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Vienna Blood uses the age-old trope of two individuals having to work together, even though they clearly don’t get on, so it’s a ‘marriage’ of necessity.
However, on the plus side, it’s set in 1906, and a lot of the place looks very similar to how it did back then, so that certainly helps with set design. This is a time when ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) was thought of as a suitable form of treatment, and despite the turn of the century setting, the director has seen fit to include ’60s Batman-style camera angles…
A woman called Charlotte Lowenstein has been murdered… there’s a bullet hole but no bullet. Is it a hoax or witchcraft? Either way, Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt (Jurgen Maurer), and he’s partnered with junior doctor Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard), who’s studying psychology. I remember doing that as a subsidiary degree while at Uni. It was a piece of cake back then, and I expect that today, it’s just about studying snowflakes who are upset because their feelings have been hurt…. but I digress.
At times it feels a bit ‘Jonathan Creek‘ when an illusion comes up in the mu -rder scene.. but then the title of this first episode IS The Last Seance.
Overall, does it really need to run for 90 minutes? No, it does not. It occasionally has some humour in it, but mostly, it’s very boring.
Vienna Blood continues on BBC2 next Monday, and the series is available to pre-order on DVD ahead of its released on January 20th 2020.
After broadcast, each episode is on the BBC iPlayer.
Episode 1 Score: 1/10
Director: Robert Dornhelm
Writers: Steve Thompson, Frank Tallis
Cast:
Max Liebermann: Matthew Beard
Oskar Rheinhardt: Jurgen Maurer
Clara: Luise von Finckh
Amelia Lydgate: Jessica De Gouw
Mendel Liebermann: Conleth Hill
Rachel Liebermann: Amelia Bullmore
Leah Liebermann: Charlene McKenna
Juno Holderlein: Ursula Strauss
Professor Gruner: Oliver Stokowski
Inspector von Bulow: Raphaek von Bargen
Police Commissioner Strasser: Simon Hatzl
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.