This slick ITV drama eschews the usual narrative cliches to deliver a rich and compelling mystery with a surveillance edge
There were two oddly refreshing things about ITV’s new drama series Viewpoint, which is stripped across this week (three if you count it being set and shot in Manchester, rather than London – or Belfast pretending to be London). The first is that the lone woman walking beside the canal in the opening shot is a) doing so in daylight and b) destined to survive the journey. You don’t realise how much you relish the sight of non-dead women by canals in TV drama until you see one. It feels ludicrously charming.
The second is that time moves in linear fashion. There are no flashbacks. The lone woman – single parent (effectively) Zoe, played by Alexandra Roach picks up her daughter from primary school, covertly fascinated by much yummier mummy Kate (Catherine Tyldesley) as she does so. Both mothers engage in happy chat with devoted teacher Gemma (Amy Wren), and only the viewer sees Gemma return to a possessive, borderline-coercive boyfriend, Greg (Fehinti Balogun), who begins to get worked up when she mentions that she refused another offer to go out for a drink with the school’s headteacher. Then up flashes the caption “36 hours later”. Gemma has disappeared – from the flat while he was out for a run, claims Greg – and a police investigation is afoot. Modern dramas like to put these things the other way round, usually as an artificial aid to suspense. Viewpoint has more confidence in itself, and rightly so. What unfolds is an intense, stylish, emotionally intelligent and psychologically plausible thriller that controls itself beautifully while still delivering the goods.
