ITV's Bancroft Provides A Fresh Conclusion To Crime Dramas

A young woman named Laura Fraser walks down the street carrying bags of shopping on a nice, summers day in 1990. She safely reaches home, unlocks the front door and walks inside.
A few seconds later, a young female police officer arrives at the scene and looks through the door mail slot. Laura Fraser has been violently stabbed eighteen times and bitten.
This flashback is the opening scene of ITV's new crime drama, Bancroft. With four episodes spread over four consecutive nights, the cast is led by actress Sarah Parish who plays the part of leading character Detective Superintendent Elizabeth Bancroft. In present day, Bancroft is working to arrest and take down drug and gun-smuggler Athif Kamara. However, her dark past raises its ugly head and she goes to great lengths to hide it from Detective Sergeant Katherine Stevens. Stevens aims to shine a light on Bancroft's dark past after she reopens the investigation into Laura Fraser's cold case 27 years later and uncovers a connection that leads her directly to Elizabeth Bancroft. There are many fights, threats, schemes and manipulations as Bancroft fights to have the case closed and taken back into the 'deep freeze'.

Throughout the four episodes, we realise that Bancroft isn't the perfect, do-gooding Detective as she first seems. In fact, Bancroft is the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of Laura Fraser and DS Stevens is hot on the Detective's heels, uncovering her hidden and corrupt past; eventually unmasking Bancroft as the murderer of pregnant Laura Fraser.
With many twists and turns throughout the series, Katherine Stevens is shot in the head and comatose in hospital and Bancroft is promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent, her murderous deeds under wraps. With a possible chance of a season two and many left unanswered questions, the drama is addictive, dark, fast-paced and has a real twist as to Bancroft's murderous motive.

Sarah Parish, who has appeared in Atlantis, Broadchurch and W1A is no stranger to playing a dark character, however Bancroft is truly unredeemable and manipulative. Sarah Parish does a great job at playing a character who is deeply tormented in the inside but so composed and professional on the outside, until someone pushes her to extreme measures. Her outstanding performance has left many viewers hating the corrupt and murderous Detective.
However, most viewers expressed on Twitter how unhappy they were with the ending of this ITV thriller and how the storyline compared to that of Line of Duty in series four. Multiple viewers complained that the storyline was almost identical, they hated how Bancroft ended with unanswered questions, and how Bancroft remained unpunished but rewarded with a promotion, whilst Steven's life hangs in the balance.

Personally, I prefer a drama remains open to the possibilities of a season two. Much like ITV's previous psychological drama, Liar; Bancroft has much potential for further storytelling and I am happy with the ending as long as a season two is on the table.
A drama that ends with the capture of a murderer, is perhaps stereotypical and the fact that Bancroft has won the upper hand and poor Katherine Stevens remains critical, it is a truly twisted yet fresh conclusion to such a dark crime drama. It is a rare occurrence to see a 'villain' fight against a 'hero' and come out on top, going against the norm of any crime series.

Throughout the series it was like a game of cat and mouse, in which both Stevens and Bancroft fight to gain the upper hand and each played dirty to do so. Stevens was constantly toying and manipulating Elizabeth's son, Joe, to gain the upper hand and Bancroft manipulated many people to make sure her reputation remained untarnished. She threatened Laura's husband Tim and manipulated the Chief Superintendent into thinking that Detective Superintendent Walker was only trying to dig up dirt on her because both she and Walker wanted the same promotion. Bancroft made retired Detective Charlie Haverstock's death look like an accident, she broke into the evidence lock-up facility and attempted to use the light and heat of a torch to downgrade biological traces that may lead back to her and she fire-bombed the safe house where Zaheera Kamara and her son were staying to discredit forensic scientist Doctor Anya Karim. Bancroft was both resourceful and clever, getting her hands dirty and psychologically manipulating a Superior Officer to make sure her horrific deed stayed hidden and in the past.

I love any crime drama and thriller that leaves me wanting more and Bancroft certainly left me begging for a second series. The opening titles and soundtrack to the drama was addictive, the characters were likeable and the dark and twisted storyline left me wishing that I could spend a lifetime watching crime dramas. Bancroft is a dark, unique and addictive crime drama that fails to follow in the footsteps of a stereotypical murder mystery and concluded with the 'villain' on top of the world.
Most crime dramas conclude with the murderer either murdered themselves or locked up behind bars. However, Bancroft provided viewers with a fresh and open conclusion that was unpredictable, but left viewers unsatisfied with the lack of justice for Laura Fraser. I felt that this conclusion played true to the reality of cold cases; where most remain unsolved and the murderer uncaught. A chilling yet realistic representation of cold cases and the heartbreaking, unsatisfying, frustrating and disappointing feelings that accompany them; tormenting the relatives of the victims and Detectives who fail to provide justice to a story that can never end.    




*Bancroft is now available as a box-set on the ITV Hub*