River, BBC One: five reasons why we loved Abi Morgan’s brilliant series

Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker shone in this compelling and unconventional drama
Compelling: Stellan Skarsgard excelled in the lead role of BBC drama River
BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs
Ben Travis17 November 2015

After six episodes, BBC One police drama River is about to draw to a close - and it will be sorely missed.

Starring Stellan Skarsgård as Detective John River and Nicola Walker as his partner Stevie, the detective drama stood out in an overcrowded genre with its compelling scripts and unusual elements courtesy of writer Abi Morgan.

Here’s why we’ll be sad when it’s all over.

1) It was more than just a cop drama

Police dramas are ten-a-penny, especially in the UK – but with its focus on the central character’s declining mental state (and not in the usual ‘troubled but brilliant policeman' kind of way), River immediately established itself as something different.

Morgan’s lively dialogue made you care about the characters first and foremost – and then when it turned out that the central mystery would revolve around someone that you already cared about, it made things all the more gripping.

2) The show made you really like Stevie

Nicola Walker as Stevie in River
BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs

Nicola Walker put in a luminous performance as Stevie, her sparkling back-and-forth with River making for the most enjoyable police duo since the first season of True Detective.

All of which made it much more wrenching when it was revealed early on that Stevie had died, and that all of their conversations were in River’s head.

Of course, her character is so likeable because she’s filtered through River’s cherished memories of her, but it makes you understand why he liked her so much and why he doesn’t want to let her go.

3) The DLR was all over it

South Quay DLR station, as seen in River
BBC

The Tube gets a lot of love in London-centric series, but the humble, magical trundle-train sky-track known as the DLR got its due in River. It was a novelty to see the capital’s most underrated mode of transport pop up time and time again in the show.

4) It wasn’t afraid to get a bit weird sometimes

The whole ‘more than just a cop drama’ vibe didn’t just come up when the camera showed us the blown-out back of Stevie’s head a few minutes into episode one – the moment things got truly weird for the first time was in the arrival of Eddie Marsan as historic murderer Thomas Cream, aka the Lambeth Poisoner.

Eddie Marsan as the Lambeth Poisoner in RIver
BBC

His creepy appearances, prodding at River's crumbling sanity, added an edge of surreality that helped to move the show even further away from being yet another bog-standard whodunit. Another welcome off-kilter touch was the upbeat pop and disco soundtrack that pervaded the series.

5) Stellan Skarsgård’s heartbreaking performance

If you’re making a show that leads so heavily on its central character, you need someone up to the task – and Stellan Skarsgård absolutely nailed it in River. You felt his joy every time he thought of Stevie, his grief at her loss, his anxiety over his visions – and yet it was never overplayed. Even when you knew he wasn’t in a good way, you rooted for him to find out the truth.

BBC One, 9pm

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