X
- 2019
- TV-14
- PBS
- 2019
- TV-14
- PBS
- 2019
- TV-14
- PBS
- 2019
- TV-14
- PBS
Vienna Blood
5 Seasons
Season 1 Premiere: Nov 18, 2019
72
7.1
Where to Watch
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
72
38% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
63% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
72
38% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
63% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It’s a cop show, a police procedural, and it combines in a formulaic way the usual characteristics of all such stories and series. ... When it is done well, as here, the results are exceptional and make for compelling viewing.
There’s no flagship Agatha Christie adaptation on-air this Christmas, more’s the pity, but this plugged the gap satisfyingly. The pace sagged in the middle and the Gothic dream sequences verged on hammy but it was gripping, old-fashioned fun.
If “Vienna Blood” seems to resemble other thrillers in pacing and tone, there’s a reason: Its creator is screenwriter Steve Thompson (“Sherlock,” “Deep State,” “Jericho”), so there will be a certain comfortable familiarity to the proceedings. (The directors are Umut Dag and Robert Dornhelm.) But there’s also enough that’s novel about the show’s cerebral gumshoes to keep viewers rapt, and likely hoping for more.
If you look too closely at Vienna Blood, the cracks start to show, but the broad strokes here were enjoyable.
It is all absurd but enjoyable, the extended length more or less justified by the subplots. ... The odd-couple detective and sidekick setup feels tired. But Beard and Maurer are excellent, and my id is a sucker for a bit of murder in a fin de siècle setting, so I’ll forgive much.
There is a happy medium between Silent Witness and Midsomer Murders, and this isn’t it. ... It does have a charismatic lead in Maurer, who is the main reason for watching it. But the plot was plodding – an uninspired cast of male suspects, and a female fashion designer who was clearly hiding something.
It had more the vibe of a period potboiler made in the 1980s with accompanying mood music, where the baddies sneered and cackled and the women were hysterical, being shagged by cads or naked on a pathologist's slab. It was hammier than a butcher's knife, but it wasn't unenjoyable for it, providing you took it with a fistful of salt.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
7.1
71% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
21% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
7% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
7.1
71% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
21% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
7% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company:
- Endor Productions
- MR TV-Film
- Seven.One Studios
- Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
- Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)
Initial Release Date: Nov 18, 2019
Number of seasons: 4 Seasons
Rating: TV-14
Awards
Romy Gala, Austria
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations