Fixer, The - Series 1 Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Lets hope ITV fix it for a second series of this absorbing drama

The Fixer seems to be the latest attempt by ITV to produce the sort of gritty urban drama that the Americans excel at. But it’s not a cop show for which we should be thankful , as home grown cop shows are invariably rubbish and after the American show 'The Wire' everyone else might as well give up because nothing is going to get better than that. Anyway like the brilliant French film 'Nikita' Fixer works on the premise that someone who has committed a crime can be offered a life outside of prison but to in order to do so must work as an assassin for the state.

John Mercer (Andrew Buchan ) is former special forces .After discovering a terrible secret about his aunt and uncle he executes them and is subsequently imprisoned .After five years inside he is suddenly offered a way out by Lenny Douglas (Peter Mullan) who tells him that if he comes to work for him as part of some shadowy secretive government agency he will be allowed to live out of prison. On the plus side this allows him to spend time with his sister Jess (Liz White) who is a single parent. On the down side he must move into a flat he will share with Calum (Jody Latham) Lenny,s errand boy, a mouthy cocky jack the lad whose manner grates on the quiet brooding Mercer. To further complicate things there is disgraced ex-copper Rose (Tamzin Outhwaite) who also works for Lenny . Some of the things she has to do for Lenny are less than salubrious and this riles Mercer as they have a mutual attraction for each other. What really riles Mercer though is the power Lenny has over him . He feels that he is trapped in the same way he was in prison , that Lenny is less than honest with him and that his relationship with his sister makes him vulnerable.

Over the six episodes relationships develop and we gradually learn more about the characters with the initially irritating Calum becoming more sympathetic and it all reaches a head for episode six where Mercer is given a possible way out by one of the men he has been tasked to put to death. The best episode pits Mercer against his predecessor gone rogue . We also learn more about the link between Rose and Lenny.

The Fixer is well written and well acted with Peter Mullan And Jody Latham especially good. Andrew Buchan does the gloomy anti -hero thing well enough while Tamzin Outhwaite actually gets a decent role for a change as the feisty motivated Rose. If anything for me it’s not gritty enough . I’d have like it to be tougher and harder hitting but for a main stream drama it’s still reasonably uncompromising.

The DVD comes with a making of documentary but no commentaries which are always the best way to get behind the scenes and characters further. There is no guarantee that The Fixer will return for a second series at this moment which is a great shame as having got all the character and situational set-ups out of the way the writers could concentrate on Mercer’s role as an enforcer and assassin. So if someone could fix it for The Fixer , unlike Alan Partridge to get a second series that would be tremendous. We need more shows like this not less.

A must watch....

Excellent British series with loads of twist to keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. Definitely a must see....