As the first episode of Ridley begins, two men carrying rifles get out of a truck with two dogs. Jesse Halpin (Rob Mitchell-James) finishes his beer at the pub while Esther watches. He leaves the pub while Alex Ridley (Adrian Dunbar) stands down by the water. Jesse continues watching until he sees someone in front of him. He yells out to ask who they are before he is shot multiple times. When Alex makes it home, he finds that he has no new messages so he puts on a record. He goes through his boxes and looks at photos of himself and his family. DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh) meets with DC Darren Lakhan (George Bukhari) to investigate Jesse’s murder. Darren shows her the footpath nearby and explains that a farmworker called it in. Darren checks with Dr. Wendy Newstone (Georgie Glen) and learns the victim was shot in the upper torso. Although they’ve found footprints, it is a public path so they could belong to anyone.

Wendy shows her the shell cases they found. Carol theorizes that he ran into the killer or someone was waiting for him. Wendy knows it isn’t a good time, but she tells her well done on the promotion. They agree she is an ambitious DI with a point to prove. Wendy encourages her to play to her strengths and she’ll get there. Jean Dixon (Elizabeth Berrington) visits Alex after finding out where he has been hiding. While they go for a walk, Carol approaches Lorna (Amanda Lawrence) who found the body by the footpath. Lorna believes she has worked for the Halpin family for 20 or so years now so she knew Jesse well enough. She admits people around here never had a good word to say about Jesse. She goes on to say the Halpins keep to themselves and that is the way it has always been. Meanwhile, Jean talks to Alex about his retirement. She thinks he still has a lot to offer. They also discuss the grandkids. They make Jean feel old and she misses the job so much more than she thought she would.

Alex tells her that her presence was noted at the funeral. Jen knows she should’ve visited earlier, but she didn’t know what to say to him. Carol and Darren speak to Moll (Jennifer Hennessy) and Catherine Halpin (Alexandra Hannant). Moll admits she called the police well after midnight because Jesse wasn’t answering his phone. They were here all evening because they don’t get out much thanks to work at the farm. When Moll is asked if there is anyone who had a grievance against her husband, there is no one she can think of. Darren believes it wasn’t a random shooting. Carol asks about what Lorna said about tension among the Halpin family and other locals. Moll says it is best not to pay any heed to what Lorna says before asking how long they’ll be in the woods. Carol explains what is going on out there. Catherine tells them that Moll has been up all night so she is exhausted. Carol says they’ll still need her to identify her husband’s body, but there is no rush for that.

Darren offers to speak to a family liaison officer, but Moll doesn’t want that. Jean asks Alex if he has heard from Carol lately. He hasn’t and he also hasn’t heard about the murder of the sheep farmer. She thought it’d be better if he heard about Jesse’s murder from her. He asks if they have any idea who did it yet. When she says it is a question for the SIO, Alex believes she is trying to warn him off. She calls it friendly advice from one ex-cop to another. He can’t solve them all and it doesn’t pay to dwell in the past. At the police station, Carol tells the other detectives more about the sheep farmer who was murdered. DCI Paul Goodwin (Terence Maynard) listens as she says the man was killed with a shotgun. They believe it was personal since the Haplins had a reputation. She sends her team out to get evidence while she goes into DCI Goodwin’s office. He tells her that Jesse was questioned by Ridley in the case of three-year-old Zoe Lindsey who was abducted 14 years ago.

Ridley was asked to rule out Jesse after his plates were flagged near the scene. He believed Jesse was somehow involved, but another suspect named Daniel Preston had already been arrested. A load of evidence pointed at him, but the charge never stuck. They worry that Ridley will get word of this and stir things up since he had a full-on breakdown after his wife’s death. Carol suggests bringing him in to give him something to focus on, but Paul doesn’t want him anywhere near it. At home, Alex watches a press conference in which Zoe’s mom pleads with people to come forward. He watches two girls walk by through his window.

