Kiri (TV Mini Series 2018) Poster

(2018)

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6/10
Bad Ending
knm-8696018 February 2018
I would have rated higher if it wasn't for the ending. I did really enjoy this series but the ending was disappointing. Why do all films and tv programs these days have to have dubious endings where you have to guess what is actually going to happen instead of just rounding off the story? Back in the 80's or 90's this didn't happen the story reached a conclusion. Oh and Sarah Lancashire is brilliant and was not in the story enough for me.
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6/10
Disappointing ending
kris-gray8 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
If Sarah Lancashire is in something I make a point of watching it, never saw her in Corrie though. I was okay with this one until the last episode. The CPS would never have runwith a case based on the flimsey evidence that the foster mother had seen a car like the one driven by Kiri's father hanging around their house. I mean she didn't even have a number plate. Other than the disappointing ending, I enjoyed it.

With reference to a previous reviewer jbad language is part of our lives and in these emotional situations they would have been used liberally so to. There is usually a warning prior to these programes starting so if it offends thee, swithch off and leave those of us who don't care to watch in peace.
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8/10
Probably ly the least satisfying ending of any show ever!
debdshaw6018 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
What the hell? This is a beautifully written, slow paced story of what happens in the aftermath of a child's abduction and death.

Kiri is a child who was found next to her dead mother who died of an overdose. Her drug dealer dad goes to prison. She's placed with a white family who are in the process of adopting her when the social worker takes her on a visit to her father's parents.

The story ends abruptly with all the balls in the air. There's no resolution. Brilliant show... no end.
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6/10
The final episode was dissapointing
plomeroscassy30 March 2019
Started out strong but then started dragging on in episode #3 out of 4. It could have been wrapped up in three episodes. A shame I liked the beggining a lot
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7/10
The social workers angle ...
Majikat768 April 2018
An interesting role for Sarah Lancaster and a series where Fellow Bristol dwellers play the game of 'guess the road they're filming on.' It's a little slow moving and felt the last episode to be a bit of an anti-climax, but the pressure on Social Workers and the decisions they make we're felt every step of the way.
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7/10
Lazy ending
There was much to like about this four-part series, but I'm afraid the last episode left me thinking the whole thing had run out of steam.

Brilliant performances by Sarah Lancashire as you might expect, and Stephen Mackintosh also showing his skill as a mature actor (I'm old enough to remember him when he was a schoolboy alongside Adrian Mole). The supporting cast also added weight to this tough drama.

I also loved the photography - in fact the atmosphere of the series was beautifully stylish, without it disappearing up its own backside.

However, I'll be honest and say I like my crime dramas to have decent endings, where the loose threads are neatly tied together and nothing is left in doubt. Everybody likes to see the culprit meet their comeuppance but this left one feeling the writer wasn't being clever in the way they drew the series to a conclusion, they were just being lazy.

The art of storytelling is really simple. A solid beginning, an exciting middle, with twists and turns along the way, and a brilliant ending, perhaps with some surprises. Certainly 9 out of 10 for the first two, but a disappointing 5 out of 10 for the finale.
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6/10
Slow Burn
mbazhome26 May 2019
The first episode was the best. I was hoping the pace would continue but it got slow and nothing much happened. Sarah Lancashire was the best part of this series. Worth it to watch her but otherwise not much going on. I give it a 4.
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9/10
Happy to give the first user review.
matahari20-111 January 2018
As soon as I realised that Sarah Lancashire was a central character in this new production, I knew it was going to be good. Sarah, in her role as a human services case-manage working largely with young people and adoptive families (and possibly troubled families in general, we shall see) just eats it up, as usual and gives us a diamond character, in the rough of course. Some might believe she's been typecast and although there may be some similarity here to her role as a weary and wary copper in Happy Valley, it is only in her ability to portray courage, compassion with human foible so well; the characters are very different people. 'Miriam' is not tough and hard here like 'Catherine' is., though definitely exudes the personality of an experienced, down to earth woman. It's early days but we are introduced to a woman who seems almost happy-go-lucky way. Much more light-hearted and humoured in her approach. It becomes clear early on though that this may be a necessary facade to cope with previous tragedy in her life. And alas, it now seems she is to be the scapegoat for a terrible tragedy she could not foresee occurring with a child she is case manager for. But herein lies the mystery and the drama; perhaps we may see sides of Miriam which will lead us to question this 'diamond'. And question all involved in the life of the young girl at the centre of the tragedy, including the involvement of 'the system' as her 'warden of care'. So far, there are believable and sterling performances by all. I am also quite impressed with standouts Lucian Msamati and Claire Rushbrook. Perhaps the only weakness I personally see (others may not) revolve around the central adoptive family who seem a little too good to be true juxtaposed to what I feel is a rather callous disregard for their adopted child's family of origin. That is a flimsy observation on my behalf at this stage. It's only one episode for me thus far, after all. So I await eagerly the thick to plotten...
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6/10
Episode 1
Prismark1013 January 2018
Hard hitting, grim with touches of humour.

