Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tala Gouveia, Jason Watkins, Joy McAvoy, Sharon Rooney, Shelley Conn, Kat Ronney, Maya Coates, Tomos Gwynfryn-Evans, John Thomson, Natalie Gumede, George Watkins, Felipe Bejarano, Andrew Rothney, Carl Andersson, Allegra Marland, James Murray, Jack Riddiford, Lily Sacofsky, Vincent Moisy.

The need for attention, of recognition in today’s world, has been taken to extremes, in ways that even a generation ago would never have been conceived, the vast majority of us are guilty of it, and for the most part it is harmless, a cry in the void which even a simple recognition is to be savoured, a gesture of being heard is to give thanks. It is in the reminder that someone is listening to us, that in the depth of burden we might find solace in untroubled arms, that makes the modern-day cry for help via technology an uncomplicated drama.

 Then there are the few to whom forever being ignored, being mentally put down and knowing that their valuable input, or even just opinion, is routinely unnoticed, that they begin to descend into a dark place, a corner in which their bruised ego turns sour, and in the end that need for attention becomes an emotion and disease turned sinister.

The fourth episode of McDonald & Dodds keeps up the sterling work from the previous encounter, and whilst the criminal mind the pair are chasing does not fit into the category of Sherlock Holmes’ arch nemesis Moriarty, neither are they cheap fare for the Sunday night detective slot so prized by I.T.V. For in Sharon Rooney’s portrayal of Doreen Warren, the subtly of Munchausen By Proxy is brought to light, and it one that is bright, blinding and perhaps an act to be feared more than the common place ravings of a madman in the shadows or the terror of a large uncontrolled crowd hell bent on vengeance.

In We Need To Talk About Doreen, the writer brings to mind the sense of shock that comes with such an malicious and calculating attack on someone’s life, a person willing to lay their plan out before the police in a game of cat and mouse, whilst all the time appearing as if butter wouldn’t melt, just talkative, irritating, not one who is shred and who hides their mind perfectly from scrutiny.

Whilst the first two episodes that were filmed for presentation in 2020 were, to say the least, considered weak, there is a much finer impetuous on mystery and storytelling in the two that have been aired this year, and it is refreshing to see a writer showcase the arrogant mind of the criminal leading the detective through the case out of spite and malice, and the juxtaposition of how the murderer plays the game from the previous episode is not lost on the audience.

It is perhaps unquestionable that the momentous performance by Sharon Rooney as the puppet master of the ill will, making everyone dance to the tune and plan she has set in motion, is deemed to be utterly compelling, and one that leads the audience down the path of playing to her tune as well. Mesmerising, subtle, vicious, an actor who can display all these emotions on a blank or smiling face is to be congratulated, and with great support from Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia who urge the performance on, We Need To Talk About Doreen is a mystery worthy of Morse or Columbo. An episode that is erudite and willing to be immersed in malevolence is not to be sneered at, but congratulated, and one that an audience will surely applaud. 

Ian D. Hall