Keeping Faith

Those who missed out are heartily encouraged to give it a whirl. Why? The premise of the thriller is simple enough.

I was astonished by how much I liked Keeping Faith. Sometimes it feels like we’ve seen it all in the British crime drama genre, and it’s true, Keeping Faith does share a lot in common with some other shows. The good news, though, is that it’s specifically like Big Little Lies crossed with Broadchurch.

This is a rare event: a tear-jerking nail-biter. [26 Apr - 9 May 2021, p.7]

Understated yet absorbing, Keeping Faith bows out by reminding us that it’s the quiet ones you have to watch.

Here the staring was accompanied by the sort of mournful vocal soundtrack that seems to have become de rigueur for putting the atmosphere into atmospheric thrillers. ... But it was Faith’s teenage daughter, Alys, who first managed to rouse Faith from her reflective mood and reignite the fiery lawyer millions have embraced since the show became a word-of-mouth hit on iPlayer.

Keeping Faith began atrociously, got a bit worse, then suddenly became terrific and ended with me chomping for the second episode.

That is the other star of the show: Wales. It does for Carmarthenshire (where most of it was filmed) what Broadchurch did for Dorset. Not airbrushed, too picture postcard or twee – so there are bungalows and caravans, as well as historic castles, guildhalls, the estuary and beach. Nor is made to look bleak and dark – this is not Cambrian noir, if that is a thing. It looks real and brilliant and Welsh.