Liverpool Sound and Vision rating 9/10

Cast: Kelly Macdonald, James Harkness, John Hannah, Chloe Pirrie, Ramon Tikaram, Jamie Sives, Joanne Thomson, Pooky Quesnel, John Scougall, Cal MacAninch, Alison McKenzie, Nicholas Nunn, Karla Crome, Isis Hainsworth, Georgie Glen, Seylan Baxter, David Goodall, Zak Leyni, Caron Rae Brand.

We can never truly understand what goes through the mind of a murderer, for some it is a moment of insanity in which they cannot explain the event or their feelings towards the act in any manner that makes sense to the system or the potential psychiatrist who wishes to probe into the complexity of the situation; for others it is a marker, of dominance, of power, of holding a life in the grip of their hands and understanding full well the implications of their actions, and the possible thrill they get as they watch from a close enough distance their act being investigated.

Murder is an abhorrence, to take the life of a child is a failure of society, an act of revulsion that cannot be completely erased, the pain is one that is captured and framed within the locality forever. Murder though is not always cut and dried, despite the first thought, there is always more than one casualty, one wounded perhaps beyond repair.

We look upon the family that has lost a loved one as victims, we perhaps might give a nod of thought to those that might have witnessed such an act if cruelty, but we never look at the one who committed the crime as anything other that someone to forget, to speak of no more, and should we do so, it would be almost as if we are summoning the Devil himself to live and breathe amongst us.

The Victim unleashes the possibility in which the viewer can find themselves wanting to see restorative judgement passed, but also one that questions the idea of vigilantism and the modern activism which comes from the will of social media in the pursuit of how far do we go to achieve peace for the person who died, and their family who even after many years, feel the heartache of loss, especially when no explanation has been given for that person’s actions.

The victim may in some cases be the one who took the initial life, their thoughts clouded by their own up-bringing, an accident which became something more sinister as rage takes hold; we have all lost our temper, how close perhaps have we come to the point of betraying our soul.

In a stirring four-episode drama, The Victim offers a spotlight of intensity to which the truth of the matter is that there is more than one victim, that society itself has fallen foul of such an act having been undertaken, and how we break the cycle of recrimination is down to us as individuals to perhaps empathise, seek to understand, never forgive perhaps, but to avoid falling into the perpetual feeling of anger and revenge; a sentiment neatly displayed in a gripping finale in which the reckoning between mother and father and the one who took their son’s life is examined as a moment of clarity.

With James Harkness, Kelley Macdonald and John Hannah giving absolutely stunning portrayals of their characters and the depths of human sorrow, The Victim is a powerful piece of television which finds itself at the forefront of the psychological impact on the most heinous of crimes of all involved. Brutal and challenging, The Victim is gripping drama from start to finish.

Ian D. Hall