Paradox (BBC Crime, Tamzin Outhwaite, Lorcan Cranitch)

In scifi tinged cop show Paradox, Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint (Tamzin Outhwaite) is called in by renowned astrophysicist Dr Christian King (Emun Elliott) who is receiving strange images from space that seem to point to future crimes and accidents that have not yet happened. Rebecca and her team face a literal race against time to try and stop the events playing out in the way the pictures suggest they will. From a train explosion to murder to robbery. As events progress though Rebecca becomes convinced that she is in some way at the centre of the events being played out – maybe even causing them to happen that way.

What started out as something of an ordinary cop themed show with a bit of scifi tacked on, grew into a pretty good series. The dialogue was sometimes a let down, over obvious and somewhat cliche ridden, “this isn’t about the case, this is about your ego” but there was enough here to maintain the interest. Tamzin Outhwaite’s character never seemed quite a strong enough personality, wanted to be like Jane Tennison but never quite pulled it off. With some toning down of language and situations this would have been great in a family slot.

Cast: TAMZIN OUTHWAITE as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint; EMUN ELLIOTT as Christian King; MARK BONNAR as Detective Sergeant Ben Holt; CHIKE OKONKWO as Detective Constable Callum Gada; POOKY QUESNEL as Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Bower; LORCAN CRANITCH as Simon Manning

Writer: Lizzie Mickery / Producer: Marcus Wilson / Executive Producer: Murray Ferguson, Patrick Spence / Directors: Simon Cellan Jones, Omah Madha

UK / BBC One – Clerkenwell Films / 5×50 minute episodes / Tuesday 24 November – Tuesday 22 December 2009 (shown at 9.00pm)