This four-part miniseries is set in the twin cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma; to an outsider they might appear to be one city but residents have trained themselves to completely ignore the other; to notice something in the other city is a crime even if it is right next to you. It is possible to legally pass from one city to the other but once across you must ignore where you came from. Those who cross illegally come to the attention of Breach; the shadowy organisation that polices the boundaries.
Tyador Borlú is an Inspector in the Beszel Extreme Crime Squad and his latest case involves an American student found dead in the city; she shoudn't have been there though as she was studying in Ul Qoma. His investigation will lead him to Ul Qoma, to radicals who believe there is actually a third hidden city called Orciny and ultimately to Breach; only then will he discover what happened to the girl and why... also how it was linked to the disappearance of his wife some years before.
I haven't read the book and when I saw the trailers for this series I thought it might be a bit too weird; but as I like science fiction and mysteries I thought I'd give it a go. I'm glad I did as I was quickly hooked; to the extent that I watched it in one day. The setting is intriguing and the makers did a fine job of depicting the cities; the 'other' city slightly out of focus often to one side of the screen. Usually in such a story one might expect one city to be dystopian and the other utopian but here both are fairly dystopian, even if Ul Qoma appears to be more advanced. The mystery is solid and the details of the girl's death should keep one guessing till the end. We also get political machinations and a high level of threat much of the time. David Morrissey does a really good job as Borlú and he is ably supported by Mandeep Dhillon, as his new partner Constable Corwi and Maria Schrader, as Ul Qoma's Senior Detective Dhatt, amongst others. Over all I'd say this won't be for everybody but it you want something rather different I'd certainly recommend giving this a go.
