Viewpoint: What the Must Watch reviewers think
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on Viewpoint on ITV. When a primary school teacher goes missing, a detective (Noel Clarke) sets up an observation post in the home of a single mother (Alexandra Roach) in order to surveil the prime suspect.
ITV
Scott says: “A different pace to other dramas”
“Absolutely this is a must watch, I was completely and utterly captivated by this. It’s a perfectly plotted thriller and has a completely different pace to a lot of other dramas out there at the moment.
“It has a voyeuristic feel too. You only really see two or three locations in the entire piece, resulting in a feeling of claustrophobia.
"This was ITV’s first drama that went into production at the end of the first lockdown last summer. It then continued filming during the second lockdown. I don’t know if it was by sheer coincidence or whether this was their intention, but the streets are all eerily quiet throughout, merely adding to the show's tension and suspense.”
ITV
Hayley says: “A solid thriller”
"I agree with Scott. I think it’s a solid thriller and I don’t know where it’s going, which is unusual and nice. We’ve seen a lot of ITV thrillers recently that I haven’t particularly liked, and the success of this one is probably down to having a good collection of people in the making of it. It’s created by Harry Bradbeer who was the director on Fleabag, and Ed Whitmore who has been a writer on things like Silent Witness.
"It’s interesting to see parts of Manchester that we don’t ordinarily see. That was the director’s goal, to use settings that we don’t normally see on screen. It’s great to see thrillers that aren’t set in London because there are times when we have watched things — and I know I’m not alone in this because Scott does it too - where we get completely distracted by geographical locations that don’t make sense or buses that go the wrong way. We were beside ourselves over a certain episode of Luther. Anyway, this being set in only two or three locations means that you are completely focused on all the characters and this slow moving story. I like it."
ITV
Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds and all other good podcast providers.
This week, the team also review Starstruck on BBC Three and Mare of Easttown on Sky Atlantic.
