Deadwater Fell is a chilling crime series

After a horrible tragedy kills three children and their mother, suspicions are cast all around. Who did it?

Fiction can reflect the best of humanity but it can also reflect the worst.

British series Deadwater Fell, starting on BBC First on Foxtel and Fetch this week, is an all-too familiar, deeply sad story.

From the outside, the Kendricks were an ideal family. Dad Tom (David Tennant) is a respected GP in a small, close-knit Scottish town while mum Kate (Anna Madeley) and their three daughters were popular in the community.

After a community event in which the adults clanked wine glasses and the kids ate cake, the Kendricks said goodbye to their friends Jess (Cush Jumbo) and Steve (Matthew McNulty), all smiles and contentment.

That night, fire tore through their stone house at the end of a gravel driveway. As Steve raced through the house trying to rescue his friends, he finds the children’s room padlocked from the outside.

In the end, only Tom survives the deadly blaze.

Is Tom guilty?

As much as some scared members of the community insists it must have been a stranger who perpetrated such a crime, suspicion is cast at the parents – either Tom or the dead Kate, the latter of whom had a history of post-natal depression.

That veneer of perfection is easily stripped away as secrets are revealed – even if no one wants to believe either are capable of killing their three children, but as we all know, it happens far too frequently when it shouldn’t be happening at all.

Deadwater Fell, a four-part series, is a grim and sombre affair with an oppressive atmosphere that starts off as a slow-burn – but the kind of slow burn you want to persist with because even as the scales of guilt tips towards one parent and then the other, the series always seems to tell you there’s something else going on.

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A character-driven mystery

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That tantalising tease coupled with the strong performances from Jumbo and Tennant are more than enough to keep you hooked.

Jumbo, best known to Australian audiences as Lucca Quinn in The Good Wife and spin-off The Good Fight, is the lead as Jess, best friend to Kate but who also had a connection to Tom. The series is seen through her perspective, and her emotional reactions to this tragedy is really what propels the series.

Tennant is always particularly good when he’s asked to fill a role that may or may not be the villain, and he’s great here as the opaque Tom, equal parts charm and revulsion.

Together, Jumbo and Tennant’s almost cat-and-mouse dance is a journey you want to follow.

Deadwater Fell is an impressive series, and at only four hours, a small investment of your time for the performances you get in return.

Deadwater Fell airs on BBC First on Foxtel and Fetch on Thursdays at 8.30. The first episode is available for catch-up

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