Trial & Retribution The Sixth Collection   Starring: David Hayman and Victoria Smurfit Acorn Media UK RRP: £24.99 AV9675 Certificate: 15 Available 07 September 2009

Chief Superintendent Mike Walker is an old-school detective with a dubious past, working with the career-driven DCI Roisin Connor. Their constant struggle to bring criminals to justice is followed step by step from crime scene to courtroom and beyond...

The sixth series of Lynda La Plante's Trial & Retribution contains four episodes spread over three DVDs. This collection includes the episodes:

Tracks: When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in a rain-soaked chalk pit, the signs point to local hardman Ray Harper. Ray's son Andy and his friend Darren claim they never saw the dead girl. But the secret they insist on keeping will only lead to death and despair. This is an interesting enough episode, slightly spoilt by the split screen flashbacks which reveal a little too much a little too early.

Siren: When an ambulance is run off the road and its passenger shot multiple times, it looks like a hit. But an already complex murder becomes more complicated when it revolves around a beautiful rich girl with something to hide, and the dark, deadly world of the cocaine dealer. This is the weakest episode in this collection. It's not that the acting is particularly poor, it's just that the story seems to be stretched to breaking point. The ambulance crash is pretty impressive though.

Ghost Train: When a girl falls to her death from a Ferris Wheel it could be a tragic accident. A fortune teller, who is also Satchell's aunt, thinks not, and when another murder follows she appears to be right. Shady business dealings lead in one direction - but the closed-world secrets of the fairground lead another. For me, this was the strongest episode as there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing who is behind everything and why. The opening death scene is also incredibly well staged.

Shooter: A jewellery shop robbery ends in murder, leading police to the notorious Bilkin family. But the case goes off-track and suddenly witnesses are murdered and Satchell's wife and child threatened. Now it's personal - and with a paid informant giving the Bilkin's what they need, it could all go dangerously wrong. This is a great episode, and one in which you're pretty certain from the start that the Bilkin's are involved - mainly because you see the head of the family at the crime scene when his mask falls off. The enjoyment in this episode is derived from watching the prosecution turn around a case that has hardly any evidence into one where the guilty party is proved to have broken the law.

Extras include behind the scenes featurettes for Siren (12 min, 18 sec), Ghost Train (9 min, 23 sec) and Shooter (10 min, 32 sec); the text based Lynda La Plante Biography and Cast Filmographies; and a photo gallery.

This collection is well worth the money and is certainly worth adding to your collection if you are a fan of crime dramas.

8

Darren Rea