The Missing BBC1

[roundandround51]

Anyone watching , so far quite tense especially the music

[roundandround51]

It was always going to be compared to the MM case even though the circumstances in the programme were very different

[EmilyGilmore]

I didn't once think of MM until I'd read the reviews tbh. She's not the only poor child to go missing and the circumstances were completely different.

[Bewooohooove]

No, I think it draws upon that experience. Obviously there is no way a frame will follow the real story, that would be awful, but As Nancy said upthread
Clear they'd drawn heavily on the MM case. The stuffed toy, the good looking middle class couple, happened on holiday, locals initially support and then turn against them...seem to hint that the dad became a suspect
And the physical similarity of the mothers.

[EmilyGilmore]

How are the mothers similar? One is blonde, one brunette. Is it because they are both slim? That seems a bit tenuous.

[Listmaker]

I am watching. Thought James Nesbitt was good but the mother wasn't convincing. She was so calm. I would be such a mess I can't even imagine it. I just imagined my parents then turning up I would be collapsing and sobbing etc not just introducing them to the receptionist!

I wonder how it's going to play out over 8 episodes too but I'll have to watch now!

Although I also thought - how convenient that the charity shop kept such meticulous records...mmm

[Ellenora5]

I thought it was brilliant, very well done, the only thing that annoyed me was the Mum ending up with the liason officer who happened to have a son the exact same age as her son, I think she will just have latched on to him for a replacement for her own boy, I could be wrong though

Looking forward to seeing it next week

[Bowlersarm]

Have to say we thought the mum was modelled on mm case.

Another 7 episodes sounds very gruelling.

[Bewooohooove]

Well, it's just a TV programme Emily, don't get your knickers in a twist

[Ir1na]

I found this hard to watch too...because Iplayer kept going wrong!! No seriously, it looks very good so far. I'm surprised so many people hate it.

[Ilovefluffysheep]

I do wonder how much of this will be similar to the MM case? I guess its difficult not to mirror some of it, but I suspect that during the 8 episodes we will go though parents, or certainly the Father, being a suspect. There was obviously something major that had happened, when the retired investigating officer said he was there as a friend and James Nesbitt said "you're not my friend" or similar.

The ending was good, but I couldn't help thinking (as a police officer myself) that you wouldn't let him touch anything down in the basement, especially the wall when he touched the picture, due to forensics.

I did think there was a little bit too much too-ing and frowing between past and present. Overall I did enjoy it and will wait to see how it pans out.

All I could think of every time I saw the Mother in the present day was her being Rose in Mr Selfridge! Think it was the hair, as there was a few episodes in Mr Selfridge when you saw her with her hair down when she was in her night clothes.

[VeraGrant]

Wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, acting and writing wise.

Was very odd how calm the mother was...she surely would have been hysterical that first night. And yes, when her parents turned up they were all weirdly restrained, with the father saying something like 'oh darling I'm so sorry'....just didn't ring true in the slightest.

But the echoes of MM were very strong, esp when Tony returned to France and was seen as an irritant who was dredging up things everyone just wanted to forget and move on from. Not much sympathy for a desperate parent!

[LillianGish]

Thank you fluffysheep - I was trying to lace the actress who played the mum!

[Davros]

Am I the only one who thinks that the patents look TOO old? And the copper/boyfriend us a bit wrinkly

[Floundering]

Me too Lillian thanks Fluffysheep !!

I actually think the mum is very realistic, completely numb & shut down with shock after an initial hysterical reaction.

[MarthasHarbour]

I watched it all in the end, i had to stop thinking along the lines of my own 5yo DS and telling myself 'it is just a programme'.

True it was gripping, i thought JN's reaction to the picture at the end was fantastic and brilliantly acted. I do actually think however that the parents are too close to Mr and Mrs M (middle class blonde mum, celtic dad) i think they could have cast the leading characters a little further away from the similarities.

I dont think any of us can gauge how the parents 'should' have reacted (where have we heard this before then )

Erhem - and Davros - being a 41yo DM of a 5yo and 6mo i do not think that the parents were cast as too 'old'. Cheeky monkey

I think i will persevere with it - i only say 'persevere' as i find the subject matter so uncomfortable. But then i would as i have never had to experience the horror

[Davros]

Sorry I had a baby at 43 so I'm not against older parents, just think they are not typical age for parents of one 5 year old child

[Ir1na]

He was meant to be 5 in 2006 so would now be about 13, and they've got an older son, so not too ridiculous. And they probably had to make them look a bit older so it's obvious which parts are flashbacks.

[Bowlersarm]

They have an older son?

[Ir1na]

Bowlersarm I think so, unless the other one was a stepchild from later on or something.

[Listmaker]

Yes maybe I'm just judging it from how I think I would react and everyone is different. I think I would hold it together in some way til I saw my Mum when I would just collapse!

[Ilovefluffysheep]

Who is the older son? The other child in it is the police liason officers son, who the Mum ended up with. Don't recall any other child?

[BiancaDelRio]

I thought it was shite.

Predictable, exploitative, not very well written shite.

Why on EARTH would the woman have written down every single transaction that had happened in the history of her business? The shop should have been called Deus Ex Machina

[OttiliaVonBCup]

Her dad said something to Tony about something they did and maybe someone's holding a grudge.
Interesting.

[OttiliaVonBCup]

Only one child - liaison officers - young and then grown up.

[EmilyGilmore]

I thought it was a bit heavy-handed in parts. The conversation between Tony and his FIL for example "maybe someone holds a grudge...because of What.We.Did...." surprised they didn't play spooky music at that point.