Carol goes to the pub to question Esther who says Jesse always drank on his own. He showed his face most evenings even though he usually didn’t say anything. When asked about the Halpins not being liked, Esther says Moll will look like through you when you see her in the village. She doesn’t get out much because Jesse liked having his women at home. He even had his daughter home schooled. After she is asked about last night, Esther says it was the usual faces. Carol wants her to put names to those faces. They hear loud music coming from a car outside. They go outside to talk to Esther’s lad Steve (Conor Lowson) who confirms he was working at the pub last night. Darren tells Carol that they’ve done the house-to-house, but nobody admitted to seeing Jesse walk out. She asks him to retrace Jesse’s steps last night. She also asks him to run a check on Steve when he gets back. Carol calls Alex to see if he has plans for later. They go out to dinner later. He begins talking to her about Jesse’s murder.

Once she asks about his concerns regarding Jesse, Alex admits he was always convinced that he had taken her. He has inconsistencies in his statements and never could explain why he was in the area. She mentions that they arrested a sex offender. Although Daniel Preston is serving time for a different crime, the CPS ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him for Zoe’s murder. Alex is convinced the investigation was flawed so he suggests Jesse and Daniel could’ve been in it together. Later, Alex goes to Marling’s where he sits down in front of the piano. He plays and sings before talking to Annie (Julie Graham). She confesses that they’re barely breaking even now. Annie makes it clear that she could use some support too after what happened. She wonders if this is what Kate and Ella would’ve wanted. When Carol makes it home, she apologizes to Jack for being unable to make it to the parents’ evening.

Jack and Geri give her updates. Once they’re alone, Geri and Carol talk about how it is a big year for Jack. While kissing, Carol gets a call from Darren who tells her Steve got into trouble for stealing a tractor. His plate was also flagged near the scene of Jesse’s murder. Carol orders him to arrest him and put him in an interview room. Once she arrives at the station, Catherine is there waiting for her because she wants to see Steve. She goes on to explain that they’ve been together for a couple of months now. Meanwhile, Alex meets with Michael Flannery (Aidan McArdle) at the prison. Carol questions Steve about his truck being close to the scene on the night of Jesse’s murder. Nearly two hours later, his vehicle is shown heading back towards the village. He claims he went for a ride. He lied to them about being at the pub all night because he knew they’d have previous issues.

He reveals his dog was hurt in one of Jesse’s traps. Although he made an official complaint with the police, they told him he couldn’t prove it. Once he is asked about Catherine, he says their relationship wasn’t common knowledge and her dad said she was too good for him. He complains that they kept her locked up on that farm. Carol accuses him of trying to even the score for his dog, but Steve insists he didn’t even see him that night. He confesses he went out night hunting with a mate and their firearm was licensed. When they heard a shot, they thought someone was coming for them so they ran back to the car and came back to the village. Carol wants to know more about his friend. Michael tells Alex that his transfer request was refused so he thought he could put in a word for him. Alex isn’t sure his word will do much. Michael is worried what the inmates will do to him since he is a snitch.

He tells Alex that he owes him because it was his fault what he did that night. Carol asks Catherine how her dad seemed in the days before he was killed, but Catherine hadn’t seen much of him. She remembers her parents arguing on the night he did. It was usually about money. They discussed selling the land and moving somewhere smaller in the village. Once they make it home, Moll tells Carol she had no right to question her daughter without her being there. She says the Parry family is bad news. Carol thinks she had to know about her daughter seeing Steve. Moll claims this is what happened when you let people in and nothing good comes from it. Alex tries to get information about Daniel from Michael who doesn’t want to say much. Michael doesn’t remember him saying anything about Zoe. Alex tells him about Daniel, Jesse, and their connection to Zoe’s disappearance. Michael reveals the powers that be sends in all kinds to see Daniel and press him to tell what he did with her.

