DNA

This series was quite good, definitely a gem for the folks who enjoy a good detective/medical-examiner show.

I've always been a fan of Tom Conti and this series reflects not only his excellent acting but the complex character he portrays. From the first episode I was hooked and only wish there had been more episodes. Conti portrays a coroner who, due to an emotional breakdown, had been encouraged to leave his post, thus becoming an author. His personal life is a mess; his wife is cheating, his son procrastinates as to his future and Conti becomes personally involved in a murder case. His illness rears its ugly head and he and those around him wonder if he is involved in this murder. If you like fast-paced complex murder mysteries, DNA should not be missed. Welcome back, Conti, please don't stop.

Spoiler Alert!This series was initially released as "Donovan," for the protagonist, Joseph Donovan, played by Tom Conti. Donovan is a retired expert in forensics and successful author whose personal life is complicated by his wife's serial infidelity. As the series opens, Donovan is asked to help the police with a murder investigation in which the name "Donovan" was scrawled in blood on the wall of the room in which the victim was found. It is not long before there is a second murder featuring Donovan's name writ large in blood at the scene. The direction the story is taking becomes clearer with the discovery of forensic evidence implicating Donovan, and he becomes suspect #1. Complicating matters for Donovan is his experiencing dissociative fugue - states during which he does things of which he has no memory - and Donovan's son having witnessed suspicious acts on the part of his father, acts his father denies. This opens the door to the possibility that Donovan committed the murders but has no memory of them. The police buy into this much quicker than will the astute viewer, who will realize that the series, then in its early episodes, has nowhere to go if Donovan is the murderer. Still, what unfolds might have been interesting had it been remotely plausible. Donovan's son, for example, who theretofore has not appeared overly enamored of his parents, falsely admits to having committed the murders so mum and dad can stay together. That is merely implausible. The following plot element from episode 2 is nothing short of bizarre.Donovan, realizing he is being framed and knowing by whom, conducts a clandestine, and illegal, search of the suspect's home at night. He leaves on foot, via a footpath along a river, unaware that the suspect, having returned, witnessed his exit and is following him, iron pry bar in hand. The suspect stealthily overtakes Donovan, strikes a crushing blow to the back of his head, and rolls his body into the river. We see Donovan's body floating face down, carried away by the current, over a spillway and into the distance. Now this, coming about halfway through the second of five episodes, left me wondering how the writers were going to resurrect their main character. Well, resurrect him they did, because soon we see Donovan, looking as healthy as ever (with not so much as a bandage on his head!), plotting to expose his attacker. How did he survive having his skull bashed with a pry bar and his body committed to the river? No explanation is offered. In fact, there is no subsequent reference to the incident at all! It is as though it never happened.For me, the series never recovered after that. Indeed, none of the following three episodes was potentially as interesting as the first two. The forensic aspects of the stories were not particularly interesting, and, as is often the case, the investigative team and the way in which it functioned were not realistic. Conti is good in the role of Donovan; indeed, he is the reason to watch the series. All in all, this is not a terrible series, but neither is it a particularly good one, either.

I first saw Tom Conti in American Dreamer withJo Beth Williams and it's one of my favorites.I have seen him in many tv shows and alwaysthought he was one of the best actors ever.I never heard of this and I love it! So muchbetter than all thos CSI shows! The storiesgo beyond the same old DNa catch killer soeasy written shows. If you want a greatmystery detective written show this is it.

Another great forensic whodunit series from ITV (Granada) in 2005. There are only five episodes, each about 1:10 hours long; but they all have enough twists and turns to hold interest. Tom Conti (Shirley Valentine) and Samantha Bond (Downton and Miss Moneypenney) lead the cast filled with some other familiar faces including Peter Capaldi (Thick of It and Dr Who) in episode 5. Wish there were more episodes.

I love Tom Conti anyway, but this show exceeded my expectation. The first episode was gripping. The rest were good stories too, but if the first episode had been the only one, I would not have regretted purchasing this.

A bit out of date, but still wears well and does have the necessary drama to hold and pull you in.

A forensic specialist turned author, Joe Donovan, is called back to duty to help solve a crime which looks similar to the last case he worked on in which, due to his error, the evidence seemed tainted and the criminal was set free. In this new case, it appears the criminal is taunting Donovan. Is he perhaps planting evidence to make it look like the Donovan committed the crime?Complicating this, it appears that Donovan might even have a motive. More crimes occur and it seems our scientist, or someone close to him, is involved.The characters are likable, the acting is good, but the dialogue seemed a bit repetitive and stilted. At times the pacing seemed slow to me. That may be subjective. It did keep you guessing, though.

