Started April 15, 2016 · Ended · Based on 1 season, 10 episodes through May 13, 2016 · TV-PG · 45 min
The Five is a British crime mystery set in the fictional town of Westbridge. Twenty years earlier, Mark, Danny, Pru, and Slade sent Mark’s five-year-old brother Jesse away from them, and Jesse disappeared. Mark now helps find missing people, Danny works as a police detective, Pru is a doctor, and Slade runs a shelter for young people in trouble. When Jesse’s DNA appears at a murder scene, the four friends reopen the old case and face their guilt. The season adds new murders and family secrets, so the tone stays dark, tense, and sometimes uneven.
Across the season, the story follows the friends as each hidden secret pulls them back toward the missing child case. The show also follows Danny as he tries to care for his father, who has Alzheimer’s disease, while his marriage comes under strain. Pru faces a personal crisis, and Slade protects young people while hiding his own dark secret. The main themes are guilt, grief, family loyalty, abuse, and the lasting cost of lies.
Community feedback
Was our 6% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Five.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The main group includes a black detective, a white doctor, a white lawyer, and a white youth shelter worker in a modern British town. The show does not make their identities a message, and the mix does not look forced.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The characters discuss missing children, murder, guilt, family, police work, and dementia. They do not use current political or activist ideas as a repeated part of the story.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The main themes are grief, abuse, family secrets, personal guilt, and murder. The story does not build its main conflict around race, gender, sexuality, or identity politics.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The police make mistakes and some adults hide crimes, but the show treats these as parts of a crime plot. It does not attack family life, religion, traditional roles, or Western institutions through modern activist messaging.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The Five is an original crime story made for television. It does not change known characters, a famous story, or a real historical event.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. Viewer and news discussion focused on confusing plot threads, clumsy dialogue, mixed tone, and acting. No reliable anti-woke or anti-identity backlash was found.
0%
Creator track record context
Nicola Shindler has a strong record of backing queer and diverse shows such as Queer as Folk and It’s a Sin. Daniel Brocklehurst has a milder record of socially aware work. Harlan Coben and the other listed creators have low or mild cached scores. The Five itself stays focused on a crime mystery.
30%
Production