He suggests he finally gave them something since he was released on parole a few days ago. Michael says it is best not to indulge low lives like Preston because he’ll be back inside soon enough. Alex meets with Carol to tell her about Daniel being released two weeks ago. They confront Daniel (Graeme Hawley) moments later. He doesn’t remember Jesse’s name, but his face is familiar. Daniel recalls working with him after the manager took him on even though he didn’t have anything to do with him. Alex tells him about Jesse being interviewed in connection with Zoe’s abduction and the fact that he was murdered a few days after Daniel got out of prison. After Alex suggests he wanted to even the score, Daniel shows him his ankle monitoring bracelet and says he has a 7 PM curfew. Carol mentions his previous convictions which include possession of child pornography, indecent assault, and statutory rape of a minor. Daniel admits they’re not the first people to try to get him to confess.

Back at the office, Darren shows Carol the phone records for Jesse. He also ran a background check on the daughter with social services. The home schooling brings up some concerns that were called neglect. She missed a few appointments, but there weren’t any major issues. Goodwin yells for Carol to enter his office before complaining that Daniel’s probation office has accused them of harassment. She tells him about Jesse working at Dunmore Sands around the time of Zoe’s disappearance. If Jesse and Daniel were acquainted, his death could be linked to Zoe’s disappearance. He gets mad when he learns that she has been working with Ridley and thinks he might be onto something. She reminds him that he worked the original case and suggests reopening it since the two cases might be connected. Once he says he’d have to take it to the super, Carol insists she wants Ridley involved because he has something to offer.

Outside the police station, Alex imagines that Kate is next to him questioning if he really wants to do this. As he goes inside, Goodwin approaches him so he can lay down some ground rules. He makes it clear that he put his neck on the line for Alex. Carol tells the team about the possible connection to the cold case. As Alex enters with Goodwin, she tells them that Zoe was taken from the caravan park. Alex tells them how he interviewed Jesse. There were inconsistencies in his statements and he couldn’t explain why he was there. Goodwin points out that he was clean at the time. They didn’t know he had been working at the caravan park until now. They can rule Daniel out for the murder since he was on home confinement. Alex and Carol visit Moll to ask how Jesse found out about the caravan park. She believes it was advertised in the newspaper or something. Alex mentions that he visited Dunmore Sands on the same day a 3-year-old child was abducted.

Moll gets upset once she finds out that Alex is the one who questioned him. She is adamant that Jesse had nothing to do with that. Moll doesn’t remember Jesse ever mentioning someone named Daniel Preston. On their way out, Carol scolds Alex for being so aggressive and asks if he is just trying to get one over on Goodwin. Ridley thinks they should go back to the crime scene. They go back to the caravan park where they meet with Penny Lindsey (Erin Shanagher). Penny remembers that Zoe had gone out to play with her friends. Although the kids ran wild in the park in the summer, it was a safe place. When it got dark, there was still no sign of Zoe. They claimed it was neglect and even suggested she might’ve hurt her daughter.

When she is asked about Jesse, she begins asking if someone came forward. She is still convinced it was Daniel Preston, but Ridley is not. Something about him wasn’t right and the police found stuff on his laptop. Penny insists she wouldn’t have let him anywhere near her daughter if she knew what he was. Then, they talk to the manager Gill Moreland (Caroline Lee-Johnson) about Jesse working there. Gill says Penny used to leave her daughter in the office and go to the pub. Some days she’d even forget to feed her. She also admits to giving Daniel the job since his references checked out. Gill says Adam was with her on the day she was taken because she followed him everywhere. He was six or seven at the time. Although they questioned Adam, they ruled him out as a reliable suspect. They want to question him. Garren tells Goodwin they got the statement from Steve’s mate and it backed up his alibi. His gun wasn’t the one that killed Jesse either.

Adam (Reece Douglas) tells Alex and Carol that he told the police what happened over and over. He explains that she wanted some ice cream so he tried to get some money. When he turned around, Zoe was talking to someone who had pulled up in a white van. He didn’t see the man’s face, but the police thought it was Preston since he used his van when he needed to move stuff. By the time he bought the ice cream, the van had gone and Zoe was missing. He can’t say whether she got into the van. Ridley shows him a picture of Jesse. Adam is convinced she wouldn’t have gone with a stranger. As they leave, Alex says the police just thought the van was Preston’s. Carol admits it was taken apart and they didn’t find a shred of evidence. Alex says the plates that flagged Jesse were registered to a white minivan. At the station, Alex tells Goodwin that Jesse worked at the caravan park and might’ve been casing it. Goodwin doesn’t like hearing about Adam seeing the van but not the driver.

