A Very British Scandal - Review

The 3 part BBC series starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany about the very public divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963 was broadcast over the Christmas holidays and is currently available on BBC iPlayer.

A bit of history before we commence, the Duke and Duchess were married in 1951 culminating in a bitter divorce battle in 1963 after a tumultuous marriage, where the Duchess Argyll was shamed for her promiscuity and those reports in the court case were made public, most damningly the knowledge of a photograph where Margaret is giving oral sex to a headless body.

The series borrows heavily from The Crown, none more so than the casting of Claire Foy against type as a sexual creature in contrast to that of her noble majesty. Whereas, Bettany cranks up the villainy of the Duchy as a man-child, who merely wants to live a good life and be left alone to his own devious devices.

However, the script plays out both leads as nefarious individuals, heinous beings who are not very nice at all in all honesty - the Duke is a drunk who merely wants Margaret for her money, and the Duchess makes no apologies for enjoying the sexual company of any man.

The contrast between the two genders is startling and played to the hilt - whereas the Duke can have many an affair, it is the female requirement to tally and keep record that proves the Duchess' downfall as her diary with the pinpointing of social engagements marks her out as everything a woman and wife should not be.

The Duchess was one of the first women to be shamed by the media, while the Duke was made out as a shining beacon of aristocracy hurt by a woman beneath his status. 

The film is as much about status, class and the hush hush nature of sexual conduct within the upper crust, Margaret's friend, Maureen (Julia Davis) makes it clear that he way the upper class fornicate and run around with each other should not be made for the gossiping working-lower classes, and 'they will close ranks' if it so happens.

Funny that all this occurs in 1963, mere years later the swinging 1960s come into full force where sexual promiscuity was rife and mindsets altered.

Yet all in all this series was a missed opportunity, it attempts to make a statement about shaming women in this post #MeToo era yet the Duchess is not a likeable individual much like her husband, you do not show her pity and yet you do feel sorry that her situation was one she had to endure. Yet the film is so besotted with the aristocracy that it is afraid to formally admonish them.

A shame to report that this scandal was a meek affair

A Very British Scandal is on BBC iPlayer now

Thoughts on McMafia

The BBC’s production is not ground breaking, it is not the greatest thing you have ever seen – in fact we have seen something like it before The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston for one. Yet there is a magnetism and charisma about the entire production, not so much about being proud of itself but you know you are watching a programme that is top quality from acting to writing to care of location scouting to costume design.

Undoubtedly, the show rests on the still relatively young shoulders of James Norton, who gets the leading role as Alex Godman – the hedge fund manager who is a legitimate businessman, yet the son of a Russian family that had to leave the motherland following a turf war involving a rival gang.

The necessity of giving Alex an ambiguous surname is one that works into the hands of the viewer – is Alex a good man or merely a God amongst men – he must follow an unfamiliar path for BBC protagonists and one more familiar to American crime shows; like Walter White, he is a good or nice man to begin with, but our hero must endure some pain and suffering changing his natural persona of one from wholesomeness to one of malevolence.

Alex goes through traumas of becoming distant from his fiancée, forcing her to leave the house they share; he talks more Russian as the season progresses (Ep. 6) as he slowly morphs into the head of the household as his father becomes more frail and reliant on alcohol.  

While the production is in love with the cities it visits from the sub-continental warmth of India to the glamour of Israel; you also admire the coldness of Eastern Europe of Prague and Moscow; to the sheen of West London.  The show makes great pains to say this series is as much about the attachment to family as our attachment to money and power; money can come and go, yet family will remain and the ties that bind will be stronger than bonds in banks. 

Vadim (Merab Ninidze - brilliant) struggles with the daughter wanting to leave Russia for education, they are filmed joined at the hip on long walks mirroring Alex and Rebecca’s union – Benes (the Czech fixer) tells Alex they will attack the one you love most for Alex this is Rebecca and for Vadim it is his daughter; the loss of one will break the other.  Harm, though, still hits Rebecca despite Alex’s attempts to remove her from the frame.

