No Kidding

Kidnapped finished its run of Channel 4 last night and if you didn’t catch it, shame on you. It was an absolute treat.

Pulled by NBC after it broadcast only five episodes, in the UK we saw the full 13 episode run. Channel 4’s idea of splicing two episodes together proved to be inspired, even though, after a couple of weeks, the show was bumped back an hour in the schedule.


Of course, being an odd number of episodes, the final three episodes were run back-to-back, ending at 1:30 in the morning. Perhaps not a great time for a show viewers seriously had to pay attention to, but even after a long day and another early start to look forward to, I was still riveted to the spot as it played toward the final denouement.

Told to wrap up the show quickly by the network, the writers still managed to do it perfectly. The multiple twists woven through the various plot threads made absolute sense. Originally planned to feature a different kidnapping each year, with the running time ultimately reduced it meant the drama picked up the pace to almost breakneck speed. Running just over half the length of a full season, Kidnapped, which played like Kurosawa’s High and Low meets 24, wasn’t allowed to outstay its welcome.


While there is no word yet of a DVD release over here, Kidnapped is released as a Region 1 3-disc set next week. Nab it if you can.