THE LIGHT IN THE HALL. WED AND THUR 9pm. CH4 - TV PACE - no SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

new drama stating - 6 parts over 3w on a wed and thur

Drama starring Joanna Scanlan, Iwan Rheon and Alexandra Roach, about a woman still grieving for her daughter who disappeared 18 years earlier.

Sharon Roberts (Scanlan) has spent nearly two decades searching for her daughter Ela's (Ella Peel) body. Shortly after she vanished, mild-mannered gardener Joe Thomas (Rheon) was arrested and charged with her murder after Ela's DNA was discovered in his caravan.

Joe confessed to her murder but refused - or could not explain what - he did with the body. Now Joe is being considered for parole, and if he is released, Sharon's greatest fear may be realized: she will never get Ela's body back and the past will torment her for the rest of her life.

Journalist Cat Donato (Roach), who's originally from the same town, has always been interested in Ela's murder. It's a very personal story for Cat, who has always kept an eye on the story, and the news that Joe is due for parole prompts her to return home to write an in-depth article and discover the truth one and for all.

But will she be welcomed back to the town where she grew up? Meanwhile, Sharon is also desperate for answers - and she'll go to any lengths to get them...

It's an odd one: I did enjoy it, but it is flawed, the character Cat is poorly written and unconvincing, there's no good reason I can see why any of the various people who had possession of the diary didn't hand it over to the police, etc. The theme of the schoolgirl bullying (which reminded me a bit of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye) was never really developed either.

Watched it! Why did Jo’s father put thr blame on him ? What a nasty piece of work to do that ...he made a deal with the councillor. Poor Jo totally innocent

Also, Shelley. OK, she was being abused by her Dad, and had to get away, fair enough. But why did she not contact Joe later in adulthood, instead of leaving him thinking she was dead?

I assume Wyn knew or suspected that Joe was aware of him abusing Shelley, so he saw a chance to get Joe out of the way, discredited as a murderer, and blackmail Nina into all sorts of political favours.
The diary was a bit of a red herring in the end; did it actually name Izzy as Ella’s girlfriend or was it just the green eyes stuff which could have been about anyone? And why does everyone keep letting Cat in their house when they don’t want to talk to her