The ending of the series, left this viewer, in a state of part confusion, part frustration as the series morphed from hopefully a standalone series of unique stature to one that is merely the beginning of another series with hallmarks of The Godfather coming to the fore; with Alex becoming a Michael Corleone surrogate and Rebecca very much the Kay Adams/Diane Keaton role; one that may or may not keep Alex grounded in reality as he becomes the head of a new Mafia organisation.

The series makes this succinct point; money makes the world go round - there will be human cost and tragedy throughout; but the old traditional way of doing 'mafia' business has changed in this new technological age, computers and business acumen hold the key to breaking new ground in new territories and regions.  Someone will die and someone will profit from such deaths.

McMafia is available on the BBC iPlayer now and on DVD for Home Entertainment to keep

How OJ Simpson changed things

The People vs OJ Simpson - a prime time dream

Three episodes into The People vs OJ Simpson, and you get struck by how much of a cultural moment his arrest and subsequent trial was back in 1994 to 1995.  How much of a big deal it was, how it was the only story of note of that year culminating in his eventual acquital of first degree murder on two counts against his estranged wife, Nicole and her new partner, Ronald Goldman.

The trial became such a cultural phenomenon because OJ Simpson was quite possibly the last famous sportsman or personality you would expect capable of murder or such a heinous violent act.  The modern day equivalent would be say Tom Brady or Russell Wilson killing their partners. And yet the notion of a famous former footballer being able of such a violent act was unheard of, and yet since the OJ trial we have had numerous incidences of pro footballers being engaged in violence. From the case against Ray Lewis to Aaron Hernandez, it is not uncommon to see footballers in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs.

OJ's mug shot from 1994

Now the idea of a celebrity being above the law has fallen by the wayside, as we in the UK have learnt due to the ubiquity of Operation Yewtree and the fall-out of the Jimmy Saville scandal; those you believe to be pure and of entertainment, are just as capable of violence and depravity.

OJ Simpson's eventual imprisonment for armed robbery in Las Vegas came to the forefront the idea that these professional atheletes due to the serious hits and collisons they suffered on the gridiron, had a quite possible detrimental effect on their mental wellbeing and led to the uncovering of CTE trauma by NFL players.  The story goes that Simpson was such a physical specimen that they had to take the padding out of his helmet just so he could get it on to play, with no protection is it any wonder he might have suffered possible long-term damage to his brain.

Certainly Cuba Gooding Jr's portrayal of Simpson, shows a man who is unable to handle pressure in everyday situations nor understand or make sense of his decision making which is both irrational and unsafe.

The trial of OJ Simpson altered the landscape of television news coverage and the idea of celebrity, prompting the birth of true crime as a means of profitability across magazines, television series, non-fiction books and various spin-offs.

If you were charged with murder, this was the new fifteen minutes of fame but not for doing something heroic or celebratory, but instead for something immoral and fundamentally wrong. Even if you were found innocent, the celebrity continued in terms of  'My side of the story...' biography or memoir, television appearances and sponsorships.

And these spin offs occur for peripheral characters in the piece. Robert Kardashian, was OJ Simpson's attorney and confidante, who played a prominent role in Simpson's initial arrest as representation for him with Robert Shapiro; yet Kardashian's lineage and immortality continued due to the rise of his children's celebrity.

Mention of this appears in the series, when Mr. Kardashian takes his children to a Chinese restaurant and jump the long queue because the hostess recognises him from his albeit brief television appearance; the father makes sure that his children are aware that fame is only fleeting and that honour is more important. If only that were true, sir. David Schwimmer elicits real feeling in a character obviously conflicted over the behaviour of his best friend, and having to believe that maybe his friend is capable of such heinous acts.

