Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Grace’ On BritBox, Where A Police Detective Whose Wife Went Missing Investigates Twisty Cases

The grizzled British police detective is a character that has survived through the decades because they’re always made to be so much more interesting than their American counterparts. Often dogged by a dark history and devoted to their jobs, they almost always utilize their tremendous skills in the face of opposition from their bosses. Grace, starring John Simm, fits well within that history.

GRACE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The shore line along Brighton in England. As Detective Superintendent Roy Grace (John Simm) goes for a jog, we see scenes from a murder trial where he testified.

The Gist: At the trial. Grace testified that he used a medium to help locate the body. He considers anyone who can get him closer to either the murderer or a missing body a legitimate source, but his supervisor, ACC Alison Vosper (Rakie Ayola), thinks otherwise. Because of these splashy embarrassments and others, she’s relegated Grace to cold case duty. She’d like to fire him, but her bosses cite that as “bad optics.”

He can’t stand the cold cases because the families of the victims have no closure, just like him; his wife Sandy disappeared six years prior, and he was never able to find her, despite his skills and resources. He’s paid a visit by DS Glenn Branson (Richie Campbell), a former colleague who wants him to consult on a case.

During the bachelor party for wealthy real estate developer Michael Neward (Tom Weston-Jones), the van his friends were driving got into an accident, but Michael was nowhere to be found. His business partner and best mate Mark Warden (Matt Stokoe), who was held up at a meeting, was supposed to be in that van, and feels tremendously guilty that the rest of the people in that van didn’t make it. Michael’s fiancee, Ashley Haynes (Alisha Bailey), is desperate to get him back; he’s helped stabilize her life after a series of tragedies and bad choices.

As Grace and Branson investigate, they find that Michael was the victim of a bachelor party prank gone wrong; he’s buried somewhere in the woods in a coffin. Mark’s only communication with the outside world is Davey Marshbrook (Cian Binchy), the special needs adult son of the tow truck driver who was called to the accident scene; Davey took the walkie-talkie Michael’s mates used to talk to their buried friend. As Grace starts to suspect Mark, he’s taken in by Ashley’s vulnerability, which may or may not hamper his ability to solve the case and find Michael in time.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Grace is reminiscent of some of the best British cop shows, like Prime Suspect, where the main character is so devoted to the job that they use it to tamp down the demons in their lives. The 90-minute, self-contained mystery format is similar to what we saw with Sherlock.

Our Take: Russell Lewis has adapted Grace from a novel series by Peter James. There’s nothing about it that’s reinventing the British cop-show wheel; a cop who is consumed by his job and is fighting off emotional demons solving twisty-turny cases where it seems that his expertise and instincts will help him outwit the perpetrators and his skeptical bosses.

But shows like this can still be excellent, with engaging, complex mysteries and a main character that gets us on their side. Simm, who has played both good and bad guys just in the last few years, hooks us immediately as Roy Grace. We can see that he uses all the methods he can to help the families of victims find closure, one way or another; the empathy he has for them can be seen in the soft edges around his hardened cop exterior. Simm is the type of actor who can exude both arrogance and vulnerability, to show the utter confidence he has in his skills while showing evidence that his past is dogging him.

Richie Campbell plays Branson as a friend and partner who not only trusts Grace more than his bosses do but isn’t afraid to question him when Grace does something like take a possession of Michael’s to the “pendulum man”, a medium who can suss out a person’s location by feeling something belonging to that person.

Like we said, the mystery itself had a lot of unexpected twists, though some of them got telegraphed at points, and the plausibility of some of the perpetrator’s actions were a little illogical at the end. But it certainly doesn’t play its audience for chumps and earns most of its twists and turns, whether you agree with the direction Lewis took or not. It certainly made us look forward to the second episode in the limited run of the first season.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Grace walks away from the scene having solved the case, glum as ever.

Sleeper Star: Alisha Bailey was fantastic as the distraught Ashley Haynes, who seemed to be a troubled soul whose life was stabilized by her relationship to Michael. But the other aspects of her character were also played well.

Most Pilot-y Line: Not sure how Branson can afford his well-tailored suit and the Audi he drives on a detective sergeant’s salary.

Our Call: STREAM IT. John Simm is the main reason why Grace is such a watchable show. The mysteries are sufficiently engaging to keep the show from dragging, but Simm is the real attraction here.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Grace On BritBox