For decades, the UK has produced so many high-class crime dramas, that it is impossible to "shoot without fail" all the time. Tastes develop, as well as circumstances, and viewers may move beyond the approaches and issues they used to like in Poirot or Morse, for example, or have begun to like "new age" in the form of Luther or Prey... Black Work is a kind of related mix, but worrying and grief overshadow other elements, including credibility, several male performers are too look-a-like, and the final 20 minutes or so add unnecessary sophistication. True, Sheridan Smith as P.C. Jo Gillespie is catchy and the background realism is up there, but I am able to "blurt out" dozens of more interesting (mini)series I have seen in recent years. To me, Black Work is more a long film than series, and when you see all 3 episodes in a row, you could realise that many scenes and dialogues could have been more compact.

This three part ITV drama fed off the recent major news story here about an undercover cop infiltrating a criminal gang over a period of years to the extent of getting involved romantically and having children with one of the associated females.This series took it many steps further, having the undercover cop killed and then focusing on the dead man's widow, played by Sheridan Smith, a fellow police officer who decides to investigate her husband's unexplained death which occurred just before the police bust the gang he's been painstakingly planted to uncover. The plot has many layers, with almost everyone against her, including the murdered officer's sullen ex-wife and rebellious teenage son, the black woman with whom he's lately gotten involved and fathered a daughter, her husband's loyal (to him) mother, not to mention a plethora of so-called colleagues, some better-intentioned than others, especially as things develop.Smith's affair with Matthew McNulty and its exposure courtesy of someone bugging Smith's home and car, the young gang member being framed for the murder, whose teenage girlfriend has mysteriously disappeared and the senior D.I. who attends the funeral only to vaguely threaten Smith and her children are all there in the mix, although I personally felt that every fifteen minutes or so a new suspect came into view only to be dismissed until practically the only one left turned out to be the insider who did the deed.Putting aside my disbelief about Smith's one-woman crusade for the truth and the clichéd characterisation of the good and bad cops on view, I still enjoyed the unfolding of the storyline. The acting was okay not helped by a certain over-familiarity with several of the leading actors, Smith, McNulty and Dougie Henshall in particular. That said, the mystery of the murder was tidily wrapped up in the end and the show fulfilled its brief as a satisfactory TV cop drama, without being good enough to make me think much about the wider issues arising from police undercover operations in general.

Lets get this out the way first Sheridan Smith is on another level to nearly every other British actress and on TV no one beats her lately and must be close till Hollywood calls and its thanks to her that Black Work is another winner for her and ITV. Her acting,a strong supporting cast and truly heart wrenching emotion as well as gripping sequences keep this show from wobbling which it can do at times especially in the last episode but this is Miss Smith's show and even with the short hair she is just stunning beyond belief in both looks and performance and you will find yourself rooting for her against everyone even those you thought you trusted,that is hard to do in any film or TV series and proves how incredible a talent she is.Police constable Jo Gillespie(Smith)is stunned to hear her undercover officer husband Ryan has been killed and is determined to find out the truth of what happened plus keep it together for her daughter Melly and stepson Hal(a star in the making Oliver Woolford)but as no one seems to be doing much in finding out what happened Jo starts her own investigation but the more she founds out about Ryan the more secrets are revealed and Jo finds that her husband may have lead a double life away from home. Along with close friend DC Jack Clark(Matthew McNulty)who Jo has been getting too close with she tries to find out exactly who is behind Ryan's death but Jo learns that even those she thought she knew may be not telling the whole truth about things.As I said before Sheridan keeps this show from being worth a watch and turns it into a excellent three part series and helps when the cast is filled with so many well known faces and she seems to bring out the best in them,her emotion about Ryan's death will bring tears to your eye as well as quite beautiful scenes with her children and Woolford as Hal is a future star for me and the sequences with him,Jo and little Melly are very powerful and bring real weight of emotion. Smith is also excellent in the thriller parts chasing down suspects and taking on people she thought she trusted and not many characters I've seen have I rooted for as much as Jo as no one seems to want her in the investigation and you will her to get in there and take them all down Charles Bronson like,OK a bit far but you really will root for her.The rest of the cast though support her well are a bit wasted and don't really get a lot to do but standouts are McNulty as Jack who seems a nice guy but is he hiding something,the cool as ever Phil Davies arrives briefly as the tough nut handler of undercover Ryan and of course young star Woolford who really impressed me with a portrayal much older than his years and if you were young Melly you would want a older brother like him and you feel for him and is split about his dads death and weather to like Jo anymore and support her. Other well known people all are great but as I said wasted but this is one of the strongest casts I've seen in years.A top effort from ITV with tension filled moments and genuine shocks and twists and though it wobbles a bit towards the end and the last episode loses the plot a bit this is one of the best dramas on TV in 2015 so far and is headlined by the unbeatable force of nature that is Sheridan Smith who could put on a dustbin and win a Bafta for it plus a star in the making for talented teen Woolford.Hope Smith remains on British television but come on Hollywood her time to shine is now.

Amongst the risks is the danger of over - exposure on television,and Miss S.Smith,possibly through no fault of her own,finds herself on the borderline between being regularly and successfully in work and being chewed up(and eventually spat out) by greedy TV programme makers. Barely a decent period has passed between her appearing as a terminal cancer patient and her latest role as a police officer "Blackwork". Indeed her hair hadn't had time to grow back to its usual length,so she decided to play her character with an urchin - cut rather than wear a wig. Nothing wrong with that per se,but it illustrates the haste with which the "Industry" wants to proceed when they have decided to promote someone "from the chorus" as it were and ensure the viewing public whom presumably they believe to have the attention span of a goldfish do not lose interest in them. So the smart and talented Miss Smith takes centre - stage as the producers hope she will give a bit of a boost to "Blackwork" which otherwise is a bit of a dog. Same old stressed Northern cops,a Chief Constable who goes jogging (an uncomfortable - looking Miss G.James) and a creaky old plot about an undercover detective who might or might not have gone rogue. By the end of the first episode I no longer cared one way or the other. An elfin - looking Miss Smith moved from being miserable to being very miserable and back again at random. You can make an original and gripping TV show about cops oop north even in 2015("No Offence")but it has to be rather less of a one - person band and you need to fill it with characters that the audience can empathise with. The arrival of Mr P.Davis in episode 2 may help,but it shouldn't have been left to Miss Smith to carry the show until his arrival. She is clever,she can be subtle and moving,but frankly,"Blackwork" will not be a highlight on her C.V.