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EMPATHY

BBC1

Empathy




Jimmy Collins -
Stephen Moyer

DI Jo Cavanaugh -
Heather Peace

DI Will Benson -
Mark Womack

Sarah -
Amanda Douge

Amy -
Amanda Beatty


OTHER VISIONARY SHOWS
Medium
Ghost Whisperer
Afterlife
Millennium





Empathy - First Transmitted August 4th 2007

Jimmy gets out of prison after serving a term for Greivous Bodily Harm on the man that assaulted his wife and a manslaughter committed whilst inside. He wants to get his life back on track, catch up with the daughter who will barely remember him and the ex-wife who hasn't forgiven him for divorcing her without reason. This new life is put in jeopardy, however, when he is assailed by visions every time that he touches someone. Convinced that he is either sick or going mad, he seeks help, but then learns of the murder of a local girl, a murder he has seen in his visions. When he goes to the police, however, they arrest him on the grounds that only the killer could know so much detail.

EMPATHY was billed as a one-off drama, but is so clearly a pilot for a series that the BBC is fooling no-one. True, the idea of a psychic helping the police solve crimes is well inside the borders of cliché land (having been central most recently in ITV's AFTERLIFE
and MEDIUM which is currently on BBC1), but this takes the hackneyed idea and builds a quality drama around it. The family background is nicely drawn, not playing to the cliché but a more awkward and believable situation. There is a touching subplot involving the son of one of the lead investigators and the reason for Jimmy's crimes is nicely handled.

Stephen Moyer makes for a strong lead, instantly likeable and noble despite his first introduction in a prison cell. Audience sympathy is immediately with him and is rewarded with the truth about what he has done and why. The other characters are less well-drawn, but the sketches are certainly more three-dimensional than in many a similar show.

This is a very promising start to another entry into a crowded supernatural drama subgenre should the full series ever emerge.



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