Midwinter of the Spirit (2015) User Reviews

Almost Good; Could've Been Great

[chazview · 5/10 · 7 January 2016]

The premise sounded good, but it could've been better executed. Needed another episode to give the story some breathing room. More time for some character development at the beginning and more substantial detective work in the plot.

Anna Maxwell Martin's character was rushed into her 'alternate' frame of mind so soon there wasn't a perceptible transition. We needed to see her as a strong willed character that went 'limp'. What we got was just a limp, wilted portrayal. I've seen her in other things, she's quite good at playing strong characters -- this time she didn't have the chance.

Overall it was a jumbled, blurry story rushed to conclusion with abrupt 'ah-ha' revelations during the last 20 minutes. Just 1 more episode could've given it the space needed to be something much better.

Not so Merrily

[portsoyboy · 5/10 · 27 October 2015]

This was frustrating. I've read a few of Phil Rickman's books, including a couple of the Merrily Watkins stories so I was predisposed to like this ITV version.

There were lots of good things (creepy atmos,scary looking spirit, David Threlfall) but for me these were all outweighed by just how pathetic the lead character was. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for having a flawed lead character but there's a fine line between 'flawed' and 'utterly useless' and Anna Maxwell Martin's inappropriately named Merrily lands the wrong side of that line. Rubbish as a mother, evidently a poor wife, an unconvincing clergy, pill-popping, fag-smoking, heavy drinking car crash of a character, she blunders through each episode making a mess of every situation she finds herself in.

I'm not suggesting she should be an ecclesiastical Jack Reacher but I just can't stay interested in a character with so few redeeming features. Shame.

Good premise

[gmorgan51-158-682165 · 7/10 · 24 September 2015]

I liked the first episode of Midwinter of the Spirit, and look forward to future episodes. The biggest complaint I have is one that is fairly constant for many series and mini-series - the background noises, whether music or other sound effects, often overpower the dialogue. Some actors easily overcome this problem because their voices carry well enough that they can be heard and understood. Other actors are, naturally I suppose, more soft spoken, and I have to strain to understand what they are saying. For me, this really takes away from my enjoyment of the show. I found this to be true of this show, as much as any other. Otherwise, my rating would have been higher. I wish those in charge of sound effects would be more cognizant of this. As for those soft-spoken actors, I would exhort them to SPEAK UP!

Season one got me hooked, and let me down as well.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 11 October 2017]

For an extremely gruesome topic that touches on some serious spiritual issues, this three part British TV series (continuing into a second set of episodes) is amazingly riveting and easy to follow once you get to know all of the characters. I was hoping that this was a contained story told over three episodes, but after seeing how it ended, wondered if the tale, not yet wrapped up, would continue. It appears to be done for now, but as a tease, it makes me want to investigate other British TV shows not broadcast here in the United States. I discovered it perhaps like any other American fan of "Downton Abbey" by researching the other works of certain actors, and got it after discovering that Siobhan Finneran (O'Brien, "Downton Abbey") was one of the featured players. Boy was I shocked by not only the change in her appearance but the change in her circumstances, not that I expected her to have dowdy clothes, a bad hairstyle and sideburns (as she amusingly commented on in a "DA" interview). Now, she's the lady of the manor, albeit one with a secret, and one that makes O'Brien seem like Little Mary Sunshine.

The story focuses on Church of England vicar Anna Maxwell Martin, a widowed lady with a vulnerable young daughter who becomes involved with the occult. The story starts off by going into detail of a gruesome murder, one almost identical to the Crucifixion of Jesus. That part alone is disturbing enough, but the way the story is presented shows that this is being told through the idea that good vs. evil always ends with good winning and the evil somehow destroyed or dis-empowered. A dying old man seems to be the key from where all this evil seems to be coming from, and when Maxwell Martin visits him on his hospital death bed, it is very apparent that even in death, this sack of a human is still as depraved and perverted as when he was up and around and fully healthy. The stacks in an old library are visited where ancient details of this occult group are revealed, and individual characters are shown to either be secretly a part of it, deathly afraid of it, or fighting it with all of their spiritual might.

There are certain parallels you see in society today used as plot devices, including the manipulation of the young through old prejudices regarding the church, false accusations of inappropriate behaviors, and the fear of the widow of the evil old man which caused her to pretend that their daughter died in childbirth and give her up so she would avoid being around such a depraved existence. Ania Marson is excellent in this role, first confronting the vicar with great anger at the clinic where her husband is dying, and later revealing details which soften her character up. Finneran, having played a Mrs. Danvers ("Rebecca") like schemer in "Downton Abbey", now emulates Billie Whitelaw from "The Omen" in her passive/aggressive nature, proving as she indicated in an interview that she truly disappears into each character she plays. I hope that this continues for another couple of episodes to at least wrap everything up neatly, although most of the plot devices introduced early on were, only leaving the full mystery unsolved.

