User reviews

Sharon's life is turned upside down, when her daughter Ella's killer, Joe Pritchard is released from prison, Ella's former schoolfriend Cat Donato returns to the village to investigate.

This is one of the best crime mystery drama series I have seen for some time, a truly engaging, absorbing watch. I binge watched the whole thing in one day, and was struck by the consistency throughout, it never lulls at any point.

An engrossing mystery, it's one of those where you're made to wait to learn the truth, but it's a truly satisfying outcome. Numerous suspects seem to have motives, you'll learn about them with each passing episode.

Joanna Scanlan and Alexandra Roach worked previously together on channel 4 drama No Offence, and once again the pair worked very well together, sharing some fine scenes.

Scanlan is excellent, I'm not always sold on stars doing Welsh accents, but she absolutely nails it, and not only that, she nails a North Wales accent, what a talent she is, Roach, Rheon, Williams, Halfrey, all excellent.

If you're a fan of Hinterland, Hidden and the other Welsh dramas, you'll really enjoy this one, and recognise lots of well known Welsh faces.

Some great location work, plenty of filming inside and around Carmarthen.

A very enjoyable drama.

8/10.

This was a decent watch. Reminded me of UK series from 4 years ago when they were "real thrillers". Iwan Rheon who played the frightening Ramsay Bolton in Game of thrones and Misfits comes off a bit short tho that's how he was written. And ( can't remember the actress's name) but Becky from utopia does well. The rest are all good. I liked it but didn't love it! Does keep you guessing tho and is better than most all the newer series I've watched that have come out lately. I just wish they'd made Iwan more menacing like he has been in other things but it's a decent watch with just 6 episodes. Give it a go.

The script, the characters and the acting is so well delivered in this TV series. With a few well known faces delivering very good performances its definitely a good series to watch.

There are a lot of series based around very similar, and almost predictable storylines that struggle to keep you interested.

This is not one of those, with a very clever storyline, feeding the view little nuggets of information through the episodes, it keeps you hooked until the very last episode.

An avid viewer will likely put all the pieces together, and guess who did it. But it's not until the final episode when you finally discover exactly what happened.

It's easy to watch, not overly complex, and the character development all come together to deliver a very watchable series.

Wow this was good.

Joanna Scanlon and Alexander Roach both starred in the brilliant No Offence and are both excellent here too.

The story is about a mother who's daughter was murdered by a local boy but the body was never found. The murderer played by Iwan Reon has never been able to recall what he did with the body but despite this he is granted parole.

What follows is fascinating look at a mothers love and devotion and how it affects everyone around her and the journalist who moved away after the murder of her friend coming back to write a story about the murder.

There a twists and turns aplenty and a few subplots that are tied up nicely and some red herrings that Line Of Duty would be proud of but it's the strength of acting not just from its stars but a strong supporting cast that kept me watching and guessing. (I actually guessed right but won't spoil it for anyone here)

Filmed in both Welsh and English (The Light In The Hall) this is a really strong thriller right up there with the best of British TV.

Highly recommended.

With dramas that you get on channel 4 and channel 5 you might find 1 out of 5 is actually worth watching, this was worth watching and more. This is a spoiler free review but I would think that most people will have the same 'inkling' that I did on episode 1.

There might be some obviousness about the series but the acting and script more than make up for it.

There are some wonderful scenery, and it goes to show how much of a beautiful country Wales can be.

One thing that I thought was very well done is how many of us, if not all of us tend to be wearing rose tinted glasses when we try and remember what we were like and how we behaved when we were teenagers.

Overall this was an excellent drama with an outstanding story portrayed by actors at the top of their game.

It might even make me forget that it was Ramsay Bolton that was on the screen.

Once you start watching it you can't stop, you're almost holding your breath! Actors are absolutely amazing, spot on!

I have three daughters and as I watch this this is exactly how it would go, everyone in the show portrays the heartbreak, the fear and the torment as if it were a real part of their lives, very well acted very well done.

You will not waste your time watching this, and I always love when they film absolutely beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen a show with any one of these individual actors in it that I didn't like, they never let you down, their faces are what draw you in, because you know they're great actors but they're acting keeps you watching!

Honestly, the acting is awful, the plot is thin and the direction makes me wonder how this was commissioned.

It plays out like a dull soap opera and maybe this is aimed at the soap-hungry market.

I watched it because I thought there might be some gritty drama coming out of Wales and good to see something other than the usual northern regional tv drama. However, this is a far cry from a Sally Wainwright series in every respect. The characters are not believable and the main actors have no redeeming qualities or skills to salvage this below-par dirge.

I tried to like it, I really did.

Save your time and watch something else.

In a world where popular crime dramas fall into the same predictable formula, it's refreshing to see something brave enough to do things a bit differently.

The early episodes start at a slow pace, but there's a real effort to develop the central characters before it changes gear and becomes a highly engaging (and unpredictable) thriller. The decision to set the show in the dramatic Welsh countryside was a triumph and a 6 episode British crime drama with very little police involvement is both refreshing and bold.

I became hooked in this highly engaging drama and hope that we see more of Cat Donato!

Great work by Channel 4 (and S4C), the outstanding cast and creator/writer Regina Moriarty.

This gets better and better. It flows really well, no holes in the plot and the acting, especially the 2 lead women, is superb. Surprisingly good, I watched it all in one go!

