Hinterland-Y Gwyll- Review by Rhys Thomas-Steff, Whitgift School
‘Hinterland- Y Gwyll’ (or ‘Hinterland- The Dusk’ for English speakers) is a Welsh crime drama that has mastered the art of keeping you on the edge of your seat. It follows DCI Tom Mathias, a detective who moved from work in London, in hope of a quiet time, to Aberystwyth, Wales. Accompanied by DC Mared Rhys, Tom starts to find the dark secrets this peaceful seaside town is hiding.
With very little funding and a mostly unheard of cast for some, this 3-series show has done extremely well for the tight budget it had. Each case is split into two episodes; so you are able to dip into which ever case takes your fancy from the whole show, and then discover the remaining mysteries as and when you would like to.
The five main characters are played extremely well, and infrequent appearances of various other characters from a previous event really makes the story rich in drama. Scenes are very well scripted and you often find yourself in the character’s position, thanks to the talents of many cinematographers, who are often changed so you will never get bored of the same style of shots which perfectly capture the 50 shades of grey stone walls and wind- blown trees.
Available on Netflix in a slightly different format to the episodes originally aired; the two-episode cases are one episode and almost exclusively in English only. All three series are available to stream. You can also get Hinterland-Y Gwyll on DVD from most major retailers.
