Monroe, Series Finale, ITV1/ Rubicon, BBC Four

Medical angst, surgical trauma and a vast conspiracy theory

by Adam SweetingThursday, 14 April 2011

(Left to right) Sarah Parish, James Nesbitt and Tom Riley on the alert for flying one-liners in 'Monroe'

So Monroe reached the end of series one, and I still couldn't read what its tone was supposed to be. Some artsdesk readers have expressed enthusiasm for the theme tune, but I find its jogging Celtic jauntiness symptomatic of Monroe's wider problems. Obviously you can't expect too much from a bit of title music, but surely it should give you a clue as to whether the show is a hard-hitting drama about life and death or a sitcom?

Perhaps the idea is that all Monroe's deadpannery is a necessary counterbalance to the emotional stresses of neurosurgery

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