Critic Reviews

Criminal Record doesn’t traffic in binary characterizations; neither June nor her nemesis are as good or as bad as they seem. Both make assumptions about the other and regularly circumvent the rules to further their agenda, and I toggled at least four times between believing one’s version of events over the other’s. The uncertainty adds a tantalizing layer of tension to June and Hegarty’s many clashes, as does the thrill of watching Jumbo and Capaldi face off.

Answers are never given freely, not even in the finale, and it’s that lack of complete closure that earns the show its laurels for me, leaving a nagging feeling that makes it impossible to forget.

More than a meticulous procedural as it exposes a legacy of layered coverups while exploring the emotional frailties of these two unlike but smart characters. Both Jumbo and Capaldi give extraordinary performances in a series that digs deep into the complicated home lives of both. “Criminal Record” deserves to become a hit and here’s hoping for a second season.

Criminal Record’s central case doesn’t exactly break new ground in terms of its storytelling, though it does touch on several painfully timely issues around the larger failings and institutional problems of policing and justice generally. (Though, on the whole, it is better at asking questions than it is at answering them.) But as a two-hander between two powerhouse performers at the top of their respective games? It’s more than worth your time.

Criminal Record is as relevant as it is suspenseful, crackling whenever Jumbo and Capaldi share the screen. [8 - 28 Jan, p.8]

As charismatic as Lenker is, and as instinctively leery we may be of Hegarty, it is the balance created between the two characters—one a dogged idealist, the other a case-hardened veteran, both carrying no end of personal baggage—that elevates the entire eight-part series.

Plot-wise, there is no new ground being broken here, although the intertwining of the past and present cases and their eventual unpicking is interesting enough. But the cleverness and subtlety with which so many questions are posed and issues teased out through the main characters are more than worth the price of admission.

All the elements needed for a great, compulsive police drama are there: undercurrents of wrongdoing by those in power, exposed by an underdog copper against all the odds… with lots of action added in for extra oomph. If it was on a more mainstream channel, its success would be inevitable.

In choosing to focus its attention on its superbly well-drawn characters, rather than any plot machinations, the series made something of a gamble, but one which has more than paid off due to the strength of Capaldi and Jumbo's performances.

“Criminal Record” is a thrilling exploration of our preconceived notions, the human obsession with power and legacy and what we’re willing to do to cling to the narratives we’ve created about other people and the world around us.