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Witness Number 3 is a new nightly four-part Channel 5 drama where young single mum Jodie Packer (Nina Toussaint-White – Bodyguard) spots something incredible shocking! …A Tory MP telling the truth!
No, that’s crazy talk, Dom… she actually is witness to… a murder!
The police explain they’re keeping her witness statement on record, but for the time being, they’ve removed her actual name and address from the written record. Instead, with two other people having also seen something, the statement just confirms she’s… yep, as per the title.
Early on, a young lad who also apparently lives in the same block of flats asks to borrow Jodie’s phone because he’s locked out and needs to call his brother. I had a similar experience a few years ago, while walking round the corner to go to the GP surgery, a man walked past and grunted “Can I borrow your phone?”
My immediate response was, “Sorry, mate, I don’t have one”. Will she do the same thing? I know in my case, I did the right thing because he just moved on, but had he used it, he could’ve run off, being taller and younger than I was. At that time, I’d actually broken my right arm, anyway, so I would not have been up to running after him. Plus, a couple of years later, I did actually lose a phone while out in town, and it was like losing a limb!
So, if someone asks can they use your phone, be like the Grange Hill gang, and just say no!
Oh, and most other people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet, so not a chance in hell, even if he genuinely needed it!
But back to the plot, and whatever happens in that circumstance, she’s suddenly getting weird phone calls, receiving very concerning content – bordering on witness intimidation, and seeing strange men about, occasionally grouped together, looking like cutscenes from the Watch Dogs videogame series.
Naturally, prior to broadcast, I won’t give spoilers, but safe to say, things don’t go very well for her, and she’s left starting to question whether she should actually get involved in being a witness in the case, given the implications that come about.
But of course, if everything in a drama always worked out well for the protagonist, each series would end after about 30 minutes.
So far, this is a decent start to the series, so I will check out more. Further updates will be after each individual episode has been broadcast.
As a couple of asides, Sue Johnston (also seen in Channel 4’s Help) plays her mum, Cathy, sticking her nose in about the fact Jodie’s moving in with her boyfriend, rather than him into her flat (well, he has a much nicer place!) And while looking through ID mugshots, there’s a shot with both her and a cop onscreen at the same time, the cop in the background. You wouldn’t get both in focus, with normal eyesight, so they’ve used a split-screen effect to achieve this. Very Brian De Palma!
UPDATE Episode 2:
UPDATE Episode 3:
UPDATE Episode 4:
Witness Number 3 begins tonight on Channel 5 at 9pm, and is on nightly until Thursday. It can be pre-ordered on DVD, ahead of its release on July 25th.
If you miss it, you can watch the each episode on My5 after transmission.
Check out the trailer below:
Director: Diarmuid Goggins
Producer: Alex Jones
Writer: Thomas Eccleshare
Cast:
Jodie Packer: Nina Toussaint-White
PC Ivan Barkas: Sion Daniel Young
Po: Ruaridh Mollica
Detective Whelan: Clare Dunne
Cathy: Sue Johnston
Kyle Packer: Cole Martin
Tyler Osho: Stephen Cromwell
Dee: Katherine Field
Paul: David Glynn Crowley
Benji: Fiach Kunz
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.