INJUSTICE ON ARTE

Tomorrow night Franco-German channel Arte starts Injustice, the 2011 five-part serial from acclaimed screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz (Crime Traveller, Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, the Alex Rider books). It stars James Purefoy (Rome), currently in US network Fox's new drama The Following.

Regrettably it is not even close to the shadow of Horowitz's drama masterpiece Collision (2009). But actor Charlie Creed-Miles is very impressive as the cynical copper and the title sequence has the distinctive and classy style of Momoco (Luther). Injustice is to be remade stateside by Dick Wolf. He shouldn't rush...

We reviewed Injustice when ITV (then ITV1) aired it in 2011:

http://tattard2.blogspot.fr/2011/06/injustice-itv1.html (Episode 1)
http://tattard2.blogspot.fr/2011/06/injustice-episodes-two-three-itv1.html (Episodes 2 and 3)
http://tattard2.blogspot.fr/2011/06/philanthropist.html (Episodes 4 and 5)

http://www.arte.tv/fr/injustice-une-miniserie-en-cinq-episodes/7259608,CmC=7259650.html (In French)

THE PHILANTHROPIST

Injustice - Episodes Four and Five (ITV1). In which DI Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles) gets his hour of glory before falling down and Will Travers (James Purefoy) discovers he'll not receive a superinjuction because the case of his old university friend Martin Newall (Nathaniel Parker) is not State of Play.

« You can't handle the truth! » (Colonel Jessep, A Few Good Men)

ITV1 aired on Friday the last episode of Injustice, Anthony Horowitz's five-part event drama following the critical and rating success of his previous "stripped" serial Collision two years ago. Monday's premiere did the job, fulfilling its bait function for the rest, but the second episode already lost steam and the following surprisingly burnt one of the key plots. The penultimate chapter made Injustice work better as a classic crime drama than an ambitious jigsaw thriller, carried by the formidable presence of Charlie Creed-Miles as investigative officer DI Mark Wenborn. Especially in a BAFTA worthy scene where Wenborn lost his marbles while interrogating the young offender (and aspiring writer).

Maybe our expectations were exaggeratedly high because of the sublime Collision and the week was definitely uneven but at least watchable, until the finale. James Purefoy was excellent in full David Morrissey mode as the eminent citizen with a skeleton behind the suits in his cupboard. Charlie Creed-Miles delivered a stellar performance as DI Bastard, saving us from the total boredom inspired by poor Dervla Kirwan's character (to the point we prayed she signed a deal with Cybermen). Even Obi Abili as DS Taylor, Wenborn's sidekick, began to attract some attention. Then the last episode fell down the stairs as quickly as the hateful wife beater.

« You always believe the best in people. You are too easily taken in. Not, I would have to say, the best quality in a criminal barrister. » Being spared rather conveniently another chat with Wenborn, Will raised an eyebrow alongside viewers on a terrible line mentioning a Swiss watch brand and saved his old university pal from troubles. Before having his Dave Kujan moment (1) when he figured out Martin was not entangled in a conspiracy but just another mistake (his mute imaginary friend approved). Travers should have a therapy and retire, or find a job in an NGO.

The next time William Travers has a relapse of his very personal conception of  idealism, don't make another five-part "stripped" drama out of it. But thanks for Charlie Creed-Miles.

(1) Chazz Palminteri in The Usual Suspects (1995).

Episodes Two and Three: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-episodes-two-three-itv1.html
Episode One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-itv1.html

http://www.itv.com/injustice/

http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2011/06/itv-injustice.html
http://lifeofwylie.com/2011/06/06/injustice-this-is-not-just-a-tv-thriller/

INJUSTICE - EPISODES TWO & THREE (ITV1)

It certainly takes ITV a lot of confidence, the name of acclaimed screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and the magic memory of his Collision, to air since monday the five parts of Injustice on a whole week. Particularly with Episode Three preceded by the irritating You've Been Framed! and facing The Apprentice.

Will Travers (James Purefoy), a once successful defence barrister, recovers from a nervous breakdown far from London. Yet he takes the case of Martin Newall (Nathaniel Parker), an old university friend accused of murdering his secretary. No matter his wife Jane (Dervla Kirwan), now an English teacher in an institution for young offenders, had to give up a commissioning editor job to follow him. Meanwhile, the police finds the body of an itinerant worker shot in the head. Misanthropist DI Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles) is assigned the case with his new colleague DS Nick Taylor (Obi Abili). He finds out the man was an animal activist and a client of Travers, whom he's not precisely a fan.

With a troubled marriage and a career under scrutiny of his hierarchy, Wenborn can and must focus on the investigation and on the lawyer. But Will's attention is all on his new case: his friend Martin, an oil trader, was having an affair with his secretary in an hotel room where she was found dead and his computer went missing. And some persons are worrying about its content and what Newall's barrister could possibly discover. Another source of problems for Will is his old adversary Jeremy Forbes-Watson (Nick Dunning), who wants to settle the score with him.

