The Victim

Yes nanaK54 everything that was in the present was in Edinburgh and the original crime. The scar was a big help.

He took refuge in Port Glasgow after he was released from prison and lived there with his new family. It was there he was assaulted.

Oh of course thank you Nannylovesshopping

Craig/Eddie said that the police etc said he tortured the child but that he did not.

He wanted to be big

Please put me out of my misery - what did she say right at the end....."he wanted to be ?"
I rewound a couple of times but still couldn't make out that last word

Initially I became very hooked into this drama and the ethical issues it posed. I think it was intended that the mother would not play a part that encouraged sympathy. The last episode I have to say I found distasteful in the extreme with the graphic description of how the child died. I just hope that anyone whose had a loved one who had been murdered didn't watch this. I don't suppose they would. I can usually cope with violent scenes on tv because I know it is not real, but I found this too close to cases which have happened in RL as someone has mentioned.

Ah right, thanks Anja, I must have missed the bit about the murder being committed in Edinburgh. I'm still a bit about Dan, though. Didn't someone say at one stage that he found the body, but didn't report finding it straightaway? And the "torture" aspect of the murder didn't seem to be explained properly. I thought he was going to be part of it

I was rather confused too - was the bridge they visited in Edinburgh then?
And the storyline about Dan was not explained, nor the torture.

Can't help thinking that during the court case some newspaper hack would have traced the fact that he was Eddie and splashed it all over the papers.

There were many victims in this drama, and I know I'll be mulling it over for a few days to come. I may even watch it a 2nd time.

I can understand her going to see her first husband because, although her 2nd husband was lovely and kind and very understanding, no one else would ever be able to totally understand what they must have gone through except the 2 biological parents themselves. It's the same with any traumatic experience - illness, divorce, abuse - only a fellow sufferer can truly empathise.

Danny said he felt very isolated with his experience of finding the body. He must have been just a kid himself and he said he had no one he could talk to who could understand. Also a boy from a troubled background I assumed. When he first met Lou, she mentioned straight away about her brother's murder, and Dan realised that here was someone who understood, whose family understood, so he attached himself to them.

He was also a red herring, as someone else has pointed out.

Maggiemaybe Dan and that other lad (he who shared a cell with Eddie/Craig) were being hinted at as possibly the real Eddie J. It was all about laying fake trails to keep us guessing.

I think the ‘torture’ was a red herring and injuries inflicted after death by the piling on of bricks etc in an effort to hide the body. That’s how I read it anyway.

Dan didn’t report the body allegedly at first. That wasn’t fully explained unless I missed that bit.

He had a conviction for possession of drugs. And he was making or helping Ben clean off the graffiti that Ben had put there.

Anja, yes I understood that, but what was all that stuff about him being "bad news" and having some undisclosed conviction? And what was he doing at the graveyard?

Ah right, thanks Anja, I must have missed the bit about the murder being committed in Edinburgh. I'm still a bit about Dan, though. Didn't someone say at one stage that he found the body, but didn't report finding it straightaway? And the "torture" aspect of the murder didn't seem to be explained properly. I thought he was going to be part of it.

Must get back into Line of Duty mode now....

Danny was the boy who found Liam’s body. Nothing to do with the actual killing.

As I understood it the murder did not take place in Port Glasgow where Eddie J/Craig Myers was relocated. There was a reference twice to Edinburgh, once saying he had an injunction imposed to stop him coming within 25 miles of Edinburgh. And it was certainly Edinburgh where the trial took place judging by all those steep steps!

Although I was a little mystified with some things, I still really enjoyed this series. Although I am not sure that enjoyed is the right word, - maybe thought provoking is better, like others above have said. And the final scene was most moving and effective. What superb actors.

Thought it was a bit too long and drawn out and the music was terrible. There were too many loose ends and some highly improbable circumstances.

I agree with you grannyticktock, I think this made the characters more real. I found this a very thought provoking series.

I quite liked the fact that none of the main characters was entirely likeable. It kept us on our toes, not knowing whom to side with or whom to blame.

What a great drama, so much to think about packed into four episodes! There were plot holes, yes, and big ones at that, the biggest being why was Eddie allowed to live in the area and why did nobody recognise him? But to be fair, without them there’d have been no drama. I thought it was well acted and compelling.

We didn’t get the Danny/Ben sub-plot either, and what was the big mystery around John Hannah’s character? Are we being left hanging to set up another series with the detective? I do hope so!

I agree Grannyknot I found it difficult to sympathise too much with the mother. Thank God though I have never been in that or any similar situation.
I thought it was well done Anja James Harkness was very good.

grannyticktocki too ondered about the references to Danny and the boy Ben.Was Danny somehow involved in the murder of Liam or just someone who was really interested in the whole sagaand it had affectedhim in someway. I found the mother really difficult to lke, she was so cp=old and calculating and although we knew she had had this dreadful tragic event in her life, i felt more sorry for the husband, her daughter and son especially when she kept going back to see her 1st husband Tristian andtalking to him rather than those that clearly loved and supported her. Strange program but very watchable.

That was so very powerful in all ways. Great story, script and acting.

I sometimes give up on dramas when they get silly, over complicated, unreal but this was totally gripping. The ending was superb.

harrigran I'm glad you wrote that about feeling annoyed with Liam's mother, I did too (so stopped watching after Episode 2). I just couldn't accept that she would put her own needs above that of her husband and 2 other children, and be so impetuous as to post on social media something that clearly will impact on another family including complete innocents. So because she had no empathy/sympathy, I couldn't feel any for her character. She never got me "on side".

(But before anyone jumps on me, no, I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a child in similar circunstances).