Manhunt

True Crime in series: Following the successful capture of the “Hammer Killer”, Detective Colin Sutton is asked by his boss to take a closer look at the stalled Operation Minstead. So far, the MET unit has not been able to catch the dreaded “Night Stalker”. The serial rapist has been terrifying south-east London for over 17 years. Although Sutton receives a frosty reception from the department, he becomes obsessively involved in the intricate investigation and is soon convinced that the strategy must be changed! “Like the first season, “Manhunt II: In Pursuit of the Night Stalker” is based on the memories of DCI Colin Sutton, convincingly portrayed by Martin Clunes, who skillfully avoids the “Doc Martin” mannerisms overshadowing the portrait of the rather grounded police officer. [...] Both parts of “Manhunt” show that police work is teamwork. It's not a single mastermind who brings down perpetrators, but complex task coordination. This becomes difficult when resources are scarce, departments get in each other's way, don't feel taken seriously or there is a struggle for authority. The English series is also dedicated to the bureaucratic Sisyphean tasks and is able to draw enormous tension from the brittle, labor-intensive basic material. [...] The scripts for both parts are focused and give the characters enough space to shine. There is communication here and not hollow conversational dramaturgy. There are no pseudo-conflicts and no artificial escalation through the use of banal thriller topoi. The families of the investigators are not targeted by the perpetrators and dark secrets from the past of those involved do not disrupt the plot. This intelligent production has no need for such stale crime/thriller procedures.” (Jochen König, on: www.booknerds.de)