Crime Time Preview: Top of the Lake starring Elisabeth Moss

Thursday, 7 February 2013

Top of the Lake starring Elisabeth Moss – on BBC2 this summer

Mystery surrounds 12-year-old Tui. Pics: BBC

Few new dramas will be more keenly awaited this years than this new mystery starring Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss as a detective affected personally by the disappearance of a pregnant pre-teen girl in a remote southern New Zealand community.

Elisabeth Moss as Robin

Directing it will be Oscar-winning Jane Campion (The Piano) and rising Aussie director Garth Davis. Also in the cast are Holly Hunter (best actress Oscar-winner, also for The Piano), Peter Mullan (War Horse, The Fear), David Wenham (The Lord of the Rings) and Lucy Lawless (Xena, Spartacus).

This haunting story focuses on the remote mountains of New Zealand, where 12-year-old Tui is seen standing in a freezing lake. It is discovered that she is pregnant but won't reveal who the father is.

For Elisabeth Moss's detective, Robin Griffin, the case has echoes of her own past. What begins as a statutory rape investigation then turns into possible kidnapping or murder when Tui vanishes.

Word is that this multi-stranded six-part drama is heavily atmospheric, bringing to mind past classics such as Twin Peaks or The Killing in its distinctive feel.

At present, Top of the Lake is pencilled in for broadcast this summer.

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2 comments :

Mike Green8 February 2013 10:40
This sounds pretty good, looking forward to it being on the screen. Can you mention it closer to the broadcast time as I am sure I'll forget about it before it is on otherwise! :)
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billy17 May 2013 23:37
This show stayed with me for weeks. Nothing like it on TV before. Similar in scope to the Red Riding trilogy, which I also thought was brilliant. Startling and brutal while also being compassionate and thoughtful (if also bizarre), this one won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I thought it was heads and shoulders above the typical "crime" show. Poirot it ain't.
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Coming in 2013…

From period gangster stories, to serial killers, issue-driven dramas and the return of a few old favourites, 2013 has a rich selection of some terrific new crime series. Great writing from the likes of Jimmy McGovern, and compelling acting from Gillian Anderson, Gabriel Byrne, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant and many others are coming our way in new dramas (Peaky Blinders, The Fall), adaptations (Quirke, Doors Open) and returning heroes – and anti-heroes (Sherlock, Luther). Watch out… Pics: BBC, ITV

For the full report, click here

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Anticipation factor: ★★★★★

Quirke

Gabriel Byrne

This will be one of the most eagerly anticipated new crime dramas of the year. Based on the novels of Benjamin Black – aka award-winning Irish writer John Banville – and scripted by Andrew Davies and Conor McPherson, these three feature-length stories starring Gabriel Byrne are about the chief pathologist in the Dublin morgue during the 1950s. Smoky streets, damp allies, sexual tension, secrets and intrigue should make these dramas rich viewing. Each episode will see Quirke investigate the death of one of the unfortunate souls who end up on his mortuary slab. BBC1 2013

Anticipation factor: ★★★★★

Sherlock 3

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman

Come on, with that cliffhanger we all want to see how writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss get out of Sherlock's death-plunge at the end of series two. Online forums have been a-buzz with theories and analysis of Sherlock's apparent death, but of course security around the next series is tighter than a gnat's buttocks. Not content with tormenting fans with the cliffhanger, the dastardly writers recently suggested that the next three feature-length stories will revolve around the words rat, wedding and bow. Elementary? Hardly. But if the writing and chemistry between Holmes and Watson fizzes as it did in the previous two series, it should be terrific TV again. BBC1 2013

Anticipation factor: ★★★★★

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Anticipation factor: ★★★★½

Luther 3

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Anticipation factor: ★★★★½

Common

No casting announced yet

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Anticipation factor: ★★★★½

The Honourable Woman

No casting announced yet

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Anticipation factor: ★★★★

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Anticipation factor: ★★★

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