Life has a different plan though, with other men seemingly smelling the weakness in him, and making it their mission to make his life miserable. When John’s fight or flight response is triggered in a park, he runs for it, leaving a poor woman – and his own child, for that matter – in his dust as he belts it down the road. While he does later return to retrieve his daughter, the shock of the whole thing sparks him to keep running… all the way to rural Scotland.
With his family moving to the quaint and quiet village of Coldwater, it feels like a fresh start. Bible-bashing neighbours Tommy (Ewen Bremner) and Rebecca (Eve Myles) welcome them into their home and the community. While his sex life with Fiona has still hit a road block, it’s a start.
But then he runs into a local yob in an off-licence, and it all goes wrong again. No escaping the bad guys for John – they’re everywhere.
When said local yob, Angus, later turns violent with John during a run-in on a late-night jog, a chain of events leaves Angus dead, John a shrivelling wreck, and new best mate Tommy his guardian angel. At least, that’s what he thinks. Turns out his scariest bad guy comes with a wide grin, a woollen jumper, and a more-than-slight obsession with serial killers.
The incident triggers something in both Tommy and John alike, and soon the pair are in a battle of wits for control over the other. As Tommy, Ewan Bremner is deliciously creepy – played perfectly as the women around him pick up on it immediately, but with enough subtlety that men dismiss it as “just what he’s like”.
On the flip side, Andrew Lincoln is perfectly cast as John, a man emasculated from life and in need of some kind, ANY kind, of win. Most will know Lincoln as strong Walking Dead leading man, Rick Grimes, and you can sense that ability in John – he just can’t, or won’t, unlock it in himself, beaten down and depressed.
Psychological thrillers have a knack sometimes of falling into the trap of having their characters make stupid decisions or cliché moves – ”Don’t go to the police!” “Go down that dark garden path!” “Let’s open this spooky door” – but in Coldwater, writer David Ireland justifies everything down to the tiniest detail, backing the mousey John into a corner.
But it’s also why I love the women of the show, who make perfect partners for their male counterparts. Fiona is the breadwinner and strong-willed, not taking fools gladly and not easily deceived. Before anything even goes wrong, she doesn’t trust Tommy – and he can sense that, keeping him on edge. This trait also explains her growing frustration with her husband, who’s so willing to take someone’s lead it almost doesn’t matter who that someone is.
Meanwhile Eve Myles’ is deliciously deceptive as the pastor who everyone adores. Warm and inviting to everyone, there’s a hidden side to everything she does that’s just waiting to come out – she’s not even Christian, openly admitting to Fiona being atheist. It just proves how good she is at lying, something that will come in handy down the line.
There’s certainly some gripes to have with Coldwater, every now and again doing something so wild it throws you out of the realistic world that’s been created, and sometimes edging over the thrilling-ridiculous line in the wrong direction. But it does pull itself back when it needs to, creating a show that is all too easy to want more of.
Coldwater is the kind of thriller that keeps you in a chokehold from the opening moments of the first episode, and refuses to let go until the end.
By the end of the series, you’ll be left struggling to breathe… and that’s just where creator David Ireland wants you.
Coldwater is available now on ITVX.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Add Coldwater to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