Quite a great choice

[jrnet154 · 20 March 2018]

I'm often asked what someone should watch. Well, if you're like me...you like a new world of wonder, a great story and being left with a "Wow"-feeling. I recommend this 3-episode miniseries to binge all at once.

What a poor effort

[rogerjmead · 6/10 · 16 October 2015]

Having read all the books & was expecting, if their author had anything to do with the production, characterisations close to the book, especially since they are described in detail, together with the humour and local feel for character that is amply explored in them. This production had nothing to do with that and was a poor representation of the story. Even if I had not read the books I would have been annoyed by the music drowning the speech and the central characters lifeless performance. She is much better in other things.

ITV need to do better if they make further series from these books and need to involve the author, which I assume they did not do this time.

Disappointing, and now no-one else will make a good version.

[vandysimpson · 4/10 · 25 September 2016]

I've read and reread all of the Merrily Watkins books and enjoy them very much. I accidentally discovered that some of them had been made into a mini-series, during my latest reread, and went off to find them. I shouldn't have been surprised; so often a favourite book is filmed and it just doesn't work. Though there was a quality to this miniseries that made it seem hopeful. But really, I had to force myself to watch the final episode, and only because I'd gone to the effort to download them, and hated to waste the bandwidth.

They have played with the characters, and the story-line to the point where it has pretty much nothing to do with a really great series of books. The characters are shallow and sketchy, the plot is contrived, and pulls the more extreme bits from several books and bodges them together without logic. What is subtle and complex and a really good psychological thriller as a book, doesn't even come across as the usual pumped up crime drama, but just irritating and wrong. I'm really disappointed.

ITV makes a drama that's creepy, what next?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 8 October 2015]

Bravo ITV, I cannot remember the last time I saw a new drama from ITV that was even remotely creepy or as dark as this.

Really well made, well written, it's just a shame that it only consisted of three parts, I'm not sure if there is mileage for further episodes, but let's hope it's revisited.

Of the three episodes, the first part was definitely the best, very dark obviously, but well structured, the second was excellent, and the third still good, but a little off the first two.

The series focuses primarily on Merilly, she focuses on actual demons and her own personal demons. Trying to bring up her 16 year old daughter single handedly after the death of her husband who'd been having an affair. The Police call in Merilly to help with a Satantic killing and a world of nasties is opened up.

Really well acted, I love Anna Maxwell Martin, a great actress, ITV need to find her a top notch role after disastrously axing The Bletchley Circle. David Threlfall is always a joy to watch, as is Siobhan Finneran. Leila Mimmack is wonderful as the creepy Rowenna.

Excellent production values, they looked really good, very slick, the music used was really good too, though I would agree with an earlier poster that it was a little invasive on times.

Creepy as hell 10/10

What a bore

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 10 October 2015]

I've never actually read a Phil Rickman novel, although I have had one sitting on the shelf for years and years, but I'm a big fan of the supernatural mystery genre - slow-burning delights written by the likes of Barbara Erskine (a favourite) amongst others. I sat down to watch this ITV miniseries adaptation of one of his books to see what I was missing.

Not a lot, as it transpires. MIDWINTER OF THE SPIRIT is a typically clichéd, cheap-feeling piece of ITV drama that doesn't have an original bone in its body. A cast of boring characters go through the paces in a story about a sinister conspiracy to attack the Church, but it's all so humdrum and irrelevant that you won't really care.

I like Anna Maxwell Martin (TV's NORTH AND SOUTH) but her protagonist, Merrily Watkins, is dull, down-mouthed, and mean-spirited. Hardly the kind of character you can get behind and care about, then. The supporting cast includes familiar faces like Kate Dickie (PROMETHEUS) doing a boring cop routine, and David Threlfall (who constantly seems to be trying very hard to get away from his SHAMELESS character) but they're pretty much wasted. Some of the supernatural stuff, which is very limited in terms of screen time, hints at quality, but this is a far cry from stuff like BBC's APPARITIONS. Instead we get at least half the running time spent on boring mother/teenage daughter melodrama, stuff that belongs in a soap opera and not here.

