THE MISSING, BBC1, 9pm
WHEN I received my preview copy of tonight’s episode it came with a list of spoilers I must not mention.
There were eight. Eight! That shows how furiously dependent this drama is on plot twists and turns, and I can’t help feeling the complex story was painstakingly crafted at the expense of character and atmosphere.
Also, while I’m not stupid, the endless twists and spoilers are often confusing, and the way the story is delivered, so as to continually scatter more twists and clues at our feet, is frustrating.
Having cut out the eight spoilers, there’s precious little to say, although the writers are brave enough to tackle one source of our incredulity: if “Alice” is indeed not their daughter, why on earth wouldn’t the parents realise? Apparently, they’re just so desperate to believe that they block out any doubts.
And Alice is asked to retrace her escape route in the hope she can lead the police to her former prison.
HIM, STV, 9pm
I LAUGHED at this but it’s not a comedy, it’s a new three-part series, which is supposedly a “domestic horror”.
The “him” of the title is a difficult teenage boy. His schoolwork is poor and he’s been skipping classes, preferring to hang around in parks with his hood up and his headphones on.
So far, so clichéd, but wait – he also has supernatural powers. At times of stress, his nose starts to bleed and he turns into a cheap version of Carrie. He can hurl things across the room or, if he’s really annoyed at his arrogant father, he can cause the bonnet of daddy’s BMW to fly up while he’s cruising down the motorway and send him crashing onto the hard shoulder.
But where is the sensation of horror when we see the sulky boy threaten his stepfather with death by wobbly toolbox? It all seemed a bit daft, though the story improves when his stepsister comes to stay.
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