The Returned

I've recently returned from a short break during which I did not access my emails at all, an experience that I found very liberating. That is until I returned home and had to wade through over 200 of the things.

While I was away, the actor James Gandolfini passed away at the ridiculously young age of 51 (RIP James), and it appears that I have been missing a superb new French drama which is being shown in the UK on Channel 4. Appropriately, it is called 'The Returned'.

Thanks to the wonders of 'catch-up', I am in the process of doing just that and have watched the first two episodes.

Billed as a supernatural thriller, the plot concerns a group of school children who are killed when their coach veers off the road into an alpine ravine. Their grieving families attend meetings to help them to come to terms with their loss, but while one such meeting is taking place four years after the tragic event, one of the children, Camille Seguret, returns home claiming that she woke alone in the mountains, hence her being an hour late.

I will reveal no more of the plot but suffice to say there are a number of questions left unanswered at this stage. Various characters come and go and appear to have their own issues. An old man (Mr Costa) takes his own life. A small boy (Victor) suddenly shows up and we learn that he has played some part in the coach accident. I suspect that this series will keep me enthralled and guessing right to the very end.

What I find particularly appealing is the way the whole programme is presented. Obviously there is a strong plot and a good script but these are augmented by some wonderful cinematography and an atmospheric soundtrack (from Mogwai). I look forward to more episodes and wonder if this series may eventually join the ranks of the TV greats of the past, 'The Wire', 'The West Wing', 'The Killing' and, to briefly return to the theme of James Gandolfini, 'The Sopranos'.