MONDAY 27 MARCH
Drama
The Commander
9:00pm - 10:30pm
ITV1 London
VIDEO Plus+: 6553
Subtitled
Episode written by Lynda La Plante
Blacklight
Lynda La Plante is a master at writing about the dark underbelly of human behaviour, so she never fails to come up with unpleasant crimes for Amanda Burton to investigate. This time she twists the knife by making it personal. The body of a teenage girl is found in the arms of a psychiatric patient who believes he's a fruit bat (a challenging role for actor Nickolas Grace). The girl is Commander Blake's godchild. So despite her boss's concern at her hands-on approach to cracking crime, she's compelled to get involved. If you've seen the series before, you'll know that Blake frequently has an inappropriate approach to relationships, too. This time it's Eric Van Hauten (Yorick Van Wageningen), a shambolic Dutch policeman who is Amsterdam's answer to Columbo. Intense, gripping, yet at times tinged with black comedy, the story concludes next Monday.
RT reviewer: Jane Rackham
Commander Blake - Amanda Burton
DCI Mike Hedges - Matthew Marsh
Van Hauten - Yorick Van Wageningen
DS Brian Hall - Paul Brightwell
DC Pamela Hayes - Monica Dolan
Reginald Aitken - Nickolas Grace
Deputy Commissioner - Anthony Valentine
Gina - Gillian Goodman
Helen Dirkwood - Pippa Haywood
Carl Dirkwood - Brendan Coyle
Barry Simkins - Sid Mitchell
John Carr - Ian Gelder
Dr Miller - David Sibley
Jeff - Dave Nicholls
Sheila - Lynne Wilmot
Tony Leighton - Simon Delaney
Mr Leighton - Ray Macallam
Dr Flaxen - Philip Fox
Charlotte North - Louise Callaghan
Sadie Carr - Amy Pemberton
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