It is no longer found on Netflix in the US.) Though there have been talks about additional seasons, Morrissey’s other projects have kept the series on hold. (Update: As of April, 2022, Thorne is on AcornTV. The Thorne TV series can found on both Netflix and Amazon. Criminal Minds, which is not everyone’s cup of tea, might be the closest comparison for American viewers. Thorne is bloodier and more overtly violent than many other foreign TV shows on Netflix. While it stands independent of the first series, there are a few references to earlier events, so it makes sense to watch the two seasons sequentially.īe warned, these are not your polite Midsomer murders. Perhaps, not as innovative as “Sleepyhead,” it still holds your attention for all three episodes. The second series, “Scaredy Cat,” is another killer tale with a twist. Thorne has to face up to some of his past actions in “Sleepyhead.” As details about a case earlier in his career potentially come to light, the loyalty of others on the force to him is tested.Ĭast of Thorne TV series in “Scaredy Cat” He isn’t always successful some of the victims die. In an unusual spin on the typical serial killer tale (minor spoiler coming), this “killer” tries to leave his victims alive, but in a “locked-in,” coma-like condition. “Sleepyhead” aired on British TV in 2010. He’s balanced by the sharp-tongued, quick-minded Hendricks, effectively played by Gillen with lots of movement and tousled hair, looking like a young Dustin Hoffman. Morrissey’s Thorne is weary, reserved and tense, critical and demanding of junior members on the force that don’t meet his standards. It’s a cliche, but it’s also what we expect in cop shows a way to work in twists and surprises that keep the plot moving. Thorne – who is both sharp and thorny – is a loner with little personal life, working by intuition and following leads that are contrary to the main line of investigation. In the first series, “Sleepyhead,” Natascha McElhone ( Californication) is a hospital doctor Sandra Oh ( Grey’s Anatomy) plays DS Sarah Chen in the second series, “Scaredy Cat.” There are plenty more familiar faces Aiden Gillen ( Love/Hateand Game of Thrones), plays medical examiner Phil Hendricks, and Eddie Marsan (Terry in Ray Donovan) is fellow cop Kevin Tughan. watchers may know from his role as the Governor on The Walking Dead. Though it treads familiar ground, Thorne, which is based on the books by Mark Billingham, has original storylines and a strong slate of characters that will keep you watching.ĭetective Inspector Tom Thorne is played by David Morrissey, who U.S. We watched both of the three-episode series recently and wondered how we had overlooked this fast-paced, slightly twisted take on the typical British detective-tracking-a-serial-killer show. The production has grit, yes, but for all its poking and prodding at what makes the title character and his quarry tick, “Thorne” never gets under your skin.The Thorne TV series has been around for awhile, flying under the Net TV Watch radar. While Morrissey certainly belongs in that prestigious company, these movies don’t. viewers are being treated to a luscious onslaught of British crimers (watch enough TV and one might conclude there are a lot of sick bastards driving on the wrong side of the road), usually built around compelling leads, like “Luther’s” Idris Elba or “Wallander’s” Kenneth Branagh. Oh, meanwhile, is relegated to a cliche in the second movie as a cop with a drug problem.īetween BBC America and “Masterpiece Mystery,” U.S. Six separate chapters running about 40-45 minutes each have been cobbled together into the two movies, made evident by the trio of distracting opening-title sequences appearing within each film.Īll of this plays like a conspicuous waste, especially with Eddie Marsan as Thorne’s snarling ex-partner, “Game of Thrones’?” Aiden Gillen as his surly pal the medical examiner and (in “Sleepyhead”) Natascha McElhone as a romantic interest. If the books were better able to delve into the killers’ psyches as well as the protagonist’s torment, something gets lost in translation. The “detective with issues” template, however, is pretty full these days, and neither story (adapted by writers Dodi Appleton and Jim Keeble) creates much of a whodunit regarding the actual cases, while relying on gauzy flashback imagery that’s become all too common. The second, “Scaredy Cat” (helmed by Benjamin Ross), deals with two murderers apparently working in tandem, bringing in Oh as a troubled police subordinate. Inspector Tom Thorne, the first plot, “Sleepyhead,” directed by Stephen Hopkins, focuses on a serial killer paralyzing his victims - leaving them alive but unable to communicate - which (inevitably) ties into a solved case from Thorne’s past. Based on Mark Billingham’s bestselling books about Det.
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