Sarah Lancashire leaves the Happy Valley of Yorkshire for Gert Lush country, Bristol.

Lancashire plays a well meaning, compassionate and experienced social worker, Miriam. She needs to add a dash of the hard stuff on her morning cup of tea and has to bring the dog to work on account of all the ailments the dog has.

However her day is blown off course when she allows Kiri, a young black girl about to be adopted by her white parents visit to visit her real grandfather. To know where she comes from.

However Kiri fails to return home, believed to be abducted by her father. Now the blame lies on Miriam that she allowed an unsupervised visit to Kiri's grandparents.

Jack Throne has not written a whodunnit. This is about the fall out from a decision Miriam made, she is now going to be exposed to the press who already express that she went easy on her grandparents because they were black. Her bosses look like they will throw Miriam to the wolves and Miriam's life looks like it will spiral downwards in the following episodes.
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5/10
Poor ending
geranium-3345016 May 2021
Well acted and an interesting plot but let down by the inconclusive final episode. This happens too often in UK tv dramas - scriptwriters have good ideas for a story but don't know how to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
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8/10
Great characters, fine actors, ugly reality.
epat15 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I've come to really like BBC miniseries. Not that longer series don't have their charms, but with miniseries, three, four, maybe even six or eight episodes & the story's told. No need to keep watching year after year. The pithiness of it appeals to me.

Another aspect where the BBC beats American TV hands down is their realism. There's a certain gloss to American series that just doesn't ring true; everybody's just so unnaturally good-looking it's hard to forget they're actors. BBC actors, on the other hand, look like... well, anybody. They're just so natural, so normal looking, it's hard to remember they're actors. And isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

In this series, Kiri, a black child, is scheduled soon to be adopted by her white foster parents the Warners. Social worker Miriam however, in the interests of Kiri knowing her roots, approves an unsupervised visit with her birth mother & her grandfather Nate. But Kiri is abducted during the visit by her ex-con birth father Tobi & later murdered.

At first, it's naturally assumed Tobi murdered her. Then comes a red herring episode in which Si, the Warners' sensitive but shy & somewhat peculiar son seems almost certain to be the killer. The culprit finally turns out to be the last person you'd ever suspect, the mild-mannered foster father Jim, who'd been so unfailingly patient, considerate & downright decent throughout.

Ok, mystery solved. The fallout turns out to be far more riveting than the mystery tho.

Hounded by the media, the dedicated Miriam is forced out of her job - her vocation really, the job she's dedicated her life to - by a cowardly bureaucracy all too ready to throw a scapegoat to the wolves at the slightest whiff of scandal. Her diligence, her compassion, her wisdom, her years of experience thrown on the scrap heap because of a single highly publicized error in judgment. The sheer injustice is thrown into sharp relief when grief-stricken self-reproaching Miriam, her life now ruined, is recognized by a compete stranger. This woman walks straight up to her, punches her in the face, then self-righteously stands over her, shouting "A child! How could you?" as if Miriam, who only ever wanted to do right by Kiri, had murdered the child herself.

Kiri's father Tobi, the obvious suspect, is equally hounded - indeed tried & convicted - by the media. He has a history of violence & he's black: clearly guilty. His father Nate (a fine understated performance by Paapa Essiedu) at first believes him guilty & sets out to track him down. When Tobi convinces him he's innocent, Nate arranges with the police for Tobi to turn himself in. All he asks is a chance for Tobi to shower, change clothes & have a decent meal at home before doing so. Just as they're about to leave for the police station tho, the police renege on the agreement, burst in & arrest Tobi as a fugitive instead.

The foster mother Alice, having come to believe her son Si is the real killer, gives damning false evidence against Tobi in order to protect Si. Si, the foster brother who genuinely loved Kiri, who was most distraught at her death, knows Alice is lying & correctly deduces why. Si's the one who figures out his dad killed her.

He confronts Jim with a choice: Admit it now & it goes no further; deny it & he'll take his suspicions not to the police but - far worse - to his mother. Jim breaks down & confesses. He'd seen the girl as "new glue" to hold his failing marriage together. When she rejected the impending adoption to run off with her birth father instead, he killed her in a fit of rage.

Si then explains his rationale for keeping Jim's guilty secret: Shaken & appalled by the public scrutiny his family has already endured, this shy sensitive boy can all too easily imagine becoming notorious as the son of "the monster family" whose dad murdered poor little Kiri. To avoid that, he'll let an innocent man to go to prison. He's a criminal anyway, isn't he? What does it matter? And this is the saddest most shocking part of all. Si isn't a bad kid, quite the opposite. Throughout, he's shown love & concern for his family, including Kiri, but his desperate need for at least the façade of white middle class respectability, no matter how sham, takes precedence over an unknown black man's innocence.

