The Piper
4.3/5
Critic Rating
When strange music makes a girl vanish, a detective and her daughter uncover a terrifying force.Thriller starring Tamzin Outhwaite. Soundtrack by Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan.
Critic Reviews
Score: 4
Mark Gorman • Mark Gorman Blog • Dec 21, 2020
"It’s a bit far fetched at times and it’s very earnest, demanding a huge amount from its cast that largely pull it off. But it’s a struggle at times to forgive it its more overwrought emotional spider’s web of dramatic outpouring. Nevertheless, it’s superbly produced and directed (directed by Kate Rowland and produced by Russell Finch) throughout, and although I found it a chore at times to keep following it (and the thinly veiled premise of the old Pied Piper idea is never actually revealed fully) I stuck with it and give it a solid 4/5 for quality and largely believable dialogue by writers Vickie Donoghue and Natalie Mitchell."
Score: 4.5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Nov 7, 2020
"For anyone who likes creeping dread, The Piper, just out on BBC Sounds, is excellent. I listened without reading anything at all about it, and found the first episode a little hard to follow. But once I’d sorted out all the characters’ relationships to each other, I was away. (Anyway, it’s nice not to have every element spoon-fed; it keeps you concentrating.) The pacing of information is interesting: the kids, and the listener, work out what’s happening far earlier than the adults. This keeps you engaged, in that “Don’t do that, you wally!” manner of horror films. The fear of losing children is one that will twist any parent’s stomach, and the “He’s here…” element is one that never fails to frighten."
