✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
TV

Keeping Faith series 2, BBC review ★★★★★

23 Jul 19 – 23 Jul 20, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Faith (Eve Myles) tries to resume her life as a local lawyer, 18 months after her secretive husband, Evan (Bradley Freegard), came back. But she's still paying for Evan's sins

By Euan Franklin on 22/7/2019

1 CW reader is interested
Eve Myles in Keeping Faith, BBC One/iPlayer
Eve Myles in Keeping Faith, BBC One/iPlayer
Keeping Faith series 2, BBC review 3 Keeping Faith series 2, BBC review Euan Franklin
In contrast to the first series of Keeping Faith, the 2017 iPlayer sensation from Wales, the second series has a different title sequence. Faith (Eve Myles) wields yellow boxing gloves and strikes a punching bag, all in cheesy slow-mo as the credits roll. It's a predictably cheesy return to this confusing and trashy mystery-drama, but the change is intriguing.


Series one started every episode with a rippled reflection of Faith’s husband Evan (Bradley Freegard, Myles’s real-life husband), and held the premise of the show – deciphering a missing partner’s devastating secrets. Now that the mystery’s solved, where can the series go? It’s like the titles are distancing themselves from Evan, focusing only on Faith’s recovery from her emotional traumas.



Series two focuses on Faith's (Eve Myles) emotional recovery

The first episode of series two doesn’t throw Evan away, but slowly chisels his character from Faith's life. Picking up 18 months later, Faith gets the kids ready for school, works cases for the Howells law firm, and delivers dubious brown packages for the annoyingly obscure criminal Gael Reardon (now Anastasia Hille, replacing Angeline Ball). In the thick of all this, Faith remembers back to the night of Evan's return.


Writer Matthew Hall occasionally dips into Faith and Evan's lengthy dialogue, 18 months prior. The structure feels innovative at first, another mystery to be solved, but that night unlocks nothing new. And because the ultimate showdown between them is fragmented, the weight of the anger never feels heavy enough. Faith’s present-day, lawyerly concerns about defending a farmer accused of murder are of less interest, and yet they replace the original premise.



Faith defends a farmer accused of murder

The courtroom cases were decent filler in series one, but to lead with them in series two is dangerous... considering how poorly written they were. But Hall redeems himself a bit, generating some curiosity about the farmer murder case – being one that’s hard to prove and that puts the firm at risk.


With the Evan mystery abandoned, Faith’s character is one of the few supports for the new series. She goes against the antiquated stereotype of a forgiving wife, who'll stand by her man no matter what. That expectation is violently knocked away in a gloriously funny moment when it looks like she’ll forgive Evan. Then she headbutts him.


This episode is filled with lukewarm and forgettable moments, but a close-up on Eve Myles lifts the energy of the scene – probably because she's the only decent actor. She unleashes waves of genuine anger and sadness, layers of disgust and depression, all while trying to maintain a tough yet smiley exterior. It’s a crushing, engrossing performance the series doesn’t deserve.


Keeping Faith airs on Tuesday 23rd July at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer after it's broadcast.


What Keeping Faith series 2, BBC review
When 23 Jul 19 – 23 Jul 20, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £n/a
Website



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May. Photo: Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche, showing as part of Village Screen Film Fest
Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2022
Theo James and Rose Leslie in The Time Traveler's Wife, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky/HBO)
What to watch on TV this week

Editor's Picks

Theo James and Rose Leslie in The Time Traveler's Wife, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky/HBO)
What to watch on TV this week
Dafne Keen in His Dark Materials, BBC One
His Dark Materials, BBC One, episode 1 review
Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany in Mindhunter season 2, Netflix
Mindhunter season 2: release date, photos, cast, plot
Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag, BBC
BBC iPlayer box sets: what's on?
Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon in Big Little Lies, Sky Atlantic
Big Little Lies season 2, episode 6 review
Janet Leigh in Psycho, coming to Netflix in August
New to Netflix UK: August 2019
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
1

Keeping Faith

Mystery

Eve Myles

BBC

BBC iPlayer

TV

2019

You might like

  • Anna Friel in Deep Water, ITV

    Deep Water, ITV review ★★★★★

  • Max Fincham in Dark Money, BBC One

    Dark Money, BBC One review ★★★★★

  • Sheku Kanneh-Mason's Prom is screened on 25 Aug. Photo: Lars Borges

    BBC Proms on Television: weekend screen musical highlights

  • Martin Freeman in A Confession, ITV

    A Confession, ITV review ★★★★★

  • Aisling Bea in This Way Up, Channel 4

    This Way Up, Channel 4 review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×