What a truly horrible ending! But that brings us back to the realism of the BBC. No happy ending here. No justice. Anywhere in the white-dominated world, a black man, innocent or not, is five times more likely to be convicted of a crime than a white man & this series doesn't flinch from this ugly reality.
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7/10
Taught but contrived
paul2001sw-123 February 2018
Kiri tells the taught story of the murder of a girl in foster care. In addition to a mystery - who did it the deed? - there is also a persistent theme about the inhumanity of modern insitutions, and how a culture of accountability leads to a focus on competence in the narrowest of senses, a determination to keep control of the narrative, and a fundamental lack of empathy for those who are nominally served. It feels horrific and believable, but it's also one of those stories that would be overwhelmingly powerful if true. After all, even Harry Potter had to deal with Dolores Umbridge; the fact that a certain type of monster is a well-estanblished trope is not necessarily an acccurate reflection of the state of the world. Judged purely as drama, it suffers from the fact that its protagonists are sympathetic only to the extent that they are victims; there's little nuance in its portrait of power. Sarah Lancashire, playing a scapegoated social worker, is as excellent as you would expect; Lia Williams is also good, albeit in a somewhat contrived role. It's far from a bad series - but it's too schematic to have the full emotional impact to which it aspires.
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4/10
Good to a point
mobilehomey7 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
There's nothing but a vague, unresolved ending. Nothing more to say but I had to keep typing because my review was too short.
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6/10
Why do we need the bad language
jvljvl-7609512 January 2018
I like the program its a good Drama was waiting for it to come on enjoying watching it until the F word came up again i enjoy watching dramas like this but why oh why do we have to put up with the swearing it does not add to it at all there are hundreds of programs on and people watch them because of the story the actors the theme NOTHING TO DO WITH OH MY GOODNESS YOU HAVE TO WATCH KIRI BECAUSE THEY SWEAR IN IT i find it off putting and i think im not the only one yes in life people swear at the pubs the clubs at work etc but we dont have to have it all through the dramas as well Afraid i wont be watching the rest of it for that reason .
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7/10
I'd recommend!
W011y4m54 July 2022
I'd never seen "Kiri" before (directed by Heartstopper S1's Euros Lyn) but since I enjoyed Jack Thorne's other four-part Channel 4 drama ("National Treasure") & considering it was available to watch on Netflix in the UK, I thought I'd give it a go & to my (pleasant) surprise, it's really good isn't it?

Almost like the writer's 2nd installment in a bleak anthology series (if each was 3+ hours long), this is a beautifully cynical tale which manages to say so much about society in a brief serialised miniseries, remaining just as topical & relevant as its predecessor; boldly asking thought provoking questions in an inventive, challenging manner through the medium of fiction, acting as a means to trigger meaningful, necessary debate amongst audiences whilst scathing in its criticisms of the corrupt British establishment / judiciary system.

I have to commend the creators for courageously refusing to shy away from the complexities of the issues featured, addressing the potentially controversial themes of institutional racism, the importance of knowing one's own culture & racial / confirmation bias within the police, as well as bias within the media etc. To craft a narrative that's so layered & nuanced, there are no easy answers & that's reflected in the show. Thus, I'm impressed - to say the least. Plus, in the wake of progressive movements like "black lives matter" (that are thankfully gaining the attention / recognition they rightfully deserve) I find this very appreciable, timely & relevant, moreso now than ever. Aged incredibly well.
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7/10
From Promising Start to Disappointing Finish
patrykomania20 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Kiri is a British tv show that revolves around the murder of a young black girl, Kiri Akindele, when her social care worker, Miriam, takes her to her biological grandparents, who are also black, so that Kiri can spend time with people she can relate to. The first episode is a quick-paced experience, probably a touch too fast for my liking. After all, the main focused character of the show dies in the first episode. The following two episodes portray the aftermath of Kiri's death and how the police and press handled it. It's filled with action, and we get to meet and understand many of the characters. The situation changes for the worse in the last episode. We go from action-packed drama to an ending that has no context and generally disappoints the viewer. It would have been better, in my opinion, if Si had told his mother what his Father had told him.
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6/10
Brilliant Performance
kemms953 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Such a brilliant performance by everyone! I wanted to give this 10/10, but a lame ending left me extremely disappointed.
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10/10
EXCELLENT
whatithinkis4 February 2018
This work hits a lot of hot spots and in a subtle and thoughtful meander takes us over a lot of ground. All of it, I think, is worthwhile. Stunning understated performances by both Finn Bennett and Sarah Lancashire. Wow.
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3/10
Such a let down.
clmcleish7922 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
What a shame. I smirked throughout the first episode as I enjoyed the black humour and was then hit with the murder of Kiri so I thought, "hey this is actually really good." But as the series went on, I started to doubt the characters. None of the were believable, which I can't actually believe I'm writing about Sarah Lancashire as she is an amazing actress with many fantastic accolades.

