El Hierro is the second smallest of the Canary Islands. It’s the furthest south-west of the islands, about 100km from Tenerife, it’s more well-known and populous neighbour. It’s a beautiful and relatively unspoilt place where banana growing is the main agricultural crop.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading this article now.
The series begins with Díaz (Darío Grandinetti), an unpopular local businessman and outsider, dragging cases of something ashore and hiding them in a locked shed on the day before his daughter’s wedding. He turns up at the family house the following morning in a filthy state and with a cut to his hand.
He manages to get blood on his daughter’s wedding dress, but that’s the least of her problems as later she’s left at the altar. But the groom, Fran, has a very good excuse for his non-appearance – his dead body is later found underwater by a local diver, covered in cuts from what’s thought to be a machete knife, similar to those used at Díaz’s banana plantation.
Suspicion immediately falls on Díaz, who disliked his daughter’s choice of husband, had no alibi for the murder, and has form – he was previously convicted of murder some years previously. Even his wife, Elvira (played by the beautiful Yaiza Guimaré) refuses to cover for her husband, admitting to the police that he didn’t come home the night before the wedding.
Enter newly arrived Judge for the island, the somewhat irritable Candela Montes (played in superb fashion by Candela Peña), who has barely got settled in to her new office when news comes through of the discovery of Fran’s body.
Candela doesn’t suffer fools and has already ruffled quite a few feathers since her reluctant arrival on the island (“not my choice”, as she frequently points out). In addition to trying to lead an investigation into a murder (the first on the island for more than four years), she has the island’s domestic festival Bajada de la Virgen de los Reyes (an actual festival that occurs once every four years) to worry about, as well as organising the installation of a suitable bathroom for her disabled son. So, one might forgive her for being somewhat prickly.
There are some excellent acting performances, but the main star is the island itself. Lots of drone shots show off the stunning landscape to perfection. As I type this, the weather here in London is grey and rainy, which makes immersing oneself in the warmth of the Spanish sunshine all the more appealing.
But as well as good acting and an idyllic location, this series has plenty else going for it – including a well-written script, an intriguing storyline, plus a very listenable soundtrack by Elba Fernández.
I’m very excited about this series – the fine people at Walter Presents are giving us two seasons to get our collective teeth into, and I can’t wait.
Walter Presents: ‘Hierro’ launches on Channel 4 on 12th May 2024. The full boxset is available on Walter Presents via Channel 4 Streaming from 10th May.
