BB FANS

The Missing
SERIES 1 - EPISODE 1
BBC One (not Scotland) Tue 28th Oct 9pm - 10pm
Repeat: BBC One Scotland Today 10:35pm
Review by: Alison Graham

There's a moment in The Missing that will make you fold with anxiety as dad Tony (James Nesbitt) realises he's lost his five-year-old son Olly in a crowded, noisy French bar.

You can feel the same stomach-punch of fear as it dawns on Tony, in what has up till then been a happy family holiday in northern France, that his world has turned to ashes. Olly has vanished.

It's a gripping opening episode to an eight-part crime thriller from brothers Harry and Jack Williams that switches from Tony in 2014 - bereft, bedraggled, obsessed - to 2006 and the hunt for the little boy.

The shadow of Madeleine McCann and the subsequent private hell of her parents Gerry and Kate of course hang heavy over The Missing. But this isn't tasteless or exploitative, just heart-hurtingly sad as Tony and his wife Emily (Frances O'Connor) try to live with a grief that remains unfocused and unresolved.

1/8. New series. A family holiday to France ends in tragedy when a couple's five-year-old son is abducted, and although a large manhunt is launched, headed up by one of the country's finest detectives, it seems the odds of finding the youngster are against them. Eight years later, when the fallout has driven the couple apart, the father returns to the original scene to continue the search for his son. He has a shred of new evidence - but will the original lead detective be willing to take up the case again? Drama, starring James Nesbitt, Frances O'Connor, Tcheky Karyo and Jason Flemyng.
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BBC One Tue 4th Nov9pm - 10pm

2/8. It's three days after Oliver went missing, and with little
information to go on, suspicion falls on a known paedophile living in the area. With the police keeping Tony and Emily in the dark, Tony is tempted to learn more from an ambitious journalist who claims to have obtained information about the suspect in custody. In the present day, the father's campaign to have the investigation reopened gathers momentum when he and Julien, the detective in charge of the original case, find the first piece of concrete evidence. Drama about the disappearance of a five-year-old boy on a family holiday to France in 2006, and the father's search for the child eight years later. James Nesbitt, Tcheky Karyo, Frances O'Connor and Jason Flemyng star.
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BBC One 9pm - 10pm
4/8. In 2006, the case is thrown into disarray by a murder, and Tony is horrified to realise someone he thought was a friend is not the person he claimed to be. In the present day, Julien is intent on reinvestigating the links between the dead witness and Oliver's disappearance, while raking over the past starts to take its toll on Emily and Mark's relationship. Drama, starring James Nesbitt, Tcheky Karyo, Frances O'Connor and Jason Flemyng.
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BBC One Tue 16th Dec 9pm - 10pm

8/8. The action continues to move between the past and the present as the investigation into Oliver's disappearance finally comes to an end. Will Tony, Emily and Julien have finally found the answers to the mystery that began eight years earlier with the apparent abduction of five-year-old Oliver - and can any of their relationships ever be whole again? Drama, starring James Nesbitt, Frances O'Connor, Tcheky Karyo and Jason Flemyng. Last in the series.
www.radiotimes.com