One of Us, a new psychological thriller about the aftermath of a macabre double-murder starts tonight on BBC One. Can the creators of hit drama The Missing grip viewers a second time around?
The four-part series is written by Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing), and directed by William McGregor (Poldark, Misfits). It stars Juliet Stevenson, Joe Dempsie, Laura Fraser, John Lynch, Joanna Vanderham and Adrian Edmondson.
The story opens in a remote corner of the Scottish Highlands where a couple of childhood sweethearts, recently returned from their honeymoon, have been murdered in their home. The prime suspect flees, but his car skids off the road in a storm and he ends up in the hands of the victims' families who must decide what to do next.
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While the much-anticipated follow-up to their headline-grabbing debut The Missing is still in production, the Williams brothers have created another "family noir", says Gerard O'Donovan in the Daily Telegraph. Though this tale of murders, which lays bare an extended family's murky past, "takes its time and lacks the credibility of The Missing", it is "compelling enough to keep us glued through the more unlikely moments".
A quirky subplot about a corrupt police officer helps fill the slack, says O'Donovan, but it is mostly "the terrific cast that keeps interest up". Stevenson, Dempsie, Fraser and Vanderham all shine in this opener, he says, while Edmondson offers "a fleeting but intriguing presence".
Indeed, fans of the Netflix series Bloodline that tells the story of the corrupt and dysfunctional Rayburn family will recognise this new thriller about family secrets and animosities as "a blood relation", says Robin Jarossi on Crimetime Preview. The Williams brothers "do a fine job of playing with the what-would-you-do aspects of the story".
And just as their "emotionally shattering" The Missing played with the dark results of a family tragedy, One of Us "will take viewers out of their comfort zone", says Jarossi, who adds "it's one heck of a mystery".
Yes, this dark psychological thriller "challenges viewers to empathise with characters placed in an extreme high-stakes situation", says Neil Batey in the Daily Mirror. It begins with "a complex moral dilemma" of what to do about someone who has torn your life apart, but as the story unfolds, "lies are unearthed, secrets come tumbling out of the closet and a web of intrigue forms".
The "resulting plot twists", says Batey, "will keep us guessing until the last minute".
One of Us premieres on BBC One at 9pm tonight.