Alex thinks this is their chance to put right any mistakes they made back then. Later, they go back to the farm and find a white van while Lorna watches from nearby. Moll insists Jesse was just a hoarder. When asked about Steve’s complaint, she says the dog shouldn’t have been in the woods because Jesse warned Steve. Carol and Alex look at the woods and question why Jess was desperate to keep people out of here. Lorna draws attention to herself so they begin looking for her. When Carol finds her, Lorna holds her at gunpoint. Alex sneaks up behind her and tells her to put the gun down which she does. She is taken to the station where she is questioned about the shotgun which was used to shoot Jess. She claims she took it from the shed. Carol tells her that the Wellington boots found at her place match the tracks at the crime scene. Lorna reminds them that she found them this morning, but Alex thinks she killed him and left him for dead on the path.

Lorna says he told her she’d have to leave the farm and she had nowhere to go. She says this was years ago and mentions something about her. Lorna explains that he swore it was an accident and that he would never hurt her. When she is shown a picture of Zoe, Lorna says he told her she was a part of it. Lorna claims they put her in a box and buried her. She takes them into the woods where the body is supposed to be buried. Once Alex is alone, Catherine comes out and says her dad always told her that these woods were haunted. She tells him about a bird she found with a broken wing and how she rescued it. It was fine for a while until it died. Then, her dad told her the bird didn’t need its body anymore. Ridley offers to take her back to her house.

Catherine knows they’re looking for a body. She doesn’t want to go home because she can’t stand to be with her after this. Ridley sees his daughter in the woods before Newstone interrupts to tell him they’re scanning the site. Carol returns home where she finds her son doing homework. She offers to order pizza before they discuss her promotion. Ridley goes to the pub and talks to Annie about seeing Michael. She tells him that he killed his wife, daughter, and her best friend so he doesn’t deserve his forgiveness. Ridley has been thinking about them and the fact that it might’ve been different if he had stayed at home. Annie admits she picked up the phone to call Kate last week only to remember she isn’t around anymore. Ridley reminds her that Michael was coming for him and he should’ve burned that night. He gets a message so he meets with Carol at the dig site. Once a box is pulled from the ground, they sit down with Moll to tell her they discovered a body that might be to Zoe.

She learns about Lorna having the gun and saying she helped Jesse bury the body. Moll tells them that Catherine is gone so she doesn’t know why they couldn’t have just left them alone to grieve. Gill is watched at the caravan park before she enters one of the trailers. Daniel tells her she still leaves the spare key under the mat. Dr. Newstone tells Carol and Ridley that the infant skeletal remains belonged to a female. She was likely down there between 10 and 15 years. She might be able to take DNA to compare to Penny’s DNA. Daniel and Gill talk about Jesse and the fact that the police think he might’ve done it. Daniel is adamant he never laid a finger on Zoe. He wants her to tell them that they were together that night, but Gill won’t because they know what they’ll do to a pedophile’s girlfriend. He has been thinking about getting a place here when his parole is over and they can pick up where they left off, but she refuses.

When Preston walks outside, Adam sees and attacks him. Daniel hits the back of his head on nearby bricks. At the station, Adam tells Carol what Daniel was doing at the park and he knew about their relationship as a kid. He better hope Daniel pulls through because he has a bleed on the brain. Ridley goes to Penny to tell her about the discovery. He wants to run a DNA test, but Penny isn’t sure if she is ready for that. Alex tells her how his family died in a house fire and he’d do anything to get some closure. Ella was 19 at the time. When asked about the stuff on Daniel’s computer, Penny says one of the detectives must’ve told her. Once she says it was the woman in charge, he suspects it was Jean Dixon. Ridley meets with Jean at a restaurant to tell her about the body. They found a white van at the farm he tried to get her to search a long time ago. They argue about Adam’s testimony with Alex accusing her of manipulating him. As he continues pressing her, she claims she did what she had to do.

