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The Truth Commissioner stars The Thick Of It‘s Roger Allam as Henry Stanfield, a man whose job has effectively robbed him of his family life by dominating his time, and now he’s in Belfast dealing with an incredibly complex case that’s trying to get to the bottom of one of the IRA’s many dark secrets.
In May 1992, the interrogation of IRA messenger Conor Walshe (Ciaran Flynn) led to his death, but who carried out the deed, and in what circumstances, and on whose instruction?
Allam, still looking as grumpy as he was when he played Peter Mannion MP in Armando Iannucci’s landmark comedy, needs to get to the truth, yet everyone has secrets to hide, and there lots of names in the frame including retired detective James Fenton (Ian McElhinney) and veteran Republican Francis Gilroy (Brid Brennan).
In a TV adaptation of David Park‘s novel, while I’ve already said in the past that I’m not a reader of books (yeah, so sue me), I look to television or movies to get them across as best as they can. Here, there was some intrigue, and a fair bit of back-stabbing, but a lot of the time, elements could only go one way or the other, so it was fairly predictable at times. However, it still made for adecent 90-minute movie which was very well shot, and suited the 2.35:1 widescreen frame nicely.
The Truth Commissioner isn’t available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but you can buy the novel, and it’s also available to watch on BBC iPlayer until September 26th. Also, click on the poster for the full-size version.
Score: 7/10
Director: Declan Recks
Producers: David Collins, Kevin Jackson and Eoin O’Callaghan
Writer: Eoin O’Callaghan (based on the novel by David Park)
Music: Niall Byrne
Cast:
Henry Stanfield: Roger Allam
Michael Madden: Barry Ward
Johnny Rafferty: Conleth Hill
James Fenton: Ian McElhinney
Francis Gilroy: Sean McGinley
Laura: Madeleine Mantock
Catherine Gilroy: Brid Brennan
Emma: Jasmine Hyde
Christine Gilroy: Katy Gleadhill
Jake Marston: Tom Goodman-Hill
Alec Reid: Denis Conway
Prime Minister: Lia Williams
Beckett: Ian Beattie
Anna Connolly: Joanne Crawford
Conor Walshe: Ciaran Flynn
Child Victim: Siennah Buck
Plain Clothes Police Officer: Frank Cannon
Justin: Rhys Dunlop
American Reporter: Anne Gill
Alan: Stephen Hagan
Gleeson: Jonathan Harden
Edmund: Stewart David Hawthorne
Ramona: Eva Hein
Krystal: Klára Issová
Maria Walshe: Simone Kirby
Mrs. O’Kane: Geraldine McAlinden
Witness 2: Frankie McCafferty
Coughlan: Fergal McElherron
Marty: Alan McKee
Michael Madden Jnr: Ross McKinney
Miriam Fenton: Eleanor Methven
Mrs. Lorimer: Carol Moore
Mrs. Walshe: Briege Roche
Witness 1: Lalor Roddy
Manley: Mark Schrier
Rory Gilroy: John Travers
Anderson: Ali White
Club Patron: Hugh Irvine (uncredited)
Archivist: Mark Quigley (uncredited)
Witness: Kristy Robinson (uncredited)
Police Officer: Aaron Rolph (uncredited)
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.