Cops and Monsters is truly a bizarre entity on its own; set within a police-enforced UK, this series follows supernatural-law enforcement team PITS (seriously that’s their name!) trying to investigate a Lycan A202, a werewolf that can transform without the usage of a full moon. Investigating this anomaly is Maya Hedges alongside her ex-boyfriend Martin Carmichael, but they soon discover that it’s all part of a huge revenge plot against her specifically by a werewolf known as the Cult of Many Faces. Speaking of which, that name would belong to an organisation, not an individual person!
This is a very problematic series, that benefits from having a great idea driving it, but suffering hugely from lacklustre execution. The concept of a having a police state investigating the paranormal is a cool, fascinating idea that would have the potential of spawning an excellent little series out of, but the execution presented here is questionable at best, having performances that range from flat or uninterested to laughably unsubtle or unfocused. Ellen Patterson is meant to be a tough yet vulnerable law enforcer, yet she just comes across like a teenager cosplaying as a cop and her performance is largely flat, which may be due to the fact that this is her first acting gig.
Every time Simon Weir tries to be fierce as the gruff Chief of PITS, it just produces laughable results, like the scene where the station is attacked and he fires at the intruder whilst holding his gun sideways gangsta style! WTF indeed. But that isn’t as insane as Billy Kirkwood as the central antagonist, whose insane delivery and OTT manic expressions make him come across as annoying than threatening. Plus, both Doctor Who stars Sophie Aldred and Caitlin Blackwood are sorely wasted here in roles that don’t do either of them any justice at all. The direction is very amateurish, with a lot of the shots lacking any form of energy or polish, which can also be said of the editing, and the way it keeps cutting from one location to another makes the pacing very uneven. The final episode also seems to have some bizarre continuity issues as all of a sudden both Simon Weir and Billy Kirkwood are sporting beards as opposed to the clean-shaven look from the previous episodes.
Cops and Monsters isn’t a horrible series by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very disappointing as it has, at its heart, a very good idea, but just suffers from problematic execution. Maybe, if this were in the hands of better writers and filmmakers, this series could’ve caught fire, but instead just runs cold.
COPS AND MONSTERS / DIRECTOR: FRASER COULL / SCREENPLAY: FRASER COULL, IAN SMITH, JAMES T. HARDING, LAURA ANNE ANDERSON, ROLAND MOORE / STARRING: SIMON WEIR, BILLY KIRKWOOD, SOPHIE ALDRED, CAITLIN BLACKWOOD / RELEASE DATE: AVAILABLE NOW
