'Holding' review: West Cork murder mystery feels real and neatly avoids Oirishness

Kathy Burke directs a take on the murder-mystery for ITV that has wit, warmth and compassion — even if it’s not particularly innovative

Doughty housekeeper, Mrs Meaney (Brenda Fricker), is all but guaranteed to be a repository of all the secrets of the village. PIctures: ITV

When the chatshow host Graham Norton published his debut novel, Holding, in 2016, the critical consensus was, in essence: “Ooh – this is rather good!” 

So, too, is its TV adaptation (ITV) of the same name, a compact four-parter by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan, directed by Kathy Burke (yes, that Kathy Burke, in her first TV outing, after 20 years of successfully directing theatre productions in between entertaining us on screen).