Hidden (2018–2022) User Reviews

Taffy Noire!!!

[scotttaylor-12770 · 8/10 · 28 July 2018]

We've always struggled in Wales to produce quality drama but I have to say.. This was an impressive effort.. 8 out of 10

Solid series

[cadunn-840-586255 · 8/10 · 28 July 2018]

Low key police drama well produced and directed with fine cast.

Interesting show

[Debette-1 · 7/10 · 20 September 2018]

1. It was lovely to hear the Welsh language spoken. 2. Wales is beautiful. 3. The show was an interesting unfolding of the story. 4. Some of the episodes were so dark that they were hard to watch.

If you like these things ^, this is the show for you. If you don't like a dark, slow story, then skip it.

Worth staying to the end of Series Two.

[cairnst-94911 · 6/10 · 9 April 2021]

Series Two has some excellent cinematography, placing grim housing estates against a timeless Welsh landscape. The use of Gaelic, too, gives the viewer a feeling that they're observing a foreign world (and I'm from the UK!). Series One, however, is burdened with a clichéd script, and is stretched out far too long. Rather than the seductive bleakness of Scandi-Noir, there's an atmosphere of unappealing drearyness. Series Two proceeds the same way (I was prepared to give up!), then makes a remarkable turnaround near the end. The conclusion presents a chillingly accurate depiction of a sociopathic youth. There's also a genuine sense of pathos and tragedy - in the way that deprived neighbourhoods can breed this criminal type, and in the devastating effects of their behaviour on the immediate community.

Ignore the bad reviews

[bobou-513-708245 · 9/10 · 20 July 2018]

Frankly, I don't understand why this is getting bad reviews. I too, watch a lot of British drama, and although the pacing is a little slower than most, it's an extremely well-done series. It does start out slowly, but by the third episode I was totally invested in the story and the characters. The photography and set design was superb, as was the setting. But what I found most compeling was how natural and real the actors all seemed. Everyone seemed to fit their roles perfectly and the lead actress who plays the lead detective is a joy to watch.

Don't pass this one by. No, it's not frenetic. But it has a rare depth and realism that makes it even more enjoyable.

Good- then not so good

[ngt-73799 · 6/10 · 13 April 2022]

It's what you could describe as a quality program- but sometimes just too boring to watch! I generally like slow burners, but Series 3 for me was a step to far. Admittedly I gave up fairly early on, so others might enjoy it more 😀.

Loved It!

[jtdw10 · 10/10 · 18 July 2018]

This series had us on the edge of our seats the whole time! Some you can kind of predict, but we really had no idea how it was going to end! Why are UK television shows so much better than American shows? We're in Iowa but love the Britbox and Acorn apps!

Pretty meh.

[glamm-87420 · 6/10 · 6 March 2019]

I feel like I saw every plot point, and "twist" coming from a mile away. Nothing new. Brooding cop who has trouble being emotional available, they usually have an ailing parent, distracted young male cops miss obvious and key pieces of case-related information, perp is just your average person with mommy issues and zero depth, and there is no real pay off or explanation. No real character development or depth, the police work isn't even good. Not terrible, but no great.

Another Welsh classic!

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 6 August 2018]

Welsh TV for many years was something to be scoffed at, programmes made for a small audience, but generally forgettable. Then came Hinterland, then Requiem, Keeping Faith, and now Hidden. Welsh TV drama has become something we are now hugely proud of. Forget Scandi Dramas, Wales is now the place for dark, hard hitting drama.

Hidden is very dark, and it hits hard. It may be a little slow to get started, but once it gets into its stride it is accomplished, compulsive viewing. The show has a realism to it, which at times is disturbing realistic, the pain and trauma are shown for what they are, harrowing and tragic, not sensational or glorious.

It gets better as it progresses, and after some real shocks you get a gripping finale, which really satisfies. Brilliant performances throughout, the acting is of the highest order, Sian Reese-Williams, Gwyneth Keyworth and Rhodri Meilir are all worthy of a mention.

Bravo BBC Wales, keep giving us these incredible stories.

Loved it! 10/10

Season 1-2 awesome

[laynawilson · 6/10 · 6 August 2022]

Short and simple- seasons 1 & 2 are great. Season 3 is uninteresting.. actually boring. Such a disappointment. This review needs to contain 150 character so, I'll just say this- the storyline is annoying, there's zero investigative work, and I just stopped caring about the main characters personal life. There's just nothing redeeming.

