If you think the word 'banker' begins with a 'w' and studiously avoid anywhere at the weekend likely to be filled with boozed-up men, this is for you. A bunch of deeply unlikeable characters go on what else but a stag-hunting weekend in the Highlands. The weather is terrible, but turns out to be the least of their troubles when weird things start to happen.
Ian (Jim Howick) is the brother of the bride and odd man out, bullied by the supposed alpha males he may soon see a lot more of. The others' treatment of the mild-mannered man is enough to alienate us, and while reviews have stressed growing sympathy with the staggers, the first episode didn't raise more than a grimace when a man's dismembered legs were found in a clearing. Subtle this isn't, in terms of humour or grotesquerie. There's a link in the imagination between black comedy and sophistication and Reece Shearsmith, here an early casualty, is a master of those with the 'Inside No.9' series written with Steve Pemberton. This doesn't quite hit that high, and in fact often resembles a lame episode of 'Lost' with few redeeming characters. By the end of the hour we couldn't help wishing that whoever is after them would just hurry up and finish them all off for the sake of everyone who knew them.
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