The Driver

This three-part 2014 BBC series, which aired in the U.S. on the streaming service Acorn TV, stars David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) as Vince, a Manchester taxi driver who gets a side job—via an ex-con friend—as a driver for a local crime boss known as The Horse (Colm Meaney). Although Vince is initially skeptical about the assignment, he eventually accepts, but ultimately raises the suspicions of both his wife and his taxi company employer—not to mention the police, who want to use Vince to nab The Horse. To its credit, director Jamie Payne's The Driver is a handsome production with an appropriately moody visual edge, and Morrissey and Meaney offer full-throttle performances. But while this could have been an excellent feature-length film, it suffers from trying to stretch a would-be taut thriller to miniseries length. This is especially obvious in the female roles—Claudie Blakley as Vince's wife and Sacha Parkinson as his daughter—who are involved in subplots that feel like filler. Extras include behind-the-scenes footage, and a photo gallery. Optional. (P. Hall)