I do have to say the boy who played Simon was brilliant but he was a touch too clever for his age. I didn't identify with him being of school age; rather that he was a 20-something, still living at home. I enjoyed his cynicism but it angered me that his mother didn't fight for him. And for someone who was supposed to be adored, I didn't feel their chemistry neither did I empathise with the turmoil as their relationship broke down.

The resolution was terrible. Seriously, it just wouldn't happen. Come on ITV, you can do much better than this!
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9/10
Lawyers,Bankers,Politicians and Social Workers...what do they have in common
ianlouisiana11 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
.....they are all despised by the the Tabloid Press and a large percentage of its readers. As a result of several tragic high - profile cases in recent years,local government Childrens' Services have been vilified and individual Social Workers hounded out of their jobs and the sterling work that most of them do it is conveniently forgotten. "Kiri" starts off with a compassionate and well - meaning social worker making the decision to allow a young black girl about to be adopted by white parents visit her blood grandparents. When the child fails to return home and is rather quickly found murdered,Miriam (Miss S.Lancashire ,convincing dowdy - down but not out;hanging in there) is hung out to dry by her superiors,all keen to distance themselves from her. "99% of the time you're a brilliant social worker...." her boss says as she spears her in the back. Sporting a convincing Bristol accent,Miss Lancashire has no trouble sweeping "Kiri" along in her wake.Not since "Happy Valley" has British TV presented a female character so dominating. In this first episode most of the other characters are hastily sketched,leaving Miriam alone to be fleshed out as a real human being. This may change as the series continues,but right now we are looking at yet another triumph,another award - winning role for one of our best T.V actresses. She is in danger of giving Social Workers a good name.
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2/10
Foster the parents
Lejink2 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Over-written, over-contrived, overacted and over-wrought, this would-be realistic drama fell over itself at every turn. It started out as a whodunit concerning the disappearance and as it turns out death of a young girl of African origin, the Kiri of the title. Brought up in foster care by a middle class white family, she's encouraged by an experienced care worker to meet up with her black father at her grandparents when things go wrong.

I suppose when see you names like Sarah Lancashire and Steven MacKintosh in the credits you know it's not going be a straightforward mystery and you can bet there'll be a fair bit of scenery - chewing actory moments for the so-serious cast to get their teeth into and sure enough there are bite marks everywhere as they each gets scenes of doubt, confusion, anger and despair to try to impress the BAFTA judges.

I wasn't impressed at all. The characters didn't ever sound like "ordinary everyday folk" caught up in a tragedy, with all sorts of unnatural conversations going on amongst them pretty much all the time. Plus, there are scenes of embarrassing weirdness none more so than when the troubled teenager son of the foster family confronts his mother over her affair with the school janitor where she works by walking in on her having a shower and having his tete-a-tete with her standing dripping naked in front of him. Later he has a strange, metaphysical conversation with Lancashire's hard-working, working-class care worker whose original encouragement of the meeting between natural father and daughter precipitated the tragedy before his big underwhelming confrontation with his own dad, MacKintosh.

Throw in an unsatisfactory miscarriage-of-justice ending and there really was very little to commend this mini-series. I came away not liking anyone in the whole four - part series apart from the doomed little girl and she was hardly in it anyway.

This much-hyped programme proved to be a real let-down and is one box-set best left on the shelf, in my opinion.
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8/10
Sarah Lancashire is amazing
michele_joseph3 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Honestly I chose this film because Sarah Lancashire was the lead. She is so brilliant I could honestly watch her ready a dictionary! I was however disappointed with the ending. Not only because it felt unresolved but also because the implication is that the privileged white family kept their secret while the less privileged family of color were left to blame. Sad, especially in today's climate. We should do better.
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5/10
Ultimately, the ending is just so bad
nern-5472321 March 2021
This is one of those series with great acting, red herrings, implausible outcomes that just ends stupidly. Don't waste your time.
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10/10
Gripping
harkinsleslie21 March 2021
If you don't have a lump in your throat while watching this series something clearly is off. Outstanding performances all the way around in the telling of this story. How quickly we can turn on one another, how truth can be twisted and weaponize. Don't look for this series to be wrapped up in a pretty package. It's not and, sadly, it's all too believable.
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3/10
Only watch if you're okay with no resolution
abirdiegirl26 January 2021
Great cast but a waste of time with the last episode leaving more questions than answers.
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