Finally something with depth

[ikanboy · 9/10 · 21 July 2018]

After all the Scandinavian noir rip offs and serial killer mythology it was nice to see a straight forward rendition of evil. A female detective with no quirks or neuroses, and a monster with a human face. It's not for the shallow hearted. It is necessarily slow, it is 3/4 in Welsh, and it is bleak in it's depiction of rural Wales. But it tells it 's story by blessedly avoiding all the usual serial killer tropes. No rituals, no symbols to be decoded, no need to call the FBI, and no psychological prattle about motive.It's not a whodunnit, or a whydoneit, just a head on depiction of the banality of evil. With a mother from Hades.

Longeurs

[billcarr31 · 21 July 2019]

Basically I cannot complain about this series, beautifully shot and suspenseful but as others have said it is painfully slow. It could easily have been cut to seven episodes. Too many 'longeurs' like lingering shots of doorways to rooms and how many times do we have to go back to the girl in the cellar, we know she is still there! The director seems to be in love with the 'artistic' quality of the filming. At the beginning the detective's dad seems to have early stage Alzheimers but later seems quite lucid It may be better in an English sub titled version but I had to watch it in a language subbing with which I am not fluent. Still very worth the time but I hope if the director gets another series he will be more concise and give more lighting! The latter seems to be the fashion in 21st century directing and in many movies one has to look at complete darkness, at least on TV.

Fair

[rlbdoc · 6/10 · 6 August 2022]

I give this series a "fair" opinion. The reason is that it is inexplicable very dark and pathological. It is a police drama first but the guilty parties for some reason have the most depraved nature. It's not about blood and guts but truly sick individuals. Further, the series doesn't take the time to show how these criminals developed their nature. You're put right into the mess from the beginning. I know this is fiction and certainly hope that there aren't people like this in Whales.

The main character is developed slowly. Not so much the supporting characters.

After this, enjoy some British comedy!

Slow, earnest and generic

[paul2001sw-1 · 5/10 · 19 August 2018]

'Hidden' is a Welsh police drama, but a boring one. It's spread over eight episodes, in spite of an essentially simple plot, and one that focuses on the unlikely scenario of a lone weirdo who captures troubled young girls and imprisons them over several years, supported by his similarly weird family. The series is faily well acted and shot, but it's slow, and all of the side-plots have an essentially earnest but generic feel. I've seen many far worse series, but this one failed to ignite any particular interest in me.

All three series...

[jiballini64 · 7/10 · 3 August 2023]

...the lead chick cop (lesbian, of course) needs to wash and brush her hair! Yes, me on my favourite soap box.

I enjoyed, hmmm... is that the right word? I found all three series intriguing and loved the way we had English and Welsh spoken throughout the episodes.

I did, however, find myself distracted by herself looking so scruffy and in need of a good wash 99% of the time. At one stage junior cop tells her to go home, get some sleep and have a shower, so it wasn't just me! She also needed a decent bra and a few less cigarette breaks. Between the BO and the stench of stale smoke, I sure wouldn't want to be stuck in a car with her.

Despite all that, I love the fact that this series isn't all blood and gore, car chases and waving guns around.

Fed up about reviews criticising the Welsh language

[betsanjenkins · 9/10 · 27 January 2020]

I am two episodes in and so far it's everything you want. Beautiful and brooding landscapes, twists and turns... but the main reason I'm writing a review is because of the negative comments towards the use of the welsh language.

Firstly, they're in Wales so they're speaking Welsh. Makes sense doesn't it? If you can't be bothered to experience some culture and pay attention to the episodes by occasionally having to read some subtitles then this isn't a series for you. I also love all the Scandinavian murder mystery dramas and this is very similar. SO if your idea of a good serial killer series is something like Criminal Minds then I'm afraid this is a bit too sophisticated for u x

Language

[emil-233-595388 · 7/10 · 24 February 2021]

I don't mind the welsh but I'm really annoyed that suddenly in season 2 they only speak welsh even the people who only spoke english i season 1, for me it feels like they changed caracters!

