Luke Treadaway does, I think, a great job in this. His character, deeply flawed and damaged from childhood abuse unfolds in a believable and quite frightening way. His acting is good enough to even have you feel sorry for the child he was, despite his hideous behaviour to women as an adult. Geraldine James is Miss Chawcer, fossilised and acerbic and not without pathos of her own. Her high handed, upper middle class attitude to the working class and ( at first ) pathetically aspiring Mix is a clear pointer to trouble to come. Ruth Rendell is very good, very practiced at this kind of thing and both actors brought this less-than-pleasant aspect of Englishness to life brilliantly. The actress playing Mix's obsession, model Nerissa Nash was, to my mind the weak link. Very beautiful and well able to portray vulnerability, I found her responses to Treadaway's psychopath less than convincing. She appeared somewhat worried and nervous rather than terrified. Wonderful atmospherics, almost Gothic in tone. Loved that aspect .Also, the clever and sad little episode with Nerissa's would-be saviour.
The ending , with the Christie lookalike added nothing,and was frankly a bit silly. Overall, damn good .
The ending , with the Christie lookalike added nothing,and was frankly a bit silly. Overall, damn good .