The weekend has arrived and so has a three-season mystery series from Wales that’s perfect for your weekend binge.
I first watched the first season of 35 Days (35 Diwrnod) a few years ago, and I’ve been wanting to see the rest of the series since then. On August 13th all three seasons of this slow-burning and engrossing Welsh noir mystery series arrived on this side of the pond.
35 Days is a whodunit, but not in the sense of a detective drama. Rather, the series opens with a death, then rewinds 35 days and unravels what occurred in the days leading up to it and who was responsible for it.
Season 1 opens with a dead Jan Richards (Lois Jones, Agatha Christie’s Marple), murdered just moments before.
Thirty-five days earlier, it’s another day in the neighborhood for the residents of the Crud yr Awel housing estate. The biggest excitement is the police raid on a home during a children’s birthday party. Beyond that, it’s the interpersonal dramas — within families and between friends and neighbors — that are as common in the Close as the grey skies above it.
Jan’s arrival sparks curiosity, gossip, and lust amongst her new neighbors. In their minds, it’s odd that she, as an air hostess, only brings carry-on luggage; it can’t be a coincidence that the drug raid happened when she moved in; she’s hot, maybe she’s open to a bit of…
But who is Jan, really?
Meanwhile, holiday parties, neighborly dinners, and the like belie what actually goes on behind closed doors in the cul-de-sac — from miserable marriages and criminals in hiding, to bullying and blackmail.
Bit by bit, the truth will out. None of it is good. Especially not for Jan.
The Season 1 cast includes Rhys Ap William (Living a Lie), Wyn Bowen Harries (Hidden), Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch), Eiry Hughes (Stella), Catrin Morgan (Gwaith/Cartref), Ceri Murphy (The Indian Doctor), Aled Pedrick (Doctor Who), Olwen Rees (Warren), Beth Robert (Hinterland), Ryland Teifi (Keeping Faith), and Martin Thomas (Dim Ond y Gwir).
Seasons 2 and 3 — both of which are on my weekend watch list — follow completely different murder stories and feature different casts.
All three seasons of 35 Days are now available for streaming in the US on BritBox and its digital channels, including the BritBox channel on Amazon.
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