Traces - starts tonight on BBC1 - crime drama previously shown on Alibi

[stumbledin]

I got quite excited thinking the BBC was giving us a new drama in prime time.

Then someone pointed out is was previously shown on Alibi.

I remember enjoying it in not a very deep way. Lots of female characters. Based on an idea from Val McDermaid.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08zhbt6

Alibi thread is here, but dont read if you want to avoid spoilers!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3763573-Traces-Alibi-mondays-at-9pm-Written-by-Amelia-Bullmore-from-an-idea-of-Val-McDermaid

It’s a shame though, SoupDragon, it would have given it a much more authentic flavour! And we cope with subtitles on Scandi Noir crime dramas quite happily.

I don't watch programmes with subtitles at all as I can't read them without my glasses nor can I watch by only glancing up whilst crocheting. 😂

I wonder how Brian Cox has
managed

Scandi dramas are not in English so no issue with comments about subtitles there

@babdoc I'm also disappointed that this programme doesn't seem particularly authentic. I'd love to hear the local dialect. I'm assuming that the market includes America, hence the American characters (if they ARE American, that is). I thought the Pia visit scene was a bit clunky.

Am I right in thinking that Mooc is an actual computer programme?

I think the accents are ok in that main character hasnt lived there for years and a few others are uni scientists so global?

That’s true, Newgirls, but I haven’t heard any character speak Dundonian, even background support staff, bar customers etc - and apart from the uni, Dundee is not a particularly cosmopolitan place. The local accent is still very much predominant if you go shopping there!

Yes makes sense. The woman in the hospital bed and curly hair daughter should have stronger accents

I’m a Dundonian and there wasn’t a Dundee accent to be heard at all in any of the episodes. Not that it mattered to me as I was just happy to see my home town from thousands of miles away.

In the first episode though someone had to pronounce Lochee and it was particularly bad even though I think it was hammed up quite deliberately because the character was supposedly American. I’m from Lochee and it would have been nice to have heard it pronounced properly but apart from that I enjoyed the series.

Brian Cox is also from Lochee.

I never know whether an accent is genuine or not TBH. Not even local London ones!

@Anne1958

I’m a Dundonian and there wasn’t a Dundee accent to be heard at all in any of the episodes. Not that it mattered to me as I was just happy to see my home town from thousands of miles away.

In the first episode though someone had to pronounce Lochee and it was particularly bad even though I think it was hammed up quite deliberately because the character was supposedly American. I’m from Lochee and it would have been nice to have heard it pronounced properly but apart from that I enjoyed the series.

I picked up on the Lochee thing too

And the Law.

Although I'm a Dundonian, from several generations back, and none of my family sound like they're fae Mid

@Anne1958

I’m a Dundonian and there wasn’t a Dundee accent to be heard at all in any of the episodes. Not that it mattered to me as I was just happy to see my home town from thousands of miles away.

In the first episode though someone had to pronounce Lochee and it was particularly bad even though I think it was hammed up quite deliberately because the character was supposedly American. I’m from Lochee and it would have been nice to have heard it pronounced properly but apart from that I enjoyed the series.

Ah now that was the news reader in the clip on the MOOC wasn’t it. That was Val McDermid herself.

Finished this now and thought it excellent - not hugely into police procedurals but I thought all characters interesting and an element of their own stories. I’d love to see more from the uni team

I'm just on episode 2 (so don't want spoilers) and when she asks the police person if her mum was cut up he says he can't give any information on an ongoing investigation?! But why can't he give out that information to her daughter?! I don't get it

Really enjoyed this and polished it off in 3 sittings, unusual for us but it moved along at a good pace and had a decent end. Quite a change from the usual police drama.

Purple it’s because not many people know that info so if she doesn’t spread it around they can work out who already knew

Nearly finished the latest Spiral so will look out for this afterwards.

I'm quite enjoying it. It's easy to watch because the timeline doesn't keep switching about which i find really annoying on a lot of shows at the moment... I don't have the concentration span I used to have

I don't know about the the lack of Dundee accents but I was surprised to notice that quite a lot is filmed locally to me and I'm in NW England.

The story was quite good but I found the actions of the main female character a bit ridiculous.

I don’t think any of this is a spoiler, but the way she constantly was falling out with people, moving from place to place, living with various other characters in weird circumstances, just felt like it could have been better done.

Also thought her acting was shown up by everyone else tbh...

@1990s yes I agree with you, DH and I turned to each other and laughed when it was mentioned she had a 1st class honours degree in Chemistry and some of the other stuff.

I did enjoy it but found it quite far fetched/too many coincidences. I too didn’t recognise ‘Gregory’ but spotted Val McDermid straight away. I liked the professor and the policeman but found the Canadian lady and her girlfriend really implausible for some reason.

You’ve hit the nail on the head there Indigo I know you were saying it about the Canadian professor, but I found the main character and her actions implausible, whereas I believed all of the other storylines

@1990s

The story was quite good but I found the actions of the main female character a bit ridiculous.

I don’t think any of this is a spoiler, but the way she constantly was falling out with people, moving from place to place, living with various other characters in weird circumstances, just felt like it could have been better done.

Also thought her acting was shown up by everyone else tbh...

I agree. Her flapping around the place like a teenager and crying to get boss was just odd.

Re accents I live in Cornwall and you never hear real Cornish accents in dramas set in Cornwall.

I've been watching a lot of stuff on Walter Presents this last year, and agree with PPs, although this is quite enjoyable it's not as good as a lot of European stuff I've seem recently.

How did Emma end up dangling over the balcony last night? She was leaning over shouting for help and then she was dangling over the edge. I wondered if the dad was trying to warn her that the railings weren't safe as he seemed concerned for her safety at that point rather than threatening.

She was scared of him and climbed over I think - blind panic