The first episode of Bodies left me with the impression that it was yet another solid cop show, with a twist. Granted, the twist is so substantial that it should be referred to as a Twist – four detectives discover the same body, in the same spot, decades apart – but for a brief time, it seems good rather than great. Fine, not fantastic. It begins in 2023, with police attending a far-right march in London’s East End, but hops back to 1941, and 1890, before pulling off an even more audacious leap. The modern-day stuff is thrilling and tense; in the past, it is cartoonish and cod-historical. But as the first episode came to an explosive end, I immediately started the next. And the next, and the next, and the next.
It starts us off gently, in the present day. Detective sergeant Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) spots a young man with a gun lingering shiftily on the sides of the fascist march. She follows him and discovers the body of a man, apparently shot through the eye, and stripped naked. Back to 1941, where we meet ladies’ man Charles Whiteman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), a Jewish detective whose colleagues are antisemitic and suspicious of his motives in joining the force. He, too, is due an encounter with the very same body. The clock goes back one last time, to 1890, as impressively bearded detective Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller) navigates the subcultures of Victorian Whitechapel, before, what do you know, finding the body, in the same alley, laid out the same way.
Bodies is an adaptation of the late Si Spencer’s graphic novel from 2015, and the series is dedicated to his memory. It pays tribute to its origins with the occasional appearance of split screens that divide up scenes and eras like the panels of a comic book. Lights explode, very weird stuff happens, and Stephen Graham appears to be the key to it all, although where and when he appears is a crucial part of the mystery. Initially, its three strands compete unfavourably, nudging our interest back to the more satisfying 2023. Hasan is no-nonsense and has a way with difficult youths, which makes her a disturbing focal point for two teenagers who appear to be connected to the body. She is also a single mum, who lives with her father and her young son, and has trouble balancing her work and home life, as is the case with most female police officers on TV.
By comparison, the late-Victorian era is a little ripe, as cheeky sex workers catcall the bobbies. There are plenty of smouldering looks between Hillinghead and a journalist who happens to be a pioneer of street photography, and has taken a photograph of the body that may give a clue as to whodunnit. It seems to have caught a touch of Victorian-itis, with everyone giving it the full over-the-top period drama treatment. Similarly, 1941 starts in a comically noir fashion, as Whiteman receives mysterious phone calls and directions to clandestine operations, all the while charming the plucky gals who work at the station.
Stick with it, though, because it settles down quickly. It thrusts the action forward and Unorthodox’s Shira Haas appears as Iris Maplewood, yet another detective who stumbles across the body. The eras start to earn their keep as the connections reveal themselves. It is ambitious, but this makes it exceptionally good value. There are seances, secret handshakes, shootouts, car chases, stakeouts, exploding caravans and blackmail plots.
Hillinghead is an honest copper with hidden desires, whose life is soon derailed in the wake of his discovery. Whiteman is a less-than-honest copper with a mysterious side-gig, but when he encounters the body, events spiral out of his control. Hasan is being tailed by another teenager who claims to know what will happen in the future, while in the future, Maplewood’s investigation is compromised by a mysterious “red alert” placed on her case. Identities shift and slide. There is a lot going on here, but when it starts to gel, it becomes a thrilling package deal. You get a smörgåsbord of genres. This is a period drama, a 40s film noir, a tough cop show and an experimental sci-fi. Buy one, get three free.
There has been a lot of TV time-travel lately. Jamie Bell was a time-travelling serial killer in the eerie Apple series Shining Girls; Paapa Essiedu went six months back in time in The Lazarus Project, and Peter Capaldi jumped around the years in Prime’s The Devil’s Hour. It was high time Netflix came for its slice of the quantum physical pie, and Bodies is more than able to keep up with the pack.
• All eight episodes of Bodies are available now on Netflix.
