Holding review: West Cork shines in episode 2 of Graham Norton adaptation
Siobhan McSweeney in episode two of Holding, on ITV.
The makers of Holding - the major new series shot in West Cork - are clearly aiming for a blend of wacky humour and crime drama in the story of a missing local. The difficulty is that so far they’re not coexisting peacefully.
This tale of a cold case murder in West Cork, based on Graham Norton’s bestselling novel, is leaning in on the eccentricity - but as evidenced in episode two, that’s a tone that’s not easy to get right.
The real winner in this fledgling series so far is the region. From the smallest boreen to the widest overhead panorama, West Cork basks in the sunshine and is emerging as very much a character in the show.
Our protagonist is PJ (Conleth Hill), a colourful garda based in West Cork who’s more used to dealing with minor local disputes than more serious crimes. Still, a shadow is looming over the fictional West Cork village in which he lives.
Almost two decades earlier local man Tommy Burke disappeared, with the community presuming he had moved abroad following a romantic drama in the village.
But when the remains of a male are discovered on his property in the first episode, locals are convinced there’s a murderer in their midst. Suspicion in episode two falls primarily on Bríd Riordan (Derry Girls’ Siobhán McSweeney) who has briefly hotfooted it out of town herself.
PJ is on friendly terms with Bríd, who has a drink problem, and knows she’ll be regarded as a suspect having been jilted at the altar by Tommy. He was having an affair before he broke her heart and went missing.
Other characters who may know more than they’re letting on include no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs Meaney (Brenda Fricker) who seems uncomfortable with the Detective Inspector (Clinton Liberty) who is staying at her property, and feisty local Evelyn Ross (Charlene McKenna) who is keen to point the finger at Bríd.
Tonally, Holding episode two is chaotic, making handbrake turns between a sense of drama and pathos to wacky humour in a way that feels strained and uneven. It jarred, and this has a distancing effect when it comes to becoming invested in character and story.
Perhaps the show will find this balance, but it’s as a drama that the show has the potential to deliver more. There are plenty of characters and their secrets to get to know in this quirky whodunnit. Not least of them is PJ himself, as he aims to string together the details of Tommy’s disappearance - only to encounter some new evidence that throws the entire investigation into doubt.
