Review by C.J. Bunce

Originally titled Cleddau, the Welsh series The One That Got Away is now streaming on Acorn TV.  Created by Torchwood, Doctor Who, and Law & Order: UK writer Catherine Tregenna, by all accounts the series appears to be the next detective mystery for TV viewers to get immersed in.  When it appears a serial killer of nurses may be back in the Welsh town of Pembroke Dock, one of the detectives on the original case is called back to town to rejoin her partner to try to see if they arrested the right guy the first time around.  Or is the murder a copycat killing?  That sounds like the basis for an intriguing police procedural, right?

Unfortunately the focus isn’t really on the crime, as the two detectives were once engaged to be married, and they may be on their way to getting back together again.  Is “The One That Got Away” of the title a killer that got away scot free, or a clue that this is a bad romance drama?  This six-part series is more of the latter.

Elen Rhys (The Mallorca Files) plays Detective Inspector Ffion Floyd, the detective brought back to lead the murder investigation, despite the fact that her former partner stayed in town on the police force and arguably should be heading up the investigation.  Richard Harrington, who was so compelling as a distressed cop in Hinterland, plays Detective Sergeant Rick Sheldon, who by all accounts at first seems to be a well-adjusted man, married with two kids.  But it turns out that back in the day Rick cheated on fiance Ffion with his current wife, Helen, played by Hinterland’s Rhian Blythe.  With Ffion back in town, working late nights on a public case with Rick, suddenly this bad love triangle is back at it again.

None of those personal details would matter if The One That Got Away was a traditional British mystery series.  But this series lacks the fun of the investigation hunt for the viewer, the investigators aren’t good at their jobs, and it’s impossible to support any of the lead characters.  They are simply difficult to like.  Rick is a Cheat with a capital C.  Over and over again his actions reflect that he is not a good guy.  Ffion is the jilted lover who didn’t learn from her past and is ready and willing to get dumped and jilted again.  And Helen knows what happened the first time and knows it’s going to happen again, this time to her.  Ultimately the entire six episodes are about these personal relationships.

A small cast makes a twisty mystery impossible–with a small cast all indications point that everyone is involved.  That’s Ffion’s mother and father and their caregiver.  That’s Ffion’s sister and her former boss.  That’s Rick and his best friend who testified in the original trial.  That’s the original man imprisoned for the murders and his now terminally ill wife.  Except for Ffion and Rick’s boss (Ioan Hefin as DCI Alan Vaughan), the viewer isn’t given enough characters to try to figure out whodunnit outside of everyone already related to each other.  Coincidences at every corner makes for bad storytelling.

Somehow the series is not bad enough to discard after a few episodes.  Rhys and Harrington are solid actors, just stuck with a thin script and even thinner characters.  But they don’t have chemistry.  The building blocks were there for a police procedural, but a bad love story got in the way somewhere.  The show looks right.  Viewers will want to know more about this town.  An episode where Rick’s daughter is the target of a school shooter is tense and well constructed.  But ultimately the secrets behind the murders are too convenient and improbable.  It all comes down to the script.  The production values are top tier and the setting a good place for a mystery.  And the quality cast all seems to be in place… for a better script.

Is this a mystery or a plain vanilla drama about cheating spouses?  Unfortunately it’s too much of the latter.  If that kind of drama is your thing, check it out.  Otherwise, track down one of the many other options available.

Catch up with our reviews of quality British TV series, beginning with our Top 10: Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, Zen, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Mr. Selfridge, Guilt, The IPCRESS File, The Hour, The Gentlemen, Black Doves, and Shetland.  You could stay pretty busy with our full list of top British TV recommendations, including Van Der Valk, the first season of Sherlock, Death Valley, Dept. Q, Bodkin, The Bletchley Circle, Grace, Hinterland, Glitch, Mystery Road, Culprits, The Day of the Jackal, Code of Silence, Professor T, and Supacell, and after you’ve seen all of those give your attention to Marchlands, Lightfields, State of Play, I, Jack Wright, Protection, After the Flood, Traces, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Ordeal by Innocence, Unforgotten, The Bay, Wild Bill, Quirke, Requiem, The Gloaming, The One, The Tower, Collateral, Roadkill, Stay Close, The Salisbury Poisonings, and A Confession.  

Other British series across genres that are worth checking out (a few still to be reviewed here) include police procedurals Luther and Case Histories, fun romps like Monarch of the Glen, Para Handy, Cranford, Viva Blackpool, and As Time Goes By, and “cozy mysteries” Rosemary and Thyme, Father Brown, Hetty Wainthropp, and Death in Paradise.  One of the best of all British productions is the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small, which is in our British Top 10 (and the original is good, too).  Of course there’s always Doctor Who for your sci-fi fix (and spin-offs Torchwood and Class), The Watch for your fantasy fix, Truth Seekers and Sea of Souls for your supernatural fix, and Spaced for more sci-fi fun, and we really should add House, MD, for Brit lead Hugh Laurie’s one-of-a-kind performance.  (We’ve also reviewed but don’t heartily recommend so much (The One That Got Away goes here), Dublin Murders, The ABC Murders, The Pale Horse, The Silence, The Five, The Missing, Thirteen, or Broadchurch, as well as No Offence, which could have merited a review for its first season but, like Sherlock, its later seasons were a disappointment).

For fans of stories of cheating spouses and dramas without a twist,  catch all six episodes of The One That Got Away, now streaming on Acorn TV.