User Reviews

I noticed the title Lifeline in the TV listings and the plot seemed reminiscent of a short story I had read some years ago about a man who contacts his dead girlfriend on a chatline. I did not realize that this was the second part of a two-part drama and decided to watch because, like the Thriller and Hammer House of Horror episodes from the 70s and 80s, it was only an hour long. When I saw that Joanne Whalley was appearing I was even more keen to watch as I loved her work in The Singing Detective and Scandal.

On the whole, this was disappointing compared with the story I had read. The 'enigmatic' Catt was anything but enigmatic and totally devoid of charm or mystery. As I only saw the second part, Joanne Whalley was barely on screen so I was disappointed about that. The ending was nonsense. How on earth could anyone push another person under a bus in order to put them into a coma without killing them outright? How could you know for sure that they would not die? If Catt had died - which judging by the force with which the bus hit her seemed extremely likely - surely Jack's spirit would have been free to enter a different body and kill undetected? And although the bus hit her really hard, her face did not bear a scratch. The ending was unemotional and I would have expected something much more powerful from such a sensitive storyline.

I will stick to my old Thriller and Hammer House box sets in the future. Thirty years ago a story like this one would have surged ahead and taken up only one hour of precious time.

"Life Line" was an entertaining supernatural tale from the pen of the (greatly underrated, IMO) British thriller writer Stephen Gallagher. I've been an admirer of Gallagher's literary efforts for many years - since "Chimera" way back in 1982 (and I'm frankly astounded that his last three novels have not been published in the UK, but that's perhaps another matter). One of Gallagher's strengths as a writer is his great ear for dialogue - he has a very wry, distinctive style which I actually picked up on and recognised as his, in spite of missing the first few minutes of the first part. Also, readers of some of his published works such as "Valley of Lights", "Rain" and "Down River" (any of which I heartily recommend) would recognise some recurring themes popping up in "Life Line" - transmigration of souls, the ambiguity between life and death where only hope abides, London at night, etc. I also enjoyed the performances by Ray Stevenson, Joanne Whalley and Jemima Rooper, which I felt were sincere and nuanced.

The twist ending will, I suspect, have polarised people's opinion of this film - some (as clearly stated here by at least one other reviewer) found it a twist too far and thus it "broke the spell" for them, others (myself included, and considering the author's established style) perhaps more prepared to swallow hard, "go with it", and follow it through to a (more or less) satisfactory conclusion. Okay, so there may have been one or two little inconsistencies (if Catt was really Jack all the time, why would she be so visibly upset when waiting in the gallery on her own?), but on balance and at the end of the day, I was entertained (and the sight of a fine young actress with no clothes on had *absolutely nothing* to do with it - clear?).

In conclusion - I recommend "Life Line" but with one qualification - if you get the opportunity, read some of Stephen Gallagher's books (books - you know what a book is, right? You know, before VCRs and DVDs? Course you do.) and consider "Life Line" in the context of his oeuvre. I think it sits quite well, even if I was left with my final thought, "I would have enjoyed reading this as a novel..."