A creepy new drama

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 8 October 2015]

This new ITV drama is set in rural Herefordshire where vicar Merrily Watkins has recently been made a deliverance minister; better known as an exorcist. She hasn't been in the post for long when the police as for her opinions when a man is found crucified in woodland; she is understandably shocked but doesn't see how she can help. Later she is asked to attend a dying man in the hospital; the nurses are afraid to go near him and as he dies Merrily senses an evil presence as he grips her hand so hard that he draws blood. After this she has a feeling of his presence and starts to believe that she is out of her depth. If this wasn't enough her daughter is becoming more and more estranged after meeting another, slightly older, girl who turns out to be the dead man's daughter. If she is to save her daughter and ultimately the local cathedral she, and her mentor Huw Owen will have to find the connection between current events and events that happened there in the Middle Ages.

Not having read any of the books on which this series was based, I can't say how true this was to the original works but as a stand-alone TV series I found it rather enjoyable. There is a good creepy atmosphere throughout and the cast do a solid job. Anna Maxwell Martin is very good as Merrily; nicely depicting somebody who knows they are out of their depth and rabidly losing control of the things that matter most to her. David Threlfall is equally good as Huw. The story progresses at a decent pace and ultimately reaches a gripping conclusion that both wrapped up the story and left certain details open enough for further series if ITV want to make more. Overall an effective and atmospheric chiller that made a nice change from more conventional mysteries.

Very disappointing.

[rocknrelics · 4/10 · 7 October 2020]

Having read all the books and loving them, I saw this when it was first on TV, and was so disappointed, mainly due to dreadful casting and the reinvention of one of the characters.

I recently bought the DVD to give it another try, and it hasn't improved any.

Most of it is due to the main actress who is nothing like the Merrily I had imagined. At no stage had I imagined that she was a weak, neurotic woman, but that's how she's portrayed here, and that completely spoils it for me.

A series of TV specials of the Merrily books would have been great had they had sympathetic casting and direction, but after this mess, I doubt we'll ever get to see another.

And don't get me started on what they did with Lol.

I could not like the vicar character.

[bluewood31 · 4/10 · 29 July 2019]

Demon, scandal, murder and teenage colflicts with a mother. She cry, yell like a paranoid. A real annoying character after all. Story soso

No spoilers

[alysafaeblackwood · 9/10 · 24 October 2015]

Good supernatural drama (best seen before you read the book, or watched objectively). My only issue? Thank heavens for subtitles! I only have partial hearing and found some of the softer spoken actors impossible to hear without them. David Threlfall as Huw Owen absolutely owned the role he played. I sincerely hope there will be future adaptations of Phil Rickman's books, but with more episodes, as three hours wasn't long enough to do them full justice. 6 or 8 episodes would have been better. I look forward to watching without advert breaks. The locations used for filming were beautiful and atmospheric and the characters mostly well cast.

Wasted

[stevehill-89414 · 4/10 · 8 October 2015]

That is 3 hours of my life wasted. On paper it sounds good, but was all very predictable. The lead actress was awful, over-acting and hardly ever raising her voice above whispering mode. Special effects nowadays are so clever but have been done to death, in films and on TV. It is very hard now to cause shock through them. I found the ending rather confusing unless I missed something. Siobhan Finneran's character and the mysterious male who accompanied her, seemed to walk away from the final scene Scot free. Going back to the lead actress, Anna Maxwell Martin, I would state that my criticism of her performance is confined to this drama, as I have seen her in other things, during which I have enjoyed the portrayal of her character.

Rare as Hen's teeth

[cmcastl · 10/10 · 7 October 2015]

Good supernatural drama these days on TV is as rare as Hen's teeth, as the saying goes.

Well done to ITV for presenting new and original drama such as this which the BBC has long given up doing.

I didn't previously know about the novels upon which this series was based.

In any event, there is a real hunger, I am sure, for non-formulaic supernatural/crime drama and I do hope to see another series.

All the performances were top-notch and the production values were good.

For those who have belief in these things, the fate of the world is not determined by sociological forces but by what perhaps the Middle Ages more clearly saw as the eternal struggle between Good and evil.

Such a disappointment

[TomFarrell63 · 3/10 · 3 January 2022]

Rewatched this on DVD to see if it had improved any since being bbroadcast, well no is the answer.

I'm a fan of Phil Rickman books, and can't believe he let the TV production make so many unnecessary alterations here.

I didn't recognise Merrily at all, she is not neurotic in the books and as for Lol...

I'm not surprised there haven't been any further adaptations, and that's a shame, as the books could be great on screen in the right hands.

Low budget tosh!

