Down Cemetery Road - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

THE team behind Apple’s hit spy series Slow Horses hit upon the perfect formula for success when they decided to adapt Mick Herron’s novels and land British acting legend Gary Oldman in the lead role.

They repeat the trick with Down Cemetery Road, an adaptation of Herron’s debut novel, and turn to another British acting stalwart: Emma Thompson.

What’s more, they double down by bringing another great, Ruth Wilson, into the mix.

The ensuing story pairs Thompson and Wilson as, respectively, a private investigator (Zoe Boem) and an art restorer (Sarah Tucker), as they are brought together to try and find a missing girl… the victim of a house blast that kills her mum and which seems to be linked to a government cover-up.

Over the course of eight hugely entertaining episodes, Boem and Tucker must outwit Ministry of Defence baddies C (Darren Boyd) and his handler Hamza Malik (Adeel Akhtar), as well as a rogue soldier, Downey (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and a ruthless assassin, Amos (Fehinti Balogun), while uncovering the truth behind a chemical weapons test gone horrendously wrong.

There were, of course, twists galore and a generous smattering of black humour, which provided a nice balance to some of the more gritty and emotional material - all of which gave an exceptionally talented cast plenty to do.

Comparisons with Slow Horses are, of course, inevitable and the same mix of drama, action and comedy that makes that series so special are also present and correct here.

But Down Cemetery Road is its own beast too. For starters, it’s great to have two strong female leads featuring so prominently and adeptly holding their own in a very male-orientated world. But this didn’t mean the sense of peril was any less diminished: far from it, given that Balogun, in particular, posed such a formidably ruthless adversary.

But Boyd also shone as the shadowy government figure overseeing it all, oozing menace in a role that offered a sharp contrast to his comedic background, yet which still enabled him the chance to deliver stinging zingers at his inept colleagues’ expense (the sort of which wouldn’t be out of place among the litany of scathing put downs in shows like Veep).

The main reason for watching, though, was undoubtedly the pairing of Wilson and Thompson, which was actually kept to a minimum amount of screentime but which nevertheless delivered memorable roles for both of them.

Wilson was brilliant at balancing naivety, insecurity and frustration (her husband is quickly revealed to be having an affair) with a fiery determination to step up for a girl she barely knows but somehow feels responsible for.

And Thompson was typically immense as the zippily sarcastic PI - outwardly cold and uncaring, yet desperately caring and forced to mourn the loss of a husband she feels guilty for overlooking. It’s a role that combines all of the best Thompson traits, sometimes remixed to create another memorable creation in her own right.

One can only hope that we get to see more of this pairing down the road, for while the story as a whole drew to a satisfying conclusion, there are threads that definitely warrant another series or two.

As with Slow Horses, there’s always plenty going on, as Down Cemetery Road successfully juggles genuinely interesting (and fully developed) characters with cracking action, a steady increasing body count (complete with the uncertainty of who will survive) and a really intriguing storyline that also manages to include some sly nods to hit button issues. And for all of its flippancy and occasional absurdity, it has heart too.

What’s not to love?