Now you can throw all sorts of criticisms the way of the show. From the histrionic performances of John Travolta, who is being out acted by his eyebrows; to the casting of Gooding Jr., as Simpson himself, and yet the further into the series we go the better he is as OJ bringing that sense of vulnerability and determination you would expect but were never privy to twenty years ago.

A good thing in the writing is the awareness of the main players role in a game-changing trial and piece of popular culture. The trial of OJ Simpson transcended all spectrums of culture, from politics to entertainment and sport to race relations between blacks and the police.  Members of the prosecution are aware of the possible risk of another race riot in Los Angeles should OJ be unfairly treated, and Shapiro mentions how the case is now part of the twenty four hour news cycle.

In this country, Great Britain, it filled up the graveyard slot of Sky News after Newsnight had finished; and with the eight hour time difference we Britons got uninterrupted coverage of the afternoon sessions in Judge Ito's court. The era of sensational news coverage was born, Sky News had its Lindbergh baby.

OJ not only changed the way American football played, his acts during his retirement years had far reaching ramifications that no-one could have envisioned.

Stag

Coming somewhat unannounced and without much fanfare from the Corporation, Jim Field Smith who brought us The Wrong Mans at the end of 2014, returns with another original drama written by himself and Geroge Kay with Smith directing, entitled Stag.

Stag tells the story of a stag party going horribly wrong in the Scottish Highlands, a bunch of upper class London bankers set out on a weekend to remember, however the first person we encounter is Ian (Jim Howick - Horrible Histories), the groom's future brother in law who arrives late and in the pouring rain in a dinner suit.

Smith has always had a good eye, creating visual humour from the get go of a man standing at a crossroads inappropriately dressed and looking very much like a fish out of water.  The three-part drama is essentially about the gulf between the North and the South.  Here you have southerners transplanted from London and the comfort of domesticity, into the chaos and unknown of nature and wilderness.

The stag trip from hell

This seems to be an unusual trope of late with well-paid bankers wanting to get back in touch with nature and their neanderthal side, it is a cultural touchstone to want to hike and forge across hills and find yourself while getting lost.  Unfortunately for this stag party, anarchy is mostly on the agenda. They get split up from their gamekeeper, and then one by one a member of the party is killed off in a grizzly manner.  From harpoons to being split in two, to booby traps in the glades; these southern softies have no clue at what to do when to fend for themselves.

By the end of Episode 2 we are left with four men standing; the stag Angus (Stephen Campbell Moore), Ian, Legend (JJ Field, a Tom Hiddleston look-a-like; perhaps a swipe at the show they are up against in the ratings The Night Manager) and Mex (Amit Shah), a gay Indian.  While it could read as stereotypical and one-note caricatures, the actors all bring a special twist to their roles; a little bit of innocence here, a little bit of discomfort there yet they are all out of their element. Although all are keen to survive in the best possible Lord of the Flies way. Special credit to Rufus Jones as Cosmo (Rufus Jones), the television executive in search of a signal for a big commissioning call.

Smith and Kay have written an obliquely political statement here, the upper class group all earn upwards of £25,000 a month in their jobs, whilst Ian is merely a Geography teacher who earns £27,000 a year in comparison

 - I don't trust anyone who earns £27,000 a month.
 - A year!
 - Fuck.

This statement of intent in targeting the one per cent as victims of a maniac in the forest is both gratifying to those who may well view it, and also something we would like to see happen to the highest earners as payback for the troubles their mistakes caused in the creation of the recession - that many feel have gone unpunished.

Etonians out of their depth

Their mistakes have caused a deflection or loss in funds for the arts, meaning original works have not been able to be produced, so Smith and Kay have taken it upon themselves to serve vengeance towards the toffs and the Etonians (Mr. Cameron) who have put the country in this unfortunate predicament.

Perhaps too much is being read into this, but look at Cosmo's idea for an ITV2 show, Hanging out with the Homeless, where destitute individuals are given a makeover by Caroline Flack, another veiled comment at the appalling quality of British television which is both nothing more than ill-judged charity served up as crass entertainment.

