Everybody loves a good mystery. And usually a mystery involves murder. Or disappearance. Or both. Why do we love a mystery? Well, on the most basic level I think it's a sense of perhaps gentle arrogance: we believe that we can solve the case before the detective, cop or amateur sleuth investigating it. We like to piece together the clues, work out the solution and race the protagonist to the correct conclusion. There are few feelings as satisfying as hearing the case being solved and thinking --- or saying aloud to any who will listen --- "Yep! That's what I said! Isn't that what I said? Didn't I say he/she did it?" and so on.
But this is a series which I would defy even the most accomplished armchair detective to solve. It's just something of an oddity, where everyone has something to hide and there are more red herrings than you'd find in a fishmongers. Seems the finger of suspicion swings wildly around, pointing first at this person then at that, and fooling the viewer every time. It's incredibly well-constructed and written, with more false leads and twists than likely any mystery you've ever watched or read. Even at the end, when we know who did it, there's yet another surprise, one more final twist along the curving, bending road this short series leads us down.
Shown over five weeks on BBC, "Mayday" is the story of the disappearance of the May Queen, a young girl who is well known in the town, which is never named but may be Surrey, as the series was filmed there. As it becomes clear Hattie Sutton is not coming back, the search for her intensifies as the whole community joins in, but some are more reluctant than others to help. Could they be hiding something? "Mayday" mixes elements of local folklore, pagan belief and of course police procedural with the aura of a good whodunnit and a healthy slice of paranoia and fear, pulling you this way then that, spinning you around till you're dizzy and can't even find which direction you want to walk in.
Starring two very notable actors in Spooks' Peter Firth and Love/Hate and Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen, the series traces the lives of each of the main characters and how, if at all, they link to the disappearance of Hattie. There are some very unsavoury elements brought up during the five-episode run, and it's quite hard-hitting and uncompromising in its examination of the microcosm of English rural life, and how communities band together to protect, shield or even damn one of their own. As the story unfolds it often becomes less about Hattie and more about those who knew her, with minor dramas and subplots playing out against the backdrop of the investigation.
CAST
Hattie/Caitlin Sutton, played by Leila Mimmack: Hattie, the May Queen, disappears on May Day just before taking her place at the head of the parade, and her twin sister, Caitlin, worries that she may have very well been the last to hear from her before she vanished, as later she plays back a voicemail she received --- but ignored --- from her sister on her mobile and is sure she can hear Hattie being taken.
Linus, played by Max Fowler: Much of what happens is seen through the teenager's eyes. He is in love with Caitlin but she does not seem interested. When her sister goes missing he tries to comfort her, yet wonders if his own father may not be involved? What IS it he is keeping in the closet that he forbids Linus to see?
Malcolm, played by Peter Firth: A local businessman who is trying to develop a new housing estate in the area, Malcolm is reluctant to join the hunt for Hattie, though he is persuaded, more out of a sense of shame than anything else. Why is he so reticent?
Fiona, played by Sophie Okenodo: A local woman who used to be a police officer, but has retired in order to look after her three children. She seems to have history with Everett, Linus's father, and is married to local cop
Alan, played by Peter McDonald
Seth, played by Tom Fisher: A local man who seems to have a special relationship with the nearby forest, may be insane and is brother to
Steve, played by Sam Spruell: A local man who also has history with Hattie's family.
Everett, played by Aiden Gillen: Local lothario, an uncompromising man who spends most of his time, when not womanising, playing video games and drinking. He does his best to look after Linus after the tragic death of his wife in suspicious circumstances.
Gail, played by Lesley Manville: Long suffering wife of Malcolm, who begins to wonder if her husband is involved in the young girl's disappearance.