Steve Sutherland

Get past the mindless dialogue and ropey acting of the workmen near the film's beginning and you're in for a thoughtful, well paced and truly creepy ride. Andrew Keir grounds the film with an avuncular and convincing performance. Even one more ropey acting moment, when the 'expert driller' outdoes even Keanu Reeves for sheer thespian ineptitude can't spoil the fun. A fascinating denouement should leave you satisfied if slightly disturbed. Thoroughly recommended.

It took my provincial fussiness quite a while to be persuaded to dive into foreign language shows. After Germany's Dark, and this from Iceland, I'm not just a convert. I'm avidly searching for more of these breathtakingly high quality shows.

Wondrous stuff. 30 minutes in you'll be screaming at Mike to wake up. This is a gem. It makes you want to tear off the suit, don an anorak and go full nerd. Oh, and 1420.163 is now my lucky number.

I think the moment before the credits roll at the end of episode 5 is the most powerful television I've seen. As the real life characters have their follow-ups displayed in writing, we see that Lyudmila Ignatenko was told by doctors that she would never conceive. The next line stopped me cold. It read, and I paraphrase: 'They were wrong. She lives with her son in Kiev'. Gets me every time.