Blythe Duff

John Michie

Alex Norton

Robert Fraser

Ex-con Eddie Monroe is found stabbed in a Govan alleyway. Burke meets Angus Ford - a retired police officer who was responsible for Monroe&apos;s arrest and subsequent convictions - who remains adamant that Monroe was a bad man who des...

Justin Molotnikov

The Thirteenth Step

Not a step in the right direction

Actually like &apos;Taggart&apos; very, very much indeed. Loved it even at its best. If more the earlier episodes (so the Taggart and early Jardine years) than the later years, when the lengths became shorter in particular the show felt well past its sell date unfortunately. &quot;The Thirteenth Step&quot; was not one of my first &apos;Taggart&apos; episodes watched when first getting into the show (back when the later Burke episodes aired in two parts on weekday afternoons), instead it was seen a couple of years after the show ended.

Unfortunately, &quot;The Thirteenth Step&quot; is really not one of the best &apos;Taggart&apos; episodes. There are worse episodes of the show, since and even before, but the show was really starting to run out of ideas at this point (or at least that&apos;s how it felt) and that tiredness and predictability can be seen in &quot;The Thirteenth Step&quot;. An episode that has a good deal of good things but somehow it felt lacking and somewhat bland. Calling a &apos;Taggart&apos;, one of the grittiest shows of the genre, episode bland is not a compliment.

There are as said good things with &quot;The Thirteenth Step&quot;. It is well-made visually, with the usual grit and moodiness in the photography. The scenery is both picturesque and unforgiving, . The script intrigues, pulls no punches and there is some entertaining banter within the team. The team interaction is always cohesive and there is never a disconnect, with some nice banter and also intensity.

Development-wise, all the lead characters have come on a long way (though Jackie, the longest serving team member, was always interesting and a bright spot). The cast give reliably good performances, Blythe Duff never disappoints, though do agree that Alex Norton tends to overact here and Burke is too aggressive.

On top of that, &quot;The Thirteenth Step&quot; lacks tautness and tension and has too many recognisable plot and genre tropes stitched together, with twists being too few. Which makes it feel tired and predictable. The denouement was not hard to figure out, the motive is old and doesn&apos;t take a lot of figuring out and the number of suspects are too few for the identity of the killer to be shocking.

Plot-wise this is pretty ordinary stuff, not as much of a things not being what they seem vibe. Not at first within the episode, but when talking about visual media in general there is nothing new. While the supporting cast are game, with Andrew Neil faring best with the most interesting character, the characters are too one-dimensional and too familiar. The music is again, apart from the main theme, at odds with what goes on and sounds twenty years out of date.

Average episode overall. 5/10.

Actually like 'Taggart' very, very much indeed. Loved it even at its best. If more the earlier episodes (so the Taggart and early Jardine years) than the later years, when the lengths became shorter in particular the show felt well past its sell date unfortunately. "The Thirteenth Step" was not one of my first 'Taggart' episodes watched when first getting into the show (back when the later Burke episodes aired in two parts on weekday afternoons), instead it was seen a couple of years after the show ended.

Unfortunately, "The Thirteenth Step" is really not one of the best 'Taggart' episodes. There are worse episodes of the show, since and even before, but the show was really starting to run out of ideas at this point (or at least that's how it felt) and that tiredness and predictability can be seen in "The Thirteenth Step". An episode that has a good deal of good things but somehow it felt lacking and somewhat bland. Calling a 'Taggart', one of the grittiest shows of the genre, episode bland is not a compliment.

There are as said good things with "The Thirteenth Step". It is well-made visually, with the usual grit and moodiness in the photography. The scenery is both picturesque and unforgiving, . The script intrigues, pulls no punches and there is some entertaining banter within the team. The team interaction is always cohesive and there is never a disconnect, with some nice banter and also intensity.

Development-wise, all the lead characters have come on a long way (though Jackie, the longest serving team member, was always interesting and a bright spot). The cast give reliably good performances, Blythe Duff never disappoints, though do agree that Alex Norton tends to overact here and Burke is too aggressive.

On top of that, "The Thirteenth Step" lacks tautness and tension and has too many recognisable plot and genre tropes stitched together, with twists being too few. Which makes it feel tired and predictable. The denouement was not hard to figure out, the motive is old and doesn't take a lot of figuring out and the number of suspects are too few for the identity of the killer to be shocking.

Plot-wise this is pretty ordinary stuff, not as much of a things not being what they seem vibe. Not at first within the episode, but when talking about visual media in general there is nothing new. While the supporting cast are game, with Andrew Neil faring best with the most interesting character, the characters are too one-dimensional and too familiar. The music is again, apart from the main theme, at odds with what goes on and sounds twenty years out of date.

Average episode overall. 5/10.

Ex-con Eddie Monroe is found stabbed in a Govan alleyway. Burke meets Angus Ford - a retired police officer who was responsible for Monroe's arrest and subsequent convictions - who remains adamant that Monroe was a bad man who deserved to die. But who was his killer? All roads keep leading back to old acquaintance Daniel Tulloch and his family. In the course of uncovering the truth Burke is forced to face some demons of his own.

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The Thirteenth Step

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