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Fool Me Once brings us the premise we’ve always wanted: Michelle Keegan (Ten Pound Poms) is single! Woohoo! But for her, hubby Joe (Richard Armitage – Obsession) is dead… boo-hoo!
Alas, for her character, Maya, her sister, Claire (Natalie Anderson), has also been murdered, but after a situation which has led to Michelle installing a nanny-cam, because she has her doubts – despite the nanny, Izabella (Natalia Kostrzewa – Line of Duty Series 5), being a long-term friend of the family. However, is her mind playing tricks on her, or did Joe really turn up on the camera? After all, he’s dead! Or is he? She saw him get shot (as is repeated multiple times for our pleasure – and the same for Claire), but then never saw his actual body.
Did he just get up and walk it off?!
Meanwhile, her snooty mother-in-law, Judith (Joanna Lumley – Finding Alice), is considering hiring a private eye to look into everything, but cop DS Sami Kierce (Adeel Akhtar – Murder Mystery 2) is also on the case. However, he’s having blackouts for reasons unexplained, and so Harlan Coben’s latest TV adaptation ticks the box of “Obligatory weird stuff happening”.
As an aside, Maya is ex-army, making it feel like Ms Keegan is following on from her role in Our Girl.
Elsewhere, at one point in episode 2, Judith rings Maya, leading to the former’s grumpy face comes up on the phone – as if Maya would save a picture for her, on her own phone?! I don’t store pictures of anyone on my phone for that purpose, even if I DO like them!
Early on, the question comes as to whether Joe and Claire’s murders are connected? Well, I figured it’s a TV drama, so, duh!
Plus, 30 mins into the opener, I’d happily bet my house that everything Maya believes is correct, and that everyone else is lying to her, because it’s that sort of drama. However, even though it feels like it won’t hold much in the way of surprise, I am strangely enjoying it, not least for Michelle Keegan, but also for spotting various landmarks and locations within Manchester, same as how 2020’s The Stranger was set in my hometown of Stockport.
Certainly makes a great change from just having everything filmed in London.
So far, I’ve only seen the first two episodes of Fool Me Once, but all eight ‘dropped’ (as da yoof say) at once, so I will get to them over time.
Fool Me Once is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix now.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-60 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: January 1st 2024
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.00:1
Series Directors: David Moore, Nimer Rashed
Producers: Marisa Yeres Gill, Lisa Roberts Gillan
Writers: Danny Brocklehurst, Charlotte Coben, Yemi Oyefuwa, Nina Metivier, Tom Farrelly
Music: David Buckley, Luke Richards
Cast:
Maya Stern: Michelle Keegan
Joe Burkett: Richard Armitage
DS Sami Kierce: Adeel Akhtar
Claire Walker: Natalie Anderson
Nicole Butler: Jade Anouka
Alexander Dosman: Joe Armstrong
Marty McGreggor: Dino Fetscher
Corey Rudzinski: Laurie Kynaston
Judith Burkett: Joanna Lumley
Caroline Burkett: Hattie Morahan
Neil Burkett: James Northcote
Shane Tessier: Emmett J Scanlan
Daniel Walker: Daniel Burt
Coach Phil: Craige Els
Eddie Walker: Marcus Garvey
Abby Walker: Danya Griver
Izabella: Natalia Kostrzewa
Eva Finn: Adelle Leonce
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.