New British TV Show
Reviews
December 5, 2014
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Chasing Shadows (12/14)
Former League of Gentlemen Reece Shearsmith stars in this series of two-part
ITV mysteries as DS Sean Stone, a brilliant, but socially-challenged
detective. I'm talking Aspergers, but highly functioning. His boss (Don
Warrington) hates him, so assigns him to a missing person's unit run by
a civilian (Alex Kingston) where Sean proceeds to kick up a fuss when
he spots the pattern of a serial killer. Helping them is a regular
detective played by Noel Clarke. As police dramas go, it's okay, but
odd casting to put a comedian in the central role.
Detectorists (12/14)
Low-key
but charming BBC4 comedy (one of the last original programs for that
channel) written, starring and directed by Mackenzie Crook (The
Office) as Andy, a sweet but unambitious metal "detectorist" (they are
very particular about that word) who is usually found in a field with
his best mate Lance (Toby Jones) slowly probing for lost artifacts. Amazingly, Andy has a girlfriend
(Rachel Stirling) but maybe not for long when cute perky Sophie
(Aimee-Ffion Edwards) turns up to help assist the boys in their search
of a farmer's field that might yet yield treasures. Full of eccentric
characters (particularly the farmer and his imaginary dogs), maybe most
people won't get it, but I really dug it (no pun intended).
The Driver (12/14)
Transatlantic
star David Morrissey plays a working class minicab driver with money
problems who gets roped in with a mobster (Colm Meaney--where's he
been?) as his driver and finds his conscience (not to mention his
freedom) severely tested as he inevitably gets in way over his head in
this three-part BBC drama. Morrissey, as ever, delivers the good,
nobody plays anguish better than him.
Glue (12/14)
E4 teen serial
drama about a group of friends, their relationships with each other,
love, death, blah blah blah, you've seen this before (As If, Skins,
etc) and if you are target audience it's probably great. Alas, I am not.
Grantchester (12/14)
The
James Runcie novels about a jazz-loving mystery-solving priest in a
small village in the 1950s are dramatized in this Masterpiece/ITV1
series starring James Norton as Rev. Sidney Chambers, and his best mate
Geordie Keating (always reliable Robson Green), the local detective
inspector. Sidney also has been having a relationship with a posh girl
(Morven Christie) but allows her to get engaged to someone she doesn't
love because...uh, he's an idiot? But Sidney's a great detective, and
manages to find himself part of a murder investigation each week, even
as he is haunted by memories stemming from his experiences as a soldier
during the war.
The Great Fire (12/14)
This
four-part ITV1 mini-series has an all-star cast (Andrew Buchan, Jack
Huston, Charles Dance, Daniel Mays) dramatizing the 1666 blaze that
started in a baker's (Buchan) shop in Pudding Lane, burned for days,
and nearly threatened the palace of recently restored monarch Charles
II (Huston). Dance plays Charles' head of security and he is ruthless
in trying to track down a Catholic plot he thinks is behind the fire,
while Samuel Pepys (Mays) tries to advise the king even while Charles'
brother attempts a coup. I have no idea whether any of this actually
occurred during the fire, but it helps pad out what is basically a
disaster movie story that has nice special effects.
Our Zoo (12/14)
Lee Ingleby
stars this fact-based BBC family drama series as George Mottershead, a
London-based family man who in the 1930s impetuously decides to drag
his entire family into the zoo business down in Chester. As he tries to
set things up, get the proper permits, and collect the exotic animals,
each week he is opposed by the citizens of Chester who are concerned
about the impact a zoo will have (the original NIMBYs), not to mention
George's philosophy, "When I have a zoo, it won't have any bars." Not a
comforting thought when tigers and bears are about. George is supported
by his wife and family, as well as his neighbor, a recently scandalized
member of the gentry played by Sophia Myles.
The Passing Bells (12/14)
In
the run-up to Remembrance Day (what the British call Veteran's Day),
especially with it being the 100th anniversary of the start of the
Great War, the BBC ran this five-part mini-series by Tony Jordan over a
single week that followed two young men who join up as soon as the war
is declared and each episode takes place in a succeeding year until
1918. The big twist is at the start we just assume both Thomas and
Michael are British until 11 minutes in we discover Michael, the
farmer's son, is in Quedlinburg, Germany and not English at all! Ho
ho, very clever Mr Jordan! Of course both boys discover that on each
side, war is hell, and they cross paths a few times until a
confrontation that occurs moments before the armistice is declared in
1918. Viewers who couldn't take the grim ending of "Blackadder Goes
Forth" are advised to steer clear of the finale here. The series was a
co-production with Polish television, where much of it was filmed, and
involves a subplot involving Thomas' relationship with a Polish nurse.
Scot Squad (12/14)
Yet
another parody of fly-on-the-wall documentaries, this time focused on
Scottish policemen. You know the police are in trouble when the Chief
Commission is played by Jack Docherty, and sure enough shenanigans
ensue. I often feel these BBC comedies are to fulfill some sort of
quota of regionally-produced programming.
Scrotal Recall (12/14)
Hilarious
Channel 4 comedy series by Tom Edge that starts with Nice Young Man Dylan
(Johnny Flynn) who discovers in the first episode he has chlamydia and
has to inform all his sexual partners about it. This is just an excuse
for a series of flashbacks of Dylan's lovelife where we see him meet
various girlfriends (and a few one-night stands), all the while
ignoring the fact that right under his nose, his housemate Evie
(Antonia Thomas) is mad about him but he leaves it too late until she
is engaged to someone else. Charming and sweet, Flynn is a winning guy in a Luke Wilson sort of way.
The Secrets (12/14)
A series of five half hour anthology dramas on the BBC featuring big
name guest performers (Olivia Colman, Alison Steadman, Helen Baxendale,
Joanna Froggatt) wherein each one (as the title might suggest) has a
character with a secret which is then revealed and the fallout is seen.
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Written and maintained by Ryan K. Johnson (rkj@eskimo.com).
December 5 , 2014