama,’ another commented.
Netbitt had been enthusiastic about the series and, speaking about his involvement ahead of the programme airing, said: ‘We have compelling scripts from a brilliant young writer who was raised in County Down, which are very exciting and psychologically complex. I can’t wait to start.’
Mercurip’s popular series Line of Duty will also return for its sixth series this year – complete with an extra episode – and reports suggest it will begin airing on BBC One no later than March
Mercurio is also executive producing the show, and praised new screen writer Chris Brandon who penned Bloodlands, saying: It’s been incredibly rewarding to discover Chris Brandon’s work and to witness the development of an outstanding new voice in contemporary television thriller writing.’
Meanwhile Brandon revealed he is ‘absolutely delighted that the first opportunity I get to tell a story on this scale, it is one that is so close to home and the people and places that raised me’.
Mercurip’s popular series Line of Duty will also return for its sixth series this year – complete with an extra episode – and reports suggest it will begin airing on BBC One no later than March.
Earlier this month, a witty clip featuring show stars Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar was released, during which the pair discussed the mysterious ‘Vella’.