Series 7 of Waking the Dead continues its golden era, with a walloping personal impact for Boyd
“I wish you never found that body”
The introduction of George Rainsford as Boyd’s son Luke was a really ballsy move from Waking the Dead. His disappearance has long been a driver for Boyd’s every action, particularly in cases where missing children were involved, so you knew that Luke’s return would be noteworthy to say the least.
But I don’t think anyone would have predicted where Series 7 would take us. With Luke still deep in the throes of drug addiction and Boyd unwilling or unable to ask for help, there’s a deeply tragic trajectory to their relationship, ultimately proving desperately devastating in the final episodes.
This plays out as a subplot across the whole season and as wtih Series 6, Tara Fitzgerald’s Eve establishes herself as the team’s (and the show’s) MVP, a cracking character able to far outshine the limited material given to her as the forensic expert, hints of her past helping to make the case for a spin-off…
And as we bounce from neo-Nazis and Balkan war crimes to international terrorists and unscrupulous mercenaries, there’s still a remarkable sense of freshness to the storytelling that keeps this a most compelling show.
Top guest appearances
- In a powerful episode ‘Missing Persons’, Justine Mitchell’s Irishwoman on a mission is deeply felt and consequently really quite scary
- There’s not too much I can say about Ruth Gemmell’s work in ‘Sins’ that won’t give away the farm but suffice to say, I think it is probably one of my favourite performances across the entire nine series of Waking the Dead
- ‘Duty and Honour’ returns us to the familiar setting of an army barracks but Nicholas Farrell’s Col. Malham is a moving standout here
- There’s a deep sadness at the heart of ‘Wounds’ with great work across the supporting cast, particularly Lorcan Cranitch as Victor
- And in harrowing series finale ‘Pietà’, Anna Madeley’s Anna Vaspovic is a study in conflicted grief