[qui_j · 3/10 · 7 May 2020]

This series appeared to be shot on a low budget with time constraints that forced the episodes to be compressed to the point that they made no sense at all. From the start, it's difficult to understand what is going on, and the various roles the characters play. This does not improve as the series progresses and there is an unnatural hurry to cram everything into a short time frame until it all just becomes very jumbled. If it were made with a higher budget and more time, the story could have been better told. Overall, a total waste of time!

Potential

[peterantrobus · 8/10 · 10 October 2015]

*****SPOILER FREE***** About time, these books have been around years and been waiting for TV to take them up. It raised an eyebrow when I heard ITV were making them, the nature of material I'd have thought would have meant only Channel Four would have had the b***s to make, but fair play.

Three enjoyable episodes, well put together. Anna was good as Merrily, David Threlfall was worthy of more on screen time. One minor fault would be the lack of Gomer Parry, a key relationship in the books.

Being ITV, it's no surprise that some of the more gruesome elements were omitted, they could have been darker, although I'm left feeling there's potential with this series. A Christmas transmission would have been good, MR James has left a gaping hole.

Some of the books are darker then others, I'll wait with baited breath to see if Crown of Light is the next one they make.

Apparitions sank a few years ago, similar material. I hope isn't the one and only outing for Merrily. Time will tell.

>>>>>Watch it, and then read the book, not the other way around>>>>>

Don't know if I'll watch it anymore.

[hughnormgro · 2/10 · 25 September 2015]

What have they done to Lol, the character in the book has long black hair and is always too pale? I suppose they'll change Ethel the cat into a Staffordshire Pit Bull and Gomer Perry into a seven foot American transvestite. This is set around the lovely countryside of Herefordshire, Ludlow and all that, and ITV have almost ruined the book series which I have read from the very first. To stop any future books being spoilt I won't be watching any more of this first series, nor will I watch any future series that ITV make. Keep out of it Irene or they'll turn you into a kilted Scot, and I did want to watch Jane grow up.

Reminiscent of the exorcist films....

[s3276169 · 8/10 · 15 January 2016]

Midwinter of the Spirit is an unsettling supernatural thriller, reminiscent of the Exorcist films.

This mini series is not as violent as the Exorcist franchise but it shares the same tense atmosphere inhabited by a creeping, scuttling, increasing intrusive, evil. An evil that leaves no place safe, not even the comfortably familiar haven, the family home.

This is a a well scripted mini series, with a good solid foundation in terms of its story and a very believable cast of characters, who hand in, often frighteningly convincing performances. Topping this off is well developed narrative that slowly draws you into the story, lending added credibility to what is an otherworldly tale.

In short Midwinter of the Spirit is a high caliber UK production that is a must watch. My advice, just don't watch it alone. Eight out of ten from me.

Interesting premise poorly executed

[mefoote · 4/10 · 3 December 2020]

Merrily was whiny and selfish. How can she be a minister. A poor mother failing to acknowledge her daughters pain. She fortunately is surrounded by a good script and excellent supporting characters

Annoying and disappointing

[debhaas · 4/10 · 23 February 2022]

So much potential here with excellent actors and a good premise. The first episode was engaging but there were a couple of "red flags" that made me hesitant to completely suspend my disbelief of the storyline. Those red flags turned into full blown eye-rolling as the series continued.

I give it 4 stars because despite the laggy pace it kept me somewhat engaged.

Creepy, with good tension building

[katieintoronto · 8/10 · 6 January 2016]

• No Spoilers - I've never read (or heard of) the books, so just watched this as a stand alone rather than comparing. Based on other reviews, it's better that way. I found it to be well done: good suspense building up through the first episode (that's all that's been on so far here), with enough creepiness to keep you jumpy. The evil characters are suitably evil, the mystery seems complex and possibly dangerous, and it's not yet clear how this will play out, which keeps you watching. I like the way the lead character plays the part, as something of a normal-ish Mum who's muddling along, as much as anything; although that said, it's a bit puzzling that she would have wanted to be an exorcist. Possibly that comes out later. A bit cliché, but so far it's working for me and I'd call it generally well done. I'll definitely tune in for the next episode.

Excellent

[eshmana · 8/10 · 4 December 2023]

Excellent mini-series. This is how I want to watch TV (I'm 8 years late with the review but it's currently on ITVX). Succinct, compact, no wasted or drawn-out scenes. Three eposodes is perfect. Get it over with in a night.

Okay, so it's a little predictable villain-wise, but it weaves mysticism, religion, history, probably a fair bit of mumbo-jumbo, family problems, and is creepy enough to make you check that your doors are all locked before you turn in at night.

It's also a detective story as much as anything; think the da Vinci Code in Hereford. Sort of.

Get a bottle of wine out and knock yourself out.