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Redemption is one of those ITV dramas which first started life on their spin-off pay channel, Britbox, this one airing in April 2022.
Taking the lead is Paula Malcomson as hard-nosed DI Colette Cunningham, and Ms Malcomson came to my attention in her incredible role as Roz Demichelis, one of the flock for Sean Bean’s conflicted Father Michael Kerrigan in Jimmy McGovern’s 2017 drama, Broken. That only lasted one series, but I really hope we get another some day.
But this new series trips up as soon as it begins, since Paula is an Irish actress, from Belfast, and should’ve stuck with that accent since her Liverpudlian here is pretty poor (yes, it’s The Family Pile all over again!). She’s meant to be born and bred over there, but before too long, events take her over to Dublin… so her original accent would’ve been better, even more so.
Alas, what takes Colette back there is the bombshell news that her estranged daughter, Stacey Lockley, has been found dead – apparently from suicide, but doesn’t recognise the name at first, since it’s been so long, and her head’s distracted with an errant criminal who she’s trying to arrest, and it’s not what she’s expecting just before she’s off on her jollies.
Colette knows nothing of Stacey’s life, nor anyone in it, including her two children, Cara and Liam, so it’s a shock for all concerned, and turns things into a ‘fish out of water’ story, since for the forseeable, she’ll be moving her job to Ireland, even if the Garda don’t seem massively keen to take her on.
So, that’s the premise, but in the first episode, it doesn’t just trip, but stumbles and falls. As well as the awful Scouse impression, Redemption stumbles with a clichéd scene early on, when she portrays a cavalier attitude in front of her arrest, when the interviews are recorded, so if she’s badgering someone, it wouldn’t look good on her record.
And the fall? Well, for someone who’s been in the job over 30 years, what does she do on her first day in Dublin? Logs into the computer system and looks up her dead daughter! Exactly what you’re NOT meant to do in a position like that! They’ll audit EVERYTHING you do!
Some attempt at humour is added by partnering Colette with young cop Siobhán Wilson (Thaddea Graham – The Irregulars), and because it’s 2023, she’s gender-fluid.
(Okay, it was released in 2022, but anyway)
Oh, and there’s also a story thrown in for her first case, about someone’s Dad being in prison and a drone allegedly being used to fly packages in, but they spend so long on the reason for getting Colette to Dublin, to the point where it doesn’t leave much time for any other story… which was apparently quickly wrapped up before I even realised… maybe? I think? I’m not sure.
Either way, it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts that made me not give a care as to how it might be resolved, but Redemption is something these writers should be seeking…
As an aside, for some reason, Digiguide refers to this show as Hummingbird.
Redemption begins on ITV on Friday at 9pm, and then each episode will be on ITVX. It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Director: John Hayes
Producer: John Wallace
Creator: Sean Cook
Writers: Sean Cook, Susan E Connolly, Noel Farragher
Music: Laura Rossi
Cast:
DI Colette Cunningham: Paula Malcomson
Cara Lockley: Abby Fitz
Liam Lockley: Evan O’Connor
Eoin Molony: Moe Dunford
Siobhán Wilson: Thaddea Graham
Patrick Fannon: Keith McErlean
Jane Connolly: Siobhán McSweeney
Ross Corby: Scott Graham
Kevin Cheng: Sean Hughes
Stacey Lockley: Rachel O’Byrne
DS Luke Byrne: Patrick Martins
Shane Kinsella: Sean Duggan
Debbie Gleeson: Jade Jordan
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.