An eight-part murder miniseries written by Bill Gallagher, Paranoid sees British detectives look to get to the bottom of the killing of a local GP in front of several witnesses in a children’s playground.
Set in a sleepy Cheshire town, workaholic detective Nina Suresh (Indira Varma), approaching 40, is concerned about her biological clock. Splitting up with her partner of four years does not help. With the violent killing of Angela Benton, Suresh’s focus needs to shift. Relative newcomer, the Shakespeare-quoting university graduate Alec Wayfield (Dino Fetscher), the butt of her caustic wit, provides unexpected support. The third member of the team, veteran cop Bobby Day (Robert Glenister), has his own problems with panic attacks and a developing addiction to his medication. But there’s an attraction between him and the chief witness to the murder, Lucy Cannonbury (Lesley Sharpe).
The personal dramas interweave within a crime story that goes beyond the experience of the small-town police force, with Bobby finding himself in Germany working alongside Dusseldorf police investigating the pharmaceutical giant, Rustin Wade. Nick Waingrow (Danny Huston), Director of External Affairs, is suitably unhelpful. Back in Cheshire, Suresh and Wayfield are being led by ‘the ghost detective’ who keeps providing information and clues to the murder without revealing an identity.
Paranoid is an engaging narrative of corruption and corporate malfeseance marred somewhat by the personal melodramas. Suresh’s personal obsession creates a stereotypical trope – strong, independent woman at work who compromises at every turn within personal relationships. Day’s addiction gets too much. Even Wayfield and his relationship with a domineering mother (Polly Walker) wears thin. It’s Lesley Sharpe and the calming, thoughtful Quaker-with-a-past who centres a series that likely would have been better served in half the running time.
Rating: 53%
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