I wasn’t sure what to think of Bodies going into it, having little to no context about the plot. From the vague things I’d seen advertised, it seemed like a standard period crime drama, but I gradually realised there’s a lot more going on once the story progressed. A conventional set-up where a Victorian police officer discovers a dead body turns into something more complex when said body is also found in the same location by detectives in the 1940s war-torn England, our modern day England, and once more in a dystopian futuristic England.
Based on the eponymous comic book series by DC Vertigo, the OTT body surgeries in the first couple of episodes felt unnecessary, but then again, having no knowledge of the comics myself, maybe that was the style.
But anyway, ignoring the gore, the narrative gets more interesting as we learn about the lives of each investigator and their respective ‘weaknesses’ in the time and environment in which they live in, whether that’s a weakness related to religion, sexual orientation or physical disability. Across each of the four time zones sits Stephen Graham’s maniacal figure, whether he’s playing a miserly eccentric in the past or a humble despot in the future. Graham fits each role like a glove, and it’s difficult to think of him playing that many nice guys in his ample career.
Other than Graham, it’s refreshing to witness a cast of relative unknowns take up the screentime. Andor’s Kyle Sollar plays Victorian Investigator Di Hillinghead, who is forced to confront his sexuality as the case unfolds. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd puts in a similarly convincing shift as Jewish detective Whiteman, while Amaka Okafor and Shira Haas are effective as women dealing with threats of terrorist attacks while experiencing respective issues of racism and disability (Detective Maplewood could probably use a haircut to avoid Edna Mode comparisons, but that’s a stylistic detail which is behind the point).
While the series keeps up a decent pace over the 8-episode running time, it would’ve been nice to get into more details about Graham’s rise to power as well as a bit of backstory about Hillinghead’s past life, but these are slight niggles in an otherwise decent and watachable murder mystery. Come for that mystery, stay for the compelling characters.