Smith and Kay have taken the opportunity to pass judgment on the establishment and punish them for failing the arts landscape in the United Kingdom, by taking them out to the middle of nowhere and leaving them to fend for themselves. Like most people have had to since the recession.

While Episode 3 was a well treated exercise in rounding up plots and did not shirk from the gruesomeness of death nor the greed of man when it comes to money; their were genuine moments of tenderness involving Ledge and Ian, with shocks and twists along the way which were neither telegraphed or predictable.

Brilliantly acted by the ensemble and directed by Smith with real panache and flair with such a gloomy colour palette filming moments of genuine peril while not forgetting the tongue-in-cheek humour Britain is renowned for.

Don't lose your head. The three-part series is available on BBC iPlayer still for a few more weeks.

Shetland Series 3, Episode 2

The second episode of series 3 cranked up the tension as the Robbie Monroe storyline gained speed, and Jimmy Perez's chasing of Michael Maguire continued apace. Albeit it ended with Maguire being shot and falling off a cliff to his death.

The show continues to create an atmosphere of eerieness and fear all while the majority of the action takes place in daylight. The script cleverly restricts information from us but does not keep us totally in the dark, such as the introduction of the mysterious man on the phone at the start of the episode who discarded a phone into the loch.  His reappearance at the conclusion chasing Maguire across cliff tops was done with great assurance.

The show showed Perez bend the rules to in part fear on Maguire, yet Maguire knows his rights as an ex-prisoner. And the reveal at the end of the episode showing us that Maguire is in fact a Macguffin was a bold show of storytelling confidence from the production.  

The rest of the review can be read here. Please follow the link

Shetland Series 3, Episode 1

The return of DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) in the adaptation of Ann Cleves' novels bodes well for a thrilling season of action for a BBC crime drama.

Taking on a new case following a few weeks break on the mainland, before he has even sat at his desk Jimmy finds himself in amongst it again. A missing young man on a ferry crossing from Aberdeen to Lerwick, draws attention with the combination of a young boy ending up in intensive care after taking Ecstasy laced with PMA, a new toxic concoction that washes up on the shore.

The boy needs a new kidney, and so begins the search for the missing young man called Robbie, who started kissing a girl Leanne on the ferry.

To read the rest of the blog...follow this link

Crocodile Shoes

Released on DVD for the first time on Acorn Media UK, Crocodile Shoes written by and starring Jimmy Nail was a hit TV series that first aired in September 1994 on BBC.

Nail plays Jed Sheppard a factory metal worker who is facing redundancy and so faces a life-changing decision to pursue a passion of country music and make a dream career in Nashville. Helped by the only man who believes in him by his manager Ade (James Wilby) they encounter loan sharks, record companies and women who bring their own unique brand of obstacle to overcome.

The drama has aged well in nearly 20 years; the music industry is all about image still, double crosses still persist and the drama is clear as day.

The show is helped by Wilby's fragile performance as Ade. In the first episode, 'The Tape' it is predominantly Ade's story at the centre of the narrative with Jed a subsidiary to the need for Ade to find a big hit.  This is usually apparent in people's first screenplay, where they take a backseat or need some established actor to take the reins and pressure off - think Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. 

Wilby is as much importance as Jimmy Nail here, and their chemistry and partnership as a traditional odd couple; North v South, education v street smart, blonde v dark is all too apparent and to the form here.

Nail is his usual brooding, imposing self with a Ronseal character; yet there are many a good actor in the series of name actors; Alex Kingston, Melanie Hill, Amy Madigan, Burt Young and Brian Capron, who played evil Richard Hillman on Coronation Street.

Anyone with a fondness for decent British drama will appreciate this Clement-La Frenais influenced piece and be pleasantly surprised by the soundtrack of country songs performed by Jimmy Nail but written by renowned Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout.

Crocodile Shoes is out on DVD Monday 2nd September from Acorn Media UK for £29.99RRP