Mad Dogs Series 3, Episode 1 review

Here at Philip Glenister Fans we have taken full advantage of Sky's decision to show the first episode of Mad Dogs Series 3 a week early via their On Demand service and we now bring you our review of episode one. It is (mostly) spoiler free, but we will put it under a cut for those who don't wish to read. Suffice to say, it's a very good episode.

We’ll admit, it was with slight trepidation that we sat down to watch the first episode of Mad Dogs series 3. Whilst we love Phil (obviously) and support all his projects we thought series 2 had gone off the ball a little and lost some of the charm of series 1. But the trailers suggest that this new series is going to restore Mad Dogs to its former glory and we’re happy to say that, based on the first episode, it does just that.

After a quick (and very helpful) recap of the previous two series, the first episode of series 3 picks up where the final episode of series 2 left off. After being double crossed by drug dealer McKenzie, the boys (Quinn, Baxter, Woody and Rick) find themselves being held in a desert prison in the middle of nowhere.

(On a purely aesthetic note, the orange jump suits they are forced to wear do nothing for the four main stars but their tanned skin certainly does!)

They soon meet feisty ex-soldier, Mercedes (played by Jamie Winstone) who reveals exactly where they are. It doesn’t take long for Quinn to become suspicious of her though, resulting in a rather amusing scene where she pushes him to the floor.

The people holding them quickly figure out which of the lads is the weakest link in the chain and employ ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ to find out what happened and then release them. But is everything as it seems?

Emotions run high as the episode continues and just when you think you know what’s happening the story twists once more and the lads find themselves in the worst position imaginable.

Cris Cole delivers a great tension filled opener complete with some great one-liners (including , “I mean, extremists; they don’t shop and M&S”). We also welcome back Adrian Shergold as director (after a break during series 2) and that may be why this episode feels more faithful to the original series. But what makes this episode is the stellar performances from the four main cast members. Absolutely mesmerising.

The episode ends on a cliff hanger that is sure to make you want more. We certainly do and we can’t wait to see how the boy deal with their current situation. We suspect, having watched the ‘next time…’ preview at the end of this episode (which contains a nice shot of Quinn’s naked chest!), that some will cope better than others…

Mad Dogs returns to Sky 1 on Tuesday 4th June at 9pm. Sky’s On Demand users can get it from now via their Sky boxes.