Kidnap and Ransom Series Two   Starring: Trevor Eve, Helen Baxendale, Natasha Little, Amara Karan, Sean Gilder, Sharon Small and Madhur Mittal FreemantleMedia Enterprises RRP: £14.99 FHED2907 Certificate: 15 Available 26 March 2012

Dominic King is in Srinagar, Kashmir negotiating the release of the Mehtas, a British Asian family kidnapped while on holiday visiting their son Mahavir. As the handover is completed, the police arrive and a shoot-out ensues. Dominic secures the release of the family but the kidnappers get away with Mahavir. In their panic they board a tourist bus taking all those on board hostage. When the tourist bus crashes in a packed market square, Dominic begins the challenge of negotiating for the safety of a multi-national group of people, battling against the intervention of the Indian police and trying to learn the source of the kidnappers’ motives...

The second series of Kidnap and Ransom is a much more polished affair that series one - not that the first series wasn't a well produced show, it's just that it feels a lot smoother - possibly because you already know what to expect from King and so the writers have had to up the stakes.

This series contains 3, 45-minute episodes which begins at the end of one hostage negotiation which then transforms into another after it all goes pear shaped. Trevor Eve reprises his role as King, a man who knows how to steer the negotiations so that the hostages are released unharmed: it's simply a business transaction.

The first two episodes open with King appearing to drop a body in the sea. The first episode merely shows this image, whilst the second offers a few more clues as to who it might be. I thought the writers had made a bit of a cock-up, when the apparent victim is later revealed (I mean, come on. Why would King dump them at sea?) but that's because the writers hadn't finished playing mind games.

There are some impressive performances here. Eve is incredibly believable in his role, but I was also impressed by the two kidnappers (played by Madhur Mittal and Hasina Haque); and Sean Gilder (who Shameless fans will know better as tough man Paddy Maguire) is well cast against type as the cowardly Sean Cooper.

The only extra is Behind the Scenes (11 min, 06 sec making of featurette with interviews with the majority of the main cast).

This is an entertaining drama that, if you missed on its original release, is well worth adding to your DVD collection.

8

Darren Rea