We liked and liked a lot. Strange scheduling over four consecutive nights, but at least sensibly post-watershed considering the violence, sex and swearing.
It started with a cliched premise: old gangster losing his grip, Albanians who can trump his violence, sons who are loose canon, a wife he's emotionally estranged from, a guilty secret from the past. It did what good drama should do, though, and engaged with a good script, fine performances and enough interesting plot developments to keep viewers hooked.
We know Brighton, and the seriously strange twists of fate that have befallen the West Pier, so this had extra appeal. It also meant, though, that the shootout in the streets was a little TWNH. No-one would say there's no serious crime in Brighton - Graham Greene and a long line of news reports put paid to that - but a Chicago-style gun-fest? After all the bodies, all connected with Richie (Peter Mullan) and his family, you'd have thought that the police would be a little more interested in his home, family and business, rather than just turning up and asking the odd question, but these are minor detractions from a stylish gangster thriller that has family sorrow and the consequences of moral poverty at its heart.
