River: “The Eye of the Cockatrice”, Music by Harry Escott

River is a six-part British television drama series, created and written by Abi Morgan and starring Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker. It premiered on BBC One on 13 October 2015, and internationally on Netflix on 18 November 2015. The series was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Ben Stephenson. The executive producers are Jane Featherstone, Manda Levin, Abi Morgan and Lucy Richer. Filming began in London in October 2014. The series was made by Kudos and will be distributed globally by Shine International.

Vicki Power of The Daily Express reported Skarsgård saying of his role as DI River, “There’s not much research you can do because his condition doesn’t really exist as we know it. […] It’s a combination of problems, because he’s not like people who hear voices – they’re usually schizophrenic and lack empathy and he does not. But it doesn’t make it less truthful. What attracted me to the script is that it didn’t look like any other script I’ve ever read.”

Finding River to be “Kinda Wallander meets Sixth Sense”, Wollaston of The Guardian said, “It’s more than just crime drama – it’s about personal tragedy, demons; it’s a study of loss and grief (which it shares with the greatest Nordic noir of them all: the first series of The Killing). It’s also a study of that – killing – and why people do it. And why they did it – Mr Cream brings a historical perspective to it. And Abi Morgan, the creator of the series, brings a characteristic humanness to it all; it’s as much about who the people are as about what they do to each other. Good enough for me”.

Note: I just finished watching River; actually I was so riveted that I watched the entire series in one sitting. I am a big Wallander fan and never thought any show would be as intense. I highly recommend River. This is a must-see, particularly if you are into this genre. The music score by Harry Escott is one of his best.