Search - Trial and Retribution: Set 3 on DVD

Nina E.
Reviewed on 6/7/2016...

Created and written by Lynda La Plante--"the playwright laureate of women crime-stoppers" This British series displays the same hard-bitten sensibility and emotional resonance that made Prime Suspect a television landmark. Each drama follows a single case from crime to conclusion. Every twist in the investigation and turn in the trial realistically depict an imperfect system in which justice doesn’t always triumph. Along the way, La Plante takes an unblinking look at the psychological scars that violence leaves on its victims, and its investigators.

In these three feature-length mysteries, police probe a young man’s abduction on his honeymoon, the mysterious death of a teenage girl, and a string of brutal murders perpetrated by a serial killer.

Starring David Hayman (Hope and Glory) and Victoria Smurfit (About a Boy), with guest stars Greg Wise, Claire Bloom, David Calder, Gemma Jones, Michael Fassbender, and Michael Brandon.

1 - DCS Walker receives a request to meet with William Thorpe (David Calder), a wealthy, influential businessman whose son-in-law, Mark Harrington (Milo Twomey), has gone missing. His distraught daughter, Susan Harrington (Miriam Heard), in London with Mark on their honeymoon, last saw her husband in Covent Garden when he walked away to get a coffee. He never returned. The team assigned, headed up by DCI Roisin Connor (Victoria Smurfit) and DS David Stachell (Dorian Lough), are fairly certain Mark either did a runner or he's dead somewhere, but the case is given a low-priority ranking...until William Thorpe drops dead of a heart attack during contentious questioning by DCI Connor and Mrs. Thorpe (Penny Downie), who accuses the police of not listening to her distraught daughter. Covered now in the headlines, with pressure from above to solve the case, the investigation is given top-priority, particularly after another deadly twist - Susan goes missing, as well - rocks the investigation team.

2 - Beautiful, intelligent, driven young girl Emily Harrogate (Carey Mulligan) is found dead at the bottom of her parents' home's cellar, after suffering a massive head wound. Her parents, John Harrogate (Greg Wise), and his wife Diedre (Nadia Cameron-Blakey), project a "perfect family" façade, but in reality, they're on the precipice of divorce. John is seeing another woman, and Diedre has devolved into a obsessive-compulsive, constantly cleaning and rearranging items in the house. Their son, James (Max Benitz), argues frequently with her, but he and the rest of the family apparently have an air-tight alibi for the evening when she was killed: they were having a family dinner at Diedre's mother's (Claire Bloom) house. Meanwhile, personal problems ravage Mike's equilibrium as he discovers his son Richard (Benedict Smith) has severe mental problems, landing him in jail from a sadistic, cruel act that shocks Mike. Who killed Emily? Was it a family member? Or was it nearby neighbor, Michael Summerby (Andrew-Lee Potts), a troubled youngster with no father, a grasping, clinging mother, Ellen (Rachel Davies), and a past with Emily?

3 - Two months into a fruitless investigation of a dead girl found raped and beaten to death at an abandoned water pump house frequented by drug addicts and hookers, DCI Connor, desperate for any leads or help, asks Walker if it's okay to bring in a visiting American profiler, Max Stanford (Michael Brandon), in on the case. Walker, skeptical of the benefits of bringing him on, tells Connor it's her case...and her budget. Stanford's theories immediately start to pay off, as Connor realizes that Stachell may have made a mistake during the initial investigation. A young witness to the crime is eventually found, but he's promptly killed when he's run over repeatedly by a mysterious black car. Could the number one suspect be a former partner of Mike's, who now resides in rehab? Will Connor and Stanford catch the criminal...and tumble into bed with each...before the next victim falls?

DVD English Mystery "Trial & Retribution Set 3"

John L. Holt | Little Rock, Arkansas USA | 01/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well done English mystery series. If you enjoy English mysteries you will likely enjoy this series. Excellent video and audio."