National Treasure

[susiella]

Started last night C4 9pm.
I thought it was good.
Excellent performances from Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters & Tim McInnerny.

The friend implied he lied in court as it was better for everyone that way. I think that's when the wife knew for sure he was guilty.

But why did the babysitter say it all happened in the car when the wife was away with the car?

I also thought the partner was the guilty one, especially when he had a puff of an inhaler not long after one of the victims had described the breathing.

One thing that annoyed me, why is every review I read calling JW character 'Marie?' She was called Mairi wasn't she???

I wasn't sure what to make of it either
It was so oddly filmed
I quite liked the contrast of the party but him knowing she'd left , a bit like the ending of OJ simpson crime story when they had the party after the verdict but no one wanted to come
Didn't get the daughter this g
And that poor girl in the caravan :-(
the reasons for the partner lying in court were appalling, believing they were synonymous so he'd be guilty by association

Did Marie sleep with comedy partner just to try to convince him to tell the truth? And what about RC's tears in the courtroom - just for the jury's benefit?

Dee saying that Jerome the solicitor had asked her out - ugh. Very inappropriate. Every man in the show turned out to be a sleazy self-interested creep.

Whole thing was a bit grim. Yeah, asking out a mentally fragile woman who'd just sat through hours of her dad's extensive sex life being dissected in court -she'll really be in the mood!

Also the flashback with the partner waiting outside the trailer and actually listening to the girl being raped was just horrific, what a fucking disgusting prick.

Run Marie run!

I guessed they were tears of shame.

I found the whole series uncomfortable viewing think I was constantly worried about seeing things I didn't really want to see so slightly relieved it didn't get too graphic but it still was very disturbing. I think the end was very good was worried they'd leave it open but I think I would have liked some exchange between jw and rc before she left. His relationship with the daughter was very strange and very intense I am unsure whether he actually sexually abused her but definitely emotionally abused her. She has a kind of Stockholm syndrome relationship with him. I think her reasons for despising her mother in the flashback bits is similar to her explanation to his comedy partner for why she hated him. She was jealous of the relationship her mum had with her dad which is very messed up. I felt so sorry for the victim who came forward after her friend died she looked traumatised. It is one of the reasons many rape/ sexuallh assault cases get dropped because the victim is torn apart in court. Robbie Coltrane was outstanding there definitely should be more of him on tv

I thought it was brilliant, chilling, but brilliant. Robbie Coltrane deserves some sort of award imo, he was very convincing. It was a great role for jw too. Julie, Marie can be pronounced mari, well in ireland anyway

I thought it was a refreshing change to not have all the loose ends tied up neatly at the end - to leave people wondering. The characters were all intriguing- certainly not black and white. It illustrated the issue of people not seeing/recognising what is going on under their noses and not realising that certain behaviour is not normal.

I thought Marie was almost as unlikeable as her husband. I can't decide whether her rejection of her daughter or her husband's behaviour was the reason for the daughter's instability. Probably both.

I thought Robbie Coltrane crying in the court was the best piece of acting I've seen in a long time. But was he crying out of guilt? Self-pity? Self-awareness? Who knows!

Actress who played the daughter was really excellent.

I agree stone, a lot was left unexplained which was a good way to end such an unsettling story. Marie's character was so cold towards her daughter, even telling her that she should never have come home in the final episode.

I was unsure about his tears as well, but I know I didn't believe a word of his speech on the stand about how he was hoping Marie would forgive him because he had hurt her so badly. I think he was trying to intimidate her into keeping her mouth shut. He looked both scared and livid when he realised she had gone at the end.

Totally agree about truly brilliant acting all round. I had forgotten how amazing RC is. I was never a great fan of Cracker - found it very heavy handed - but I used to watch it just for him and his character

Superb, just superb.

It was very good. Disturbing and eye opening ' ..your only accusing him for money..' That poor woman. I hope attitudes have changed over the years, but sadly i dont think they have much.

The main cast were excellent: RC, JW and AR. Some of the scenes were incredibly difficult to watch.
It was interesting that in the end, all the male characters were morally bankrupt and the women could see through them.
I think the ongoing second trial of Ched Evans made this even more uncomfortable viewing. In RL, a woman was being subjected to the exact same scrutiny as wealthier men again tried to use their money and influence to sway the court.

Interesting as well that the babysitter coming on to RC and wanting to sell her story, plus the young fan going willingly to his trailer and then continuing to write to him after he'd raped her were all presented as reasons to discount their claims of abuse. Makes you see how easy it is for abusers to deny accusations - even to themselves.

stone, you typed it better than I did earlier - exactly, the people defending these abusers will say anything to put the abused in a bad light - I suppose it all comes down to who can pay for the best defence. The more high profile and rich the abuser is, the worse it is for the victims to speak up, the reason Savile got away with it for many many years, all that running for charity and fundraising too, just a ploy to make people not believe he was capable of being such a monster, even though sometimes people did see things but chose to turn a blind eye, as Marie did in the restaurant with the waitress. Its so sad.

I thought the scene in court where RC was crying was realistic. We don't normally see snot in crying scenes in film and tv but doesn't snot happen during sustained, hysterical crying?

I think the asthma was meant to be an important factor but can't work out how/why.

I also wondered why the asthma was included in the scene and thought it must be important.

One of the victims described RC breathing during an attack. I wonder if the next series will reveal that the comedy partner/best friend was also involved in some of the assaults. In the scene in the restaurant I thought it was him who puts his hand up the waitresses skirt rather than RC.

The acting in this was brilliant. RC and JW and the daughter were outstanding. It was very uncomfortable and confusing to watch. I also found it frustrating too as very little development in the plot from one episode to the next which constantly left me guessing. That's what made it compelling I guess.

Def be another series I think. Lots of questions left unanswered. Especially between RC and his daughter.?

Could it be, once Paul had dashed off to the hospital the comedy partner nipped into the dark caravan and also raped the girl?

The partner said the asthma was age-related and Mairi didn't know that he had it despite spending lots of time with him over the years so I don't think he did rape the girl.

I don't think it warrants another series, does it?

I hope there won't be another series. It was perfect as it was