Set in a pretty small Welsh town, it is set 18 years after a young girl disappears, assumed murdered. It is a study of grief and the dynamics of a tight knit community, changed forever by this one event. It is beautifully shot and scripted and benefits from a superb ensemble cast, with a special mention to the 3 leads. It builds well, and you become absorbed in the story and the people. You are not distracted by questions and plot holes. You are able to just enjoy it, and this is why I wanted to know what happens and watched the 6 episodes in one evening. Highly recommended.

This is so, so badly written. Key moments are rendered farcical due to implausible dialogue and incredulous behaviours and actions. Surely an investigative journalist would be more circumspect and discreet when trying to arrange conversations in order to provide back story details; allowing a narrative to emerge. Surely a grieving mother requiring closure for the loss of her daughter, would approach the pursuit of truth via the paroled killer, with greater guile NOT turn into a raging pathological stalker? Surely the police investigation that secured the incarceration of the "killer" would provide the necessary information leading to the conviction....court transcripts available? It is the absence of credibility that spoils what might have been a cliched but still enjoyable drama....this is lazy writing. The acting is fine with a cast that could have readily presented characters of real interest, eliciting care and an investment in the story. Failed for me...2 episodes in is enough!

I really wanted to like this. The premise, trailer and cast promised a lot, and given that it's set locally and I recognised all the areas, I had high hopes.

Sadly, the incredibly poor script was a let down from moments into the first episode. Illocical actions, over-acting and daft dialogue left me cold.

Poor direction, such as vigorously shaking a kettle before making a cup of tea to see if there's any water, no reaction or upset from family members at the arrest scene in episode two, a very poor hostel-mate who I'm guessing was meant to be menacing but ended coming across more comedic all combined to leave me questioning whether to even bother finishing the series. If I'm honest, I simply didn't care who had done it in the end.

Three stars for the beautiful scenery but that's about it.

It's hard keeping one story plot running over six episodes, very few series do it successfully. This one didn't do it for me, it wanders and meanders and a red herring here and a red herring there, but an inexperienced journalist who is diverted by an affair didn't focus it. I prefer police procedurals because they are focused and you get facts and evidence piece by piece and you get a conclusion. This series started moving by episode 4, but I gave up.

This is another typical family who has suffered a great loss and parents who can't move on. Nothing new, we've watched it before. Joanna Scanlan, Iwan Rheon and most of the cast are good, but good acting doesn't make up for a bad script. I wanted to like it, but it would have been better as a 3 episode series and not 6. It's a depressing series to watch.

The Pembrokeshire Murders series was a true story in Wales and it was fast and focused and kept my attention. There is a lesson there, but sadly I doubt producers and writers will take it.

How anyone can use words such as 'superb', 'mesmerising' or 'gripping' when reviewing this series is beyond me. In reality, it's dull, slow and very boring.

The basic story is fine but its development is so slow as to be glacial. The dialogue is mostly lacking in any sparkle and the direction is often rather spasmodic, with scenes shifting somewhat abruptly at times. The main cast appears to be mostly female, the few men involved being portrayed in less than friendly light - they're mostly either villains, unhelpful and uninteresting police or rather gruff others.

Alexandra Roach and Joanna Scanlan do their best with weak material and others, such as Sian Reese-Williams (DCI Cadi John from the far superior "Hidden") are also fine, but the main bad boy, played by Iwan Rheon, simply scowls his way through the first 2 episodes while wearing the necessary haunted look of a confessed killer. None of them demand much in the way of attention or empathy and, after those 2 episodes, I gave up.

Watching paint dry was preferable to worrying about what had happened in some Welsh wood or field 18 years earlier.

At least 4 episodes too long. I had more or less guessed what had happened after a couple of episodes. Bit unbelievable that journalist would go around a village interviewing people like she did just dropping in. And what convenient coincidences she always was in the right place at the right time? Perhaps that is why she did a far better job than police investigators. Couldn't clear my mind that Joe wasn't Ramsey Bolton (GOT) Joanna Scanlan played a good part as Sharon and sounded authentically Welsh. Not quite sure what purpose Cat's boyfriend / editor had in the production? Watch only if you've nothing better to do.

Slow depressing story played out in a bleak Welsh landscape by wooden Welsh actors. Totally unbelievable plot lines with a sixth form drama class script. This is typical of this genre of bleak Welsh dramas.... Hidden, Hinterland, etc. Can't imagine the budget for this boring nonsense was very much but surely more could have been done with it?

Best part about this was the numerous commercial breaks...at least some brief moments of levity. Are the police really this incompetent in wales and are the general population really that stupid? Surely someone can do better given the talent that actually exists in this country?

I'm assuming they wanted to make the mother Sharon, a sympathetic character but she ended up being plain PATHETIC. I was actively rooting against her the whole time. The show I had just enough to make me want to finish, but the characters and plot made it kinda difficult to want to binge. A lot of scenes with people just staring at each other in awkward, unrealistic silence in attempt to make it "dramatic". It's not terrible, but I couldn't outright recommend it. There's nobody yo really root for, most characters behave in a completely baffling, confusing, or frustrating way. Very slow watch, probably best if you put it on in while you have something else to tend to. You won't miss much between the frequent the "brooding staring" contests.