She says in that moment it was a misstep and you become damaged goods. Alex knows how that feels and how years of service don’t mean much. She asks him to let this go, but he can’t. At the station, Wendy tells the detectives about the exam and dental records. They find it odd that the victim had all their death when Zoe did not. The bone marrow DNA didn’t match either so the body isn’t Zoe. Lorna is brought in for questioning again. Since the victim had a blow to the head, they ask Lorna if she was with Jesse when he killed her. She claims Jesse never killed anyone. Supposedly, the victim was already dead when he found her. Jesse told her that the girl climbed up on the tractor when no one was looking and fell. They took her to the farmhouse, put her on the table, and Moll said a prayer for her. It made her half mad with grief. They go back to Moll’s house and find her photo album on the kitchen table.

In the bedroom, Carol tells Alex that Catherine is supposedly 17 according to the social services report. He says Zoe isn’t dead and instead has been hiding in plain sight. When they find Moll, she tells them she wanted to take the girl to the hospital, but Jesse said there would be too many questions and he didn’t trust outsiders. They were blessed when God brought her back to them. She died on June 3rd after she just turned three. Moll claims Jesse found their little girl at Dunmore Sands and he took the girl for her. Her mother never cared for her like they did since they gave her everything she needed. Moll admits Daniel wasn’t involved. Jesse wanted to tell her once she got older. He got mad and stormed off to the pub. Lorna didn’t kill him. She was looking after her. A flashback shows Moll shooting Jesse on the night in question. Moll is arrested, but allowed to explain things to Catherine before she leaves.

Ridley tells Carol you’d do anything to get a child back and fill the void. Catherine gets mad at Moll and leaves. Alex talks to Catherine in her room and insists they loved her regardless of everything. Catherine doesn’t know who she is anymore. He thinks she is Penny’s daughter who was taken all those years ago. Catherine says she is gone before going outside to join Steve. Later, Alex and Carol agree to meet up again. She has one final call to make right now though. Alex goes to the pub where he tells Annie it wouldn’t hurt to do a couple of songs. While he performs with the band, Zoe returns to her mother. Alex calls his home so he can hear his wife’s voicemail message.

 

Ridley Review

The first episode of Ridley did a good job of introducing the main character Alex Ridley who is obviously going to be the focal point. Early in the episode, it seemed that DI Carol Farman, DC Darren Lakhan, and DCI Paul Goodwin would play integral roles in the investigation, but that fell by the wayside pretty quickly. Carol was the only character of the three that stood out by following Ridley around like a puppy waiting for its head rub. Certain casting choices could be better because Terence Maynard just did this recently and another character looked more like an IT tech than a detective.

The same could be said about Bronagh Waugh who was a detective in Viewpoint. The acting was good from almost everyone, but it’d be nice to see the cast mixed up a bit since it gets old seeing the same actors and actresses in the same roles repeatedly. The first episode had a lot of clichés that viewers will have seen countless times before this series. The show has a retired detective who just suffered a personal loss and will soon be called back to work. He also likes jazz like so many other quirky detectives. Alex is also visiting the prison to see the guy who killed his wife and daughter to get investigative tips.

The twists weren’t totally surprising, but they were decently executed with Zoe returning to her mother near the end of the episode. Another issue is the runtime. That is probably my biggest complaint above everything else. There really is no reason to beat a dead horse for an hour and a half when this could’ve easily been wrapped up in an hour. In an hour and a half, they could’ve at least covered more topics such as what happened to Daniel Preston, how DCI Goodwin responded to Ridley’s success, and other things. Instead, it just felt like the detectives were just talking to one person, moving elsewhere to talk to someone else, and returning to talk to the same person again.

The foundation is there and the cast is competent with Adrian Dunbar in the lead. The series just needs to become its own thing and work on the character development a bit more. It has three more episodes to set itself apart from the shows that clearly inspired it. The first episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Ridley can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.