TheLittleSongbird While there are better mystery/detective shows in my opinion, 'Messiah' is incredibly well done and ceaselessly compelling. It is near blameless and definitely should have lasted longer.It is stylishly and beautifully filmed with a lot of atmosphere, while the locations are also used to great effect. The music is suitably ominous while never being too obvious.'Messiah' is very intelligently written, it is never stilted or clichéd and constantly keeps the mystery elements alive. The stories are gripping throughout with lots of twists and turns and genuinely surprising solutions. The only motive I didn't completely buy was in the first series, which felt implausible and underdeveloped, it didn't seem like a good enough reason to murder all those people in such a gruesome manner.That is my only criticism of 'Messiah' really, as well as more could have done with Frances Grey's character as well. There are some clever and very gruesome murders that never are gratuitous (especially in the first series) but are not for weak stomachs, mine is getting stronger but even it was quite disturbed by those in the first two episodes. The characters are interesting, and the series is constantly well directed and ensures that the episodes never feel rushed or plodding.Ken Stott is exceptional as the main character, and it is some of the best acting he's ever done. He is terrifically supported by Neil Dudgeon (who has never been better), Michelle Forbes, Frances Grey, Edward Woodward and especially a sinister Jamie Draven, in fact everybody is good.In summary, incredibly compelling. 9/10 Bethany Cox

heyjuddyesterday I really did like this series Messiah, the drama the cast just fantastic. The ploy the suspense everything. in comparison of other dramas per example of American drama big difference. British drama is great so real so close to people humane and the music used in this series is wonderful. I would like to know the title of the opera played in the episode 3 or two, I do not remember. I think it was the episode where the daughter avenge her father who was wrongly accused. She starts killing the dearest person to the people she saw them responsible of her father situation. Can any one tell me the name of the opera or the aria . I really did like it and I cannot remember the title of that beautiful aria, I will be waiting to see if any one can help me here.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU An extraordinary thriller with serial killings that always work in fair half a dozen or more victims in short periods of time. But that's far from enough to describe this series, in fact a collection of five titles each one in two episodes in four cases and three episodes in one case.The main characteristic is first of all the personality of the main police inspector or detective or chief detective or chief inspector. He is rough and in a way a visionary person; he has to see beyond the surface of things and he can only do that with inspiration, in fact quasi religious inspiration, hence the title of the collection; He gets a revelation about the killer, always in the last five minutes or so. The fifth title has a different chief inspector but he has the same personality, except slightly younger and nimbler and with a directly religious past history in Israel. In other words in this fifth episode the chief inspector is connected with the Jewish state of Israel and the war going on there. Before the chief inspector was a Christian, probably Anglican.The second characteristic is that the serial killing is always something like an inside job. The first two titles deal with an infiltrated person inside the police team. In the first one the killer is trying to kill the twelve apostles, or rather twelve people wearing the names of the twelve apostles who have to be killed the way the apostles actually died in true history. So it means only eleven deaths since one apostle died of natural death. In the second the killer is killing all those who are connected with the wrong incarceration of his or her father for a crime he did not commit though he covered the real perpetrator out of love, which the avenger did not know. The third story concerns a member of the outside hospital team who decides he has to protect one member of the police team he believes he or she is related to. The fourth one is the absolutely crooked reasoning of a member of the medical team of the police in front of the suicide of his or her daughter. The final title is quite different since it deals with Jewish fundamentalism and this time a defence lawyer is concerned.This characteristic is essential because it enables the murderer to always be ahead of the police since they have inside information from the police themselves.The next characteristic is the heavily religious inspiration of three stories. The first one is to recreate the death of the twelve apostles. That has been a dream of many though it generally remained artistic, hence a representation of these deaths in a way or another. Here the criminal wants real bodies re-enacting the real circumstances. The fourth episode is based on the Inferno from the Divine Comedy by Dante and the nine circles going down into the pit. The last one is even more cryptic since we are dealing with the seven signs of Armageddon as seen in Abraham's story. The new Chief Inspector is a Jew who knows some ancient Hebrew though he has lost contact with it and has to get reacquainted. The symbolic centre of it is the name of God YHWH (Yahweh), the tetragrammaton, the four letters of the name of God.The two exception are first a vengeance case which is misdirected since the man sentenced for life willingly endorsed the responsibility of a crime he did not commit to cover the real culprit. It deals with gay rights or absence of rights in Great Britain just twenty years ago. Second it is the misguided and wrongly inspired promise a man made to a sister of his to protect her and he becomes criminal when he identifies this sister as being a member of the police team, which she is not.The main shortcoming is in fact something true and false at the same time. In that line of business inspiration is essential but it should be based on profiling and in the English tradition it is not. The inspiration that leads to the criminal comes from the re-arranging and re-interpreting of facts, which is limited in scope and efficiency. That's probably why the criminals nearly always go to the very end of their projects, or half a step away from the very end.A must for audiences thrilled by thrillers and thrilling experiences.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

RobK-2 Obviously inspired by Se7en and sometimes even more gruesome; more bloodshed and very graphic details (a bit too much for my taste). Great script and acting (I was especially impressed by Ken Stott and there were no weak points in te cast). Good cinematography and very realistic stereo-sound. One of the best thrillers I've seen since years. Although it was scheduled on BBC in three parts I watched Messiah on video in one take. One point of critic; the motivation of the villain was not very convincing.