Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Neil Morrissey, James Buckley, Faye Ripley, Jessica Rhodes, Brendan Coyle, Nimmi Harasgama, Shane Attwooll, Quentin Lee, Nick Harris, Wayne Foskett, Arthur Campbell, Tara Lee, Thom Jackson-Wood, Herbert Forthuber, Winston Elias, Jordan Long, Rakhee Thakrar, Steve Aldis, Manoj Anand, Bobby Bedi, Kas Meghani, Ace Bhatti, Robert Forknall, Ben Warwick, Tracey Ann Wood, Stephen McDade, Cain Aiden.
There are hobbies that are considered to be worthy of ridicule by the callous that they have become synonymous with a certain tag of being driven by the dull and the singular man.
There is no such thing as the uninteresting subject, just an unenlightened crowd that hasn’t been fired into the imagination of the pursuit of time through the myopic and dedicated vision of the carefully methodical and patient adventurer. Treasure may abound in all walks of hobby endurance, and it is never dull; and perhaps one of the great mislabelling’s of life comes in the form of the amateur metal detectorists to whom Time is more than a pastime of history, it is the opportunity to resurrect the past in a period of the living.
To showcase a four-part drama series set against the world of those to whom history is a treasure to be unearthed takes a commanding attitude and perspective of script writing, and in Finders Keepers sincerity is its own reward as Neil Morrissey and James Buckley grapple with the question of legal ownership and entitlement in discovery.
If mishandled, such a script could be found to be one of ridicule, or at best given a sense of comedy that flounders and becomes unrelatable in the wider context of the narrative; and yet the way writer Dan Sefton brings the characters to life is one of unexpected joy, of being a drama of reason, and with the natural way that the cast interact and place the atmosphere of deception into the common day to day is one surrounded by gravitas and creativity.
Deception of the self is the narrative, how a person can be pulled from a lifelong path of belief just by the twist of fate in the hands of a financial expense that causes misery and fear. For both Martin and prospective son-in-law Ashley, the past is about to come dangerously close to making their natural money concerns one of intense panic and immediacy.
In this short but enjoyable series what transpires is the lie of openness is exposed, and how we dig for the truth is not always down to an investigative mind, but one of sheer luck and timing.
An enjoyable series, one that proves that by digging in the dirt you can often uncover a gem.
Ian D. Hall