The Salisbury Poisonings (2020) Series Review

This show hit the UK this week and I have now had the chance to watch the 3 episode long show The Salisbury Poisonings and here is my review. The premise of the show is based on the real life events of the 2018 Novichock Poisoning crisis that took place in Salisbury. 

Main Character

Anne Marie Duff plays the main character here and I thought she did a great job. You see how the stress of this whole crisis really takes a toll on her both physically and emotionally, her relationships with her son and husband are affected and it makes you sympathise for her. It is obvious this event is the biggest she has dealt with and Duff does a great job of seeming in control even though you can tell she is struggling with the whole situation. 

Supporting Characters

Rafe Spall plays a policeman on this show and I thought he also does a really great job. I won't go into too much about his character as it is pretty spoilerific but yeah he did a great job and made really care about his character on the show. His wife played by Annabel Scholey also does a great job, she goes through alot on this show and she delivered a strong performance that added to the drama of the situation. MyAnna Burings plays a character on this show, portrayed as a troubled mother and this show really tries to make you care about her and I just didn't, her character wasn't interesting and really the show never gives you a huge reason to start liking or care about her. There are also some other supporting characters here that I get were involved in the real event but felt like a distraction here and weren't dealt as particularly important. 

Story

The main story involving the whole conspiracy and poisoning plot is really well handled. The main characters gret acting really elevate the story and see the extreme circumstances that they are in, if this story was made up I would say it is a great idea but it is just crazy that this pretty much really happened. However, as I mentioned above there are some side stories that aren't particularly interesting and the story kind of brushes over some things to speed up the plot and I felt left some details out especially at the end of the show. 

Script

The script is very grim and dark which honestly makes sense because of the premise of the show and it is really well handled. It really added to the drama and the intensity of the whole situation that is going on with the plot. 

Style

The style does move quite quickly, it is interesting seeing how this poison went from a single incident to something larger especially as this didn't happen too long ago and pretty much everybody who watches this show from the UK remembers it. Though it is strange, I am usually the guy who complains about shows having a few too many episodes but I felt like this show had too few episodes. It feels like there was at least enough material to get one maybe two more episodes out of this show and I felt like it would have made it a more comprehensive show. 

Overall

Overall, this is a good show, it does a good job of detailing this tragedy and makes you interested in it. Though there were some elements that weren't done as well this was a decent show that if you have a few hours could be worth a watch.

Rating - 7/10