Already three episodes aired, thanks to "stripped" programming, and Injustice is definitely deprived of the originality and sensitivity of Collision, with which it shares some structural elements. The premiere cleverly gave enough to lure to the next one but Episode Two, centered on the murder of Martin's secretary, already lost steam. Episode Three surprisingly cremated one of the key plots of the serial, revealing what lead Will Travers to his personal issues. Even if Will's idealism is hard to swallow at least he's more interesting than his wife. Maybe if we could discover she has a pact with Cybermen. Other options than the book subplot will be happily considered.

As anticipated the premiere of Injustice hurt the excellent Case Histories on Monday with an average of 5.32m viewers (vs 4.46m for BBC One's new drama). But Horowitz's new serial lost 1.04m on Tuesday. However we're still curious to see what Anthony Horowitz has in store, and Charlie Creed-Miles as "DI Bastard" is fantastic. Wonder what the character could do in the Apprentice boardroom if Lord Sugar took a day off.

Episode One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-itv1.html

http://www.itv.com/injustice/
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a323582/injustice-beats-case-histories-in-monday-ratings.html
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a323787/angry-boys-debuts-with-nearly-600k.html

INJUSTICE (ITV1)

Injustice - Episode One. William Travers, a successful criminal barrister, tries to recover from personal issues far from London after something went very wrong in his job. Reluctantly, he is drawn into a case that involves an old friend.

Injustice, the new five-part serial from acclaimed screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz (Crime Traveller, Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, the Alex Rider books) started yesterday night on ITV1. It is aired on five consecutive nights like what ITV did two years ago for Horowitz's previous stripped drama, the superb Collision - with a deserved critical and rating success.

James Purefoy (Rome) stars as Will Travers, a triumphant defence lawyer with an eye for the detail which makes the difference. Until his life goes off tracks, making him leaving London with his family. But a friend accused of murdering his secretary needs his talents and Will feels he has a debt towards the man, no matter his wife Jane (Dervla Kirwan) left a good job to follow him. Meanwhile, the police finds an itinerant worker shot in the head and the investigative DI, Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles), is not precisely a fan of Travers.

If it ain't broke... Injustice borrows the ingredients of Collision on a more intimate basis (i.e. a smaller cast), mixing present with flashbacks in a complex narrative structure. Anthony Horowitz builds patiently his new jigsaw thriller with fragments of lives and the picture will not resemble to the photo on the box. Episode 1 fulfils its function by giving enough to raise up interest for more (an exploding car, someone with a gun) but Injustice appears for now deprived of the originality and sensitivity of its 2009 predecessor.

Purefoy is perfect in full David Morrissey mode as an established figure with a troubled side. Dervla Kirwan looks like she's still in The Silence, the wonderful 2010 four-part BBC stripped drama, but nothing or nobody is what it or (s)he seems with Horowitz so who knows. And the absolute scene stealer of this premiere is the very impressive Charlie Creed-Miles as the cynical copper.

Injustice is directed by Colm McCarthy and produced by Injustice Films Limited. Anthony Horowitz exec produces. Jill Green and Eve Guttierez are the producers. The music is by Magnus Fiennes, Ruairi O'Brien is director of photography and the title sequence has the distinctive and classy style of Momoco (Silk, Zen, Luther).

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/episodes/1105-injustice-episode-1-review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jun/06/injustice-embarrassing-fat-bodies-review
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/last-nights-tv--injustice-itv1-americas-secret-killers-dispatches-channel-4-2293830.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8560173/Injustice-ITV1-review.html

LAW AND ORDER AND LAW AND ORDER AND...

[20.00 - French Time] ITV today announced three new drama commissions for 2011: Injustice, Scott and Bailey and The Jury.

- Injustice stars James Purefoy (The Philanthropist, Diamonds) as a criminal barrister who is recovering from a traumatic series of events that have shaken his belief in the legal system. This five-part series is screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz’s new project for ITV1 following the huge critical and rating success of the superb event drama Collision. Injustice will be produced by Injustice Films Limited.

Given the talent of Horowitz, the man behind Foyle's War, Crime Traveller or the Alex Rider novels, the project is a most welcome announcement. Not to mention the fact that Collision was one of the best things aired by ITV last year.

- Scott and Bailey (6 X 60-minute) will star Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp in the title roles of two homicide detectives from Greater Manchester Police’s Major Incident Team. The series is written by Sally Wainwright (Unforgiven), who has co-created it with ex-Detective Inspector Diane Taylor.

Scott and Bailey is produced by Red Production Company. Let's hope that this is not another Murder in Suburbia.

- Written by BAFTA winner and Oscar nominated Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), The Jury focuses on the everyday people who find themselves at the centre of one of the most controversial criminal re-trials of their time. Morgan created the original namesake five-part miniseries produced by ITV Studios in 2002.

The Jury (5 X 60-minute) will be produced once again by ITV Studios and it sounds like an answer from ITV to Criminal Justice, Peter Moffat's creation for the BBC (even if the first Criminal Justice is from 2008).

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/pressreleases/programmepressreleases/itvannouncesthreenewdramacommissionsfor2011/default.html
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/people/interviews/anthony-horowitz-outspoken-star-of-tv-drama/5017441.article