"DNA" is something of an enigma. When i tried researching it online, I got many conflicting accounts of the series itself, and was initially unconvinced to look into the series further. Also, with the fact that the UK DVD release only features Series 1 (episodes 1-2) and not all five episodes as described, I wasn't sure the other episodes were available on DVD until I stumbled across this release. I decided to plump for it, as although it is billed as Region 1, the DVDs themselves aren't region-locked and play perfectly on Region 2.And without a doubt, I'm so pleased that I did purchase. There is something truly unique about this series which has us hooked from the very beginning.In the first series, Joe Donovan (Tom Conti) has retired. He was edged out of his role as a police adviser after mishandling a case and has since become an author. However, he is called upon by an old friend, now a DCI, who finds the name 'Donovan' scrawled in blood on the wall at the scene of a murder. At this point, Donovan is suffering from blackouts and temporary memory loss. When his DNA is found on evidence taken from the crime scene, forensics chief Michael Kinsley (Malcolm Scates) suspects Donovan of the murder. When a second murder is committed in the same circumstances, suspicion quickly shifts onto Donovan's son Seth (Ryan Cartwright), who was seen leaving the scene. With Kinsley determined to nail Donovan, he performs a forensic sweep of his car, only find to find hair and blood particles relating to the victim. At this point, Donovan realises he may be the victim of a setup and enlists Kinsley's number two, Cath Mathis (Indira Varma) to help him prove it.In the second series, Donovan has come out of retirement and now heads up the FIU (Forensic Investigation Unit). Here, he heads up a team of three investigators, his second in command Nick Pushko (Dan Fredenburgh), Evie Strauss (Amelia Bullmore) and Myrna Rovic (Katie Blake). Later, Seth also gets a job on the team as junior investigator, with a little help from his father. The second series is made up of three seperate cases investigated by the team: a serial killer targeting young blonde woman, a wealthy aristocrat who is found shot in his study, and the outbreak of a deadly virus on board an aeroplane carrying aid workers back from the Sudan.And throughout the series, there is the ongoing focus on Donovan's shattered relationship with his wife Kate (Samantha Bond), as they continually try to rebuild what is left of their 25-year-marriage for the sake of their son.Special praise has to go to Tom Conti. His portrayal of swooning, dry Joe Donovan was a perfect casting. Conti brings a brooding, dark persona to Donovan that leads you to believe there's trouble in his past, but that he's not open enough to talk about it. As a viewer, you're hoping that at some point he'll just come out with it. Ryan Cartwright also does an excellent job as Seth Donovan, taking the character of your typical post-teenager and adding a little touch of sparkle.What is clear after two series is that the last episode was never intended to be the last. It feels like the story is only just beginning. It feels as if with every character, there are so many more avenues to be explored. Just three of the unfinished storylines are Donovan's one-night stand with Evie; Myrna's blossoming relationship with Seth; and the possible return of Donovan's wife Kate, who leaves him for good in Episode 4. And it's clear to me that the last episode - which focuses on an entirely different type of investigation altogether - was just the tip of the iceberg."DNA" really could have been the ITV's answer to Silent Witness. The first series pulled in excellent viewing figures (upwards of 7 million), which immediately gave the green light for further episodes. However, I feel ITV have a big part to play in the show's demise, with the second series messed around in the schedules so much that Episode 2 was pushed back from it's intended timeslot to accommodate overrunning sports coverage, and the final episode didn't air until nearly a year after the first two due to being pulled after it was deemed as being "insensitive" to victims of the 7/7 bombings, despite the subject matter being completely unrelated.I'd love to see more but I think sadly the ship has sailed. But, we can look back and say that DNA was truly one of the greats that deserved better treatment then it got. Bravo to all of the cast.

This series sounded intriguing and since we like mysteries, we thought we'd give it a try. The premise of the first two shows is that the lead 'good guy' (Tom Conti) having suffered a breakdown must now prove he isn't responsible for a series of crimes. There are a number of aspects that make this utterly ridiculous in my opinion. First of all there is great detail given to the fastidious care taken by the team. They literally wear 'HazMat' suits when collecting DNA and every little hair and fibre is examined with various computer technology. I presume this is to lend credibility and reality to the show. Yet when the 'good guy' is bonked on the head with a crowbar he sustains absolutely NO injury! He miraculously survives a beating and a near drowning and resumes life as if nothing happened! At the end, another bonk with the crowbar on another character also leaves NO BLOOD on the victim! -really? We suffer through all the 'realistic' stuff only to come to this fantasy.Tom Conti is mismatched with his wife - a sexy runaround. He is super casual and accepting (beyond belief) of her behaviour. Another ridiculous inconsistency is that when a very 'bad' suspect is questioned by police, he has his lawyer present. However when Conti's teenage son is questioned for many hours and days - no lawyer. Too many major flubs - too many 'really?' moments to make this a plausible storyline. We bailed after the first two shows - too ridiculous for words.

The acting was so good. Not only did this fellow solve the crimes, but the way he does it, you will have never seen in any other crime series. Over the top and catches hold of you so you can't stop watching. Better than a good book. It is a must see.