Watch To The End Before Judging

[nowego · 9/10 · 23 July 2018]

This is one of those shows where you could easily stop watching early on due to the slow pace of the early episodes, my advice is don't, watch it to the end, it is worth it. If you give up before episode 4 you will have missed out, it might take that long to really hook you in. It grabbed me from the very first episode and would not let go, but I was lucky enough to be able to binge watch all 8 episodes in one sitting, mind you it was late into the night when I finished watching it.

If I was to compare this to any other show it would be The Fallen with Gillian Anderson, the only exception being that this is not about a serial killer as another reviewer has stated, it is far more involved and complex than that.

If you like really well made, brilliantly acted (the acting really is sublime) detective shows that have depth, watch this and ignore the bad reviews by shallow people who could not have really watched this all the way through.

You have to read subtitles, unless you can understand Welsh, but they are hardly noticeable when you get right into the show.

Wales - yes! Repeated abouse - no!

[trimellone-18840 · 6/10 · 6 December 2022]

I love British mystery/drama, and I'm especially impressed by these Welsh efforts that are filmed in both Welsh and in English. The first season was agonizing but satisfying. But . . .

Really? One season of abuse was sufficient. Then I suffered through the second season and it was so miserable and repetitive that I figured that would spell the end for this series. But, no.

I tried Season 3, but just had to give up. I've had enough of the lesbian romance struggles, and everything about the show throughout just feels so dark and dreary. I do not find this characteristic of every Welsh series, but certainly some one has decided that this series will be constantly unpleasant. I'm done.

Dark compelling drama

[berniceharvey · 9/10 · 26 August 2018]

Good acting, strong story, believable characters. Gruesome and dark in parts but this only added to the tension and was neither gratuitous nor dwelt on for too long. Beautifully filmed in Wales and though I don't speak Welsh (hooray for subtitles) I felt the switches in language gave greater authenticity to the story. Well worth a watch.

Superb acting

[kkinard2 · 7/10 · 13 July 2020]

Script is so slow in parts and there is some editing I would have recommended, such as the episode that outlines the abduction in Ep 4 but I was so impressed with that abilities of many of the tertiary actors, including the sister of Mali and the mother of the traveling nurse. I also found Anglesey to be rather beautiful and liken the mood to my favorite genre of Scandi Noir. Watching in English subtitles makes it a breeze to really hear the language that I, living in Los Angeles and so unfamiliar with.

Excellent

[jammer-81909 · 10/10 · 25 June 2020]

Don't think I have ever seen pure evil portrayed so convincingly and so matter of factly. That is the striking thing.

Disappointing

[gbiuy · 6/10 · 24 June 2018]

Disappointing, but not for the drama or story line or settings. Just found that a good drama had been spoiled by the constant switching, unnecessarily, between the English & Welsh language, along with irritating subtitles. All characters were speaking both languages so what was the point.

Slow is OK but who cares what happens?

[steelblue55 · 3/10 · 26 October 2019]

The reviews seem to focus a lot on it's great or it's too slow.... Yes, it is very slow paced and really doesn't build a faster pace until right at the very end. The bigger issue I had is not caring about any of the characters or really what happens. The lead detective spends half her time on problems with her sister and father (as someone said shades of Wallander) but outside of that and she smokes too much you never know more about her than stereotypes. The partner has a pregnant girlfriend and wants to jump the cute girl in the office. The girl who is kidnapped cuts herself, continually puts off her only friend, and whines a lot. The mother is mean, so there's the backstory for the villain, and even he is boring with all the whining about his childhood and stupid behavior at his workplace. How did he get away with all the others when he goes off the rails with just a few days with this one? Add in that the leads don't do a number of simple things they should have, as mentioned in multiple reviews, and you're hoping that the villain's house blows up and kills them all by episode 3..... Yes, it's dark and has some horror movie type set stuff, but in other dark series, Tunnel, or way back to Prime Suspect, you know, and like to some degree, the leads, and some of the other characters. Finally the continual on again off again subtitles was irritating.

On the plus side most of the outdoor shots were very interesting and added some of the only character to the show.

Check box

[cloudmesa · 7/10 · 23 August 2022]

Seasons 1 & 2 are very good. But the writers just can't help themselves in season 3. Portraying abnormal gay relationship as if it's normal behavior. It's no more normal than the murders in this show. It's a disgusting display, an assault on the senses.