Portsmouth. Crystal was the first unit of its kind established outside London. The third episode looked at a 2007 case of arson and murder, nine months after the incident, as it is investigated by Hampshire's Major Crime Unit. The series featured "unprecedented" access to the police, and was edited to include "24-style split-screens and portentous piano score", which Andrew Pettie, writing for The Daily Telegraph, said served to "undermine the subject matter by highlighting the difference between real police work and the slick, seamless way it is usually portrayed on television". Despite the editing, the segments were date-stamped, so that viewers could understand the timeframe. Reception The Force was well received by critics. Andrew Pettie, writing for The Daily Telegraph, described the first episode as following "a shockingly unpleasant – and therefore macabrely fascinating – murder investigation". Rachel Cooke, writing for the New Statesman, said the programme "is compelling television, the kind that you watch with a queasy feeling, and all your fingers crossed", and added that it "has been carefully made, over a period of several years, and beautifully edited, and it tells you a great deal more about 21st-century Britain than anything in Ian Rankin." Both reviewers noted that The Force was more interesting than they had anticipated. References External links The Force on Channel4.com Channel 4 documentary series 2000s British documentary television series 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings Documentary television series about policing English-language television shows