PRAISE FOR STELLAN:

"River is played by the extraordinarily expressive Stellan Skarsgård, a man with a face like sun-softened butter who can switch from dark depression to humour-laden empathy with just the twitch of an eyelid... The presence of Stellan Skarsgård ensures that River is unlike any other TV crime drama."  ...Gerard Donovan, The Telegraph

"River continues to be a entertaining drama, with the clever writing of Abi Morgan and sensational acting from Stellan Skarsgård, allowing this to be mesmerizing on so many levels. Add in the various mysteries along with the original murder case itself, and we get a narrative rich in various subplots.  ...John McCubbin, Snap Pow

"Stellan Skarsgård gives a tremendous, compelling performance as River, embodying a man broken in his grief, tormented by his manifests, and determined to find his colleague and friend’s killer, in every inch of his 6’3? frame — from his deep, sad gaze, to his slumped-over posture. As written by Morgan, River is an enigmatic, empathetic, and sympathetic character, and as played by Skarsgård, a man we feel for and root for, yet still wonder about.    ...The British TV Place

"The Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård is superb as River, a British detective... The show’s premise could easily have made this a silly enterprise, but with Mr. Skarsgård’s tight performance anchoring things, it instead is a first-rate psychological study."   ...Ny Times

"With Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker playing the two main roles, and Abi Morgan (The Hour, Sex Traffic) taking care of the script, I expected something brilliant, what I got was something superb."  ...I Talk Telly

"Skarsgård lifts the show out of the mundane with an affecting, impassioned performance and there are few better actresses currently working on British TV than former Spooks star Nicola Walker."   ...Starburst magazine

"Skarsgård holds your attention, the way he always does."  ...Phil Robinson, Square Eyed TV

"At its core is a beautiful performance by Stellan Skarsgård as the broken John River. Emotionally resonant, poignantly sad and yet endearing, he really makes you feel every word he says, clearly sinking in his own loss."  ...Dale Cowan, Cultbox

"Stellan Skarsgård produces another hefty role in a CV forged by rank misery, with this one set up to explore big-hitting subjects such as mental illness, guilt and grief. His overall performance is aided and abetted by a wonderful face seemingly etched with innumerable traumas and tragedies in the line of River’s duty." ...Brian Donaldson, The List

"John River is played by the brilliant Swedish star Stellan Skarsgård."  ...Pat Stacey, Independent

"The Swedish import brings so much gravitas to the role that he probably had to book an extra seat for it on the plane over."   ...Louisa Mellor, Den of Geek