The Shadow in the North (2007) Jared Harris, Doña Croll, David Harewood, JJ Feild, Billie Piper, Matt Smith Movie Review

The Shadow in the North (2007)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Billie Piper in The Shadow in the North (2007)

Observing the Piper

Having set herself up as a financial consultant Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper) learns that one of the investments she recommended to an elderly client has left her bankrupt and it leads to Sally trying to uncover why the shipping company she recommended closed after a ship went missing and the owner left people penniless in his wake. Meanwhile Sally's friends Frederick (JJ Feild) and Jim (Matt Smith) have set up their own detective agency and are investigating Alistair MacKinnon (Julian Rhind-Tutt) a mysterious magician who is being threatened by some thugs. It seems that industrialist Axel Bellmann (Jared Harris) is both behind the collapse of the shipping company and the threats to Alistair which sees Sally, Frederick and Jim working together again.

"The Shadow in the North" was the second Sally Lockhart TV movie to be made which starred Billie Piper in the role of Sally and I will admit now I haven't watched the previous Sally Lockhart TV movie and haven't read the series of Philip Pullman novels from which it is adapted. And that is a major problem as without the familiarity to the central characters of Lockhart, Frederick and Jim it was hard to establish any connection to them. Yes there was some character depth when it came to Lockhart being fiercely independent and Frederick's frustrations at her for being so stubborn but without being able to fill in the pieces from already having read the novels you are pretty much left as an observer in this period crime, drama.

Matt Smith in The Shadow in the North (2007)

But lack of connection is not the only issue I have with "The Shadow in the North" as whilst a costume drama it all feels a little generic. Basically with this being a BBC production it feels like they have wheeled out the wardrobes full of the appropriate costumes for the period and the set decorators pillaged the stores for what they had used in other movies and put it all together. As such yes it looks like a drama set in the past but not once did it feel like it was transporting me to the past which contributed to that feeling of only being an observer.

Now I will admit one thing as the bods who did the casting got it spot on because Billie Piper, Matt Smith and JJ Feild all had a more youthful appeal than you often get in period dramas. But whilst they all played their parts nicely with older actors such as John Standing filling in the gaps it again didn't feel like they were really bringing their characters to life.

What this all boils down to is that I am sure there will be those who really enjoy "The Shadow in the North" but for me the whole production whilst solid never managed to draw me in to the storyline and only left me feeling as a casual observer to it all.


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