Baghdad Central (Channel 4)

cdgalwegian

I've watched the first two episodes of this; it's really worth checking out. The first episode has a lot thrown in to set up the story, so can be a bit confusing, but it becomes a lot clearer in the second. The first episode's content has a lot to commend though; an intriguing story, with a very good protagonist, it's very well acted and directed, and - towards the end- with one of the most powerful scenes in a series I've seen in a long time.

Guardian review:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/03/baghdad-central-review-more-than-just-a-middle-east-morse

cdgalwegian

First four watched. If this wasn't dual lingual and set in Iraq, this would be getting a lot more attention. It charts the progress of a post-occupation liberation Iraqi detective who goes searching for his rebellious daughter, where, as per usual in these circumstances, nothing is ever what it seems, and it's hard to know who to trust, whether Iraqi, American or British.
It was written by Stephen Butchard, who also wrote 'The Last Kingdom' and 'House of Saddam', and is based on a novel, by Elliott Colla. The protagonist is a complex and wily character, well able for those who get in his way, but necessarily restrained because of circumstances. It's shaping up to be fertile soil for further series.

cdgalwegian

Nicely rounded ending to a very good series. Sets it up nicely for further series, which I really hope happens. It manages to take a thin slice of a very complicated part of history, and deal with it in a very balanced and sensitive way. There's nothing fiendishly clever or convoluted going on here- it's about a man in a desperate situation doing the best he can.

Full_Circle_81

Surprised there hasn't been more chatter about this on here. Finished this the other day. I was expecting the story to be overly complicated, but ended up being refreshingly straightforward. Not amazing, but any stretch, but solid all the same. Great cast and the theme tune is a real ear worm!

cdgalwegian

Full_Circle_81 wrote: »

the theme tune is a real ear worm!

Yeah, really grows on you. It's slightly incongruous; reminiscent of older British noir gumshoe series- but it's obviously intentional, to give notice that despite the backdrop, it's at heart simply an inspector who's good at his job. Hopefully, the first series is an 'origin story' for "Inspector al-Khafaji, super-sleuth":
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-02-17/baghdad-central-series-2/