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For the past four weeks, ITV1’s supernatural drama Marchlands has been building increasing momentum, and while Thursday’s final episode was a must-see, it wasn’t quite the nail-biting conclusion it should have been.
In 1968, Ruth (Jodie Whittaker) and Paul (Jamie Thomas King) agreed to move away from Marchlands, and Robert (Denis Lawson) finally came clean to Evelyn (Tessa Peake-Jones) about how his indiscretions led to his granddaughter’s death. In 1987, Helen (Alex Kingston) and Eddie (Dean Andrews) also agreed to move away. And in 2010, Nisha (Shelley Conn) and Mark (Elliot Cowan) learned of Alice’s death, with the elder Ruth (Anne Reid) finally discovering what happened to her daughter.
As shown in the previous paragraph, there was a lot of ground to cover in just 45 minutes. It’s incredible how gripping Marchlands has been when very little has actually happened until now; it could have quite easily been fitted into 3 episodes. However, having the plot stretched out for longer has definitely been more effective, with intrigue building up extremely well, and the consistently strong ratings suggest that more than a few water-cooler moments will have been derived from this show. But this is also how the final episode’s problem emerged.
Marchlands is the kind of programme that encourages discussion, and allowing viewers to think about the twist for a full five weeks meant that when it was revealed, it induced mutterings of: “Oh is that it?” rather than gasps of disbelief. Indeed, the twist was a bit obvious and, call me a traditionalist, but spirits normally hang around to reveal a bit more than the fact that their granddad was having a bit of hanky panky with a neighbour. Sure, it wasn’t a bad twist, and it was clever how previous references to Alice’s coat became clear, it’s just a pity that there wasn’t more to it. The affair was certainly a good explanation for Alice running into the woods, but there should have been something more to her death. I was convinced that her father had something to do with it.
If Marchlands had managed to pull off a killer twist, then this review would have heaped praise on it. It has been one of those rare programmes where it comes to the end of an episode and you immediately want to watch the next one. Moreover, it has been clever enough to go for suspense rather than scares, and there have been some truly chilling, goose-bumpy movements, not least the shot of the frozen wet hand that appeared at the end of the second episode…
The top trump, though, must go to the final episode’s spine tingling, gleefully creepy sequence where Alice’s hand appeared in the washing machine, the ghost then revealing herself to Helen so that she could save her son’s life. I can feel a chill coming on by merely writing these words… it was suspense at its best. The performances have also been spot on, with Whitaker and King particularly standing out, bringing believable emotions to their parts, and Peake-Jones practically grew horns and started hissing in the electric showdown between Evelyn and Robert.
All in all, Marchlands has been supremely entertaining viewing. While it couldn’t pull off a jaw-dropping reveal, the final episode certainly didn’t fall from that standard, and when, in the closing scenes, the families left the house and the handprint on the window disappeared, it was very difficult not to be moved. Other channels take note – this is how to do quality drama.
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