Why Unforgotten should be your next box set
Review Overview
Cast
8Kindness
8Crime mysteries
8Ivan Radford | On 17, Mar 2024
This review was originally published in February 2021, as Season 4 premiered on ITV.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Nicola Walker can do no wrong and that is proven once again by the ITV drama Unforgotten. We first meet her as DCI Cassie Stuart alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar as DS Sunny Khan. They’re investigating a cold case involving a skeleton, which leads them to a key and, later, other revealing clues. “Let’s try and find out how he died. I think we owe him that,” we hear. And that sets the tone for a series that’s quietly remarkable.
A cold case crime drama isn’t exactly new territory for TV, but what Unforgotten does so well is invest it with a sense of empathy and kindness as well as mystery. That stems directly from its leading duo, and the casting of Walker and Bhaskar in those roles. Individually, they’re excellent. Walker is tough and no-nonsense as the divorced DCI with two grown-up sons. Bhaskar is wonderfully warm as Sunny, a father of two who is overworked but determined. Together, they’re hugely compelling: their double-act is enjoyably competent and professional, with no melodramatic shouting matches and, crucially, no romantic arc repeatedly forced upon them. They have a lightness to their believable chemistry, which is underpinned primarily by trust, respect and compassion. You could happily watch them read a phone book for an hour.
They’re supported by a cast of impressive guest stars. There’s Trevor Eve as a working class boy turned rich businessman, a priest played by Bernard Hill caught up in trouble involving missing money, and Tom Courtenay as a pensioner whose wife is living with dementia. And, in later seasons, there’s Alex Jennings as a seemingly good doctor no doubt hiding a nasty side, Neil Morrissey… the list goes on.
As each mystery patiently unfolds, the show gradually peels back the cumulative weight of the work on the central couple, and asks us to care about their wellbeing. It’s easy to do, because we know that they’d do exactly the same for anyone else they encounter. What a refreshing treat it is to have such a mature, rounded and thoughtful crime drama gently plodding away.