Sea of Souls: Series 1, Episode 1 – “Seeing Double: Part 1” (2004)

 

Here’s another addition to the growing list of BBC Scotland projects that I’ve seen.  PC is hardly the first Scottish actor whose work I’ve followed, yet I hadn’t seen any BBC Scotland shows prior to Capaldi Fall (what’s up with that, James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor?)  But I digress.  This procedural is a bit out of the ordinary – on Sea of Souls, the case of the week (or rather, weeks, since all the stories appear to be two-parters) delves into the world of parapsychology.

 

In the first part of “Seeing Double,” leading man Douglas and his colleagues have been studying telepathy in identical twins.  Luckily for them, it just so happens that Douglas’s friend Carol has recently had a chance encounter with Helen, the twin sister she didn’t know she had.  Since the two women were adopted by separate families and had no prior knowledge of each other, Douglas is keen to study them.  At first, Carol is thrilled to discover Helen and enjoys exploring their possible abilities, but as time goes on, she starts to suspect that Helen isn’t exactly the sort of sister she’s always dreamed of having.

 

PC plays Gordon Fleming, Carol’s husband.  They’ve been married long enough that they’ve fallen into an unfortunate rut, and they’ve both felt their relationship drifting.  Naturally, Helen’s arrival shakes everything up.  Gordon is intrigued by the vivacious Helen, which the more somber Carol isn’t crazy about.

 

The case-of-the-week players get a lot of focus, so there’s some halfway decent stuff for Gordon.  Though he’s an aspect of Carol’s story more than anything else, the interplay between the two – and between Gordon and Helen – is good.  Right from the start, the terse stalemate of Carol and Gordon’s relationship is established.  You get the idea that they’re two people who really cared about each once but have lost their way.

 

Bill Paterson (Prentice’s dad in The Crow Road, as well as Professor Bracewell from Who’s “Victory of the Daleks” in series 5) stars in Sea of Souls.  Also featured is Archie Panjabi, who I hadn’t actually known was British.  While I’ve seen very little of The Good Wife, I’ve heard excellent things about it, and I understand her Kalinda is a fan favorite.

 

Accent Watch

 

Tremendously Scottish.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Possibly, depending on how it shakes out.  I find the premise interesting.

 

PC-wise – Could be.  I’ll pass further judgment when I see part 2 tomorrow, but PC is doing some nice work here.

 

Warnings

 

Some thematic elements, a little violence, and one fairly graphic sex scene.