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

Book of Boba Fett: A Template Laid Bare

 

The Book of Boba Fett premiered on Disney+ on 28th December, providing a treat for Star Wars fans around the world during the festive period.

Using a now common narrative tool of dual narratives - we begin where the post-credits Mandalorian sequence ended with Boba Fett taking the seat once held by Jabba the Hutt in his eponymous palace flanked by Fennec Shand.

The episode starts with Boba in a tank recuperating from exertions and his nightmares return as he reflects, with us the viewer thrust into his dreams as he is within the Sarlaac Pit where he famously fell during the Return of the Jedi. We see Boba fight out of the creatures stomach, his hand bursting through the sand a la many a horror imagery, reaching for the sky.

Once out of the desert, he lays awaiting rescue. Unfortunately, the first people to encounter him are the scavenging Jawas who strip him of his mandalorian armour leaving him to waste away. Then he is taken in by a Tusken raider tribe where he has to endure slavery and torture from a youngling raider who is going through a rite of passage with Boba as the task at hand to overcome.

This story of Boba overcoming adversity to reach the level of nomadic stature when we encountered him in the second series of the Mandalorian where he retrieves his armour is next to the story of him becoming a crime lord in the same guise of Jabba. He meets many a new suitor, people wishing to win his favour and encounters a representative of the Mayor of Mos Espa, Tatooine's second city. Usually these people pay the crime lord, but the majordomo wishes for payment from Fett. 

Boba wishes to meet the Mayor but as they leave The Sanctuary they are ambushed and the best set piece of the first episode takes place with plenty of action, fighting and the opportunity for Shand (Ming Na) to parkour around buildings chasing the attackers.

That strand of the episode ends with Fett on his haunches being held up by now loyal duo of Gamorreans. We then return to five years prior where Boba is in servitude to the Tusken raiders - he and a Rodian have to dig for water by the teenage Tusken. They then encounter a Harryhausen-esque creature with four arms.

Boba shows industry and inventiveness to defeat the monster with only his hands and the chain that binds him. The Tusken allows Boba to walk unaccompanied back to the village where he is given a gourd - a sign of respect and that he is made in their eyes. He is now on a voyage to learn the ways of the desert which takes us up to his first (re)appearance in the Mandalorian when dressed in Tusken robes and garb.

While the episode is not as kinetic or thrilling as other chapters of the Mandalorian would eventually be, yet if memory serves the first ever episode of that series was along the same lines with the need to build up character and atmosphere. There are going to be lulls in this series due to the quiet intense character that Boba is along with the equally reserved Shand.

The bond between Fett and Shand will be key to this series - the mutual respect the two have for each other as outlaws in an albeit lawless galaxy - this wish to live and die by their own sword; they share looks that speak volumes to each other and can say things with a raise of an eyebrow merely to instruct the other. This is empowered by the totem that is Temeura Morrison as the title character, years of wear and tear on his face and body exuded a host of emotions to convey.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Jon Favreau, the template of the western has long been establised with the outsider being welcomed into a forbidden tribe to earn his spurs so to speak, to then rise up and take control of a town or county through his grit. In this instance, the western genre has been extrapolated and put onto the science fiction/fantasy world of Star Wars again to winning effect.

Whilst watching I may have been guilty of looking at my phone on occasion, but there was enough to maintain my attention and ultimately look forward to the next episode on Wednesday in the New Year. As always, this is appointment viewing and not to be missed.

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Television in 2018

A new year brings the promise of new resolutions, promises and the belief that this year will be the better than the last. This belief extends to the arts from cinema to music, painting to sculpture. But never more so than in television, is the leap made clearer than in television where channels propel new stellar productions to the forefront of the schedules in the hope for recognition and ratings.

From the return of stalwart shows Silent Witness to the BBC One and Vera to ITV, to the return of actors in new shows like Kiri on Channel Four starring Sarah Lancashire in a post-Happy Valley world to the high concept Hard Sun on BBC One.

There are changes a plenty not just in terms of the shows structure but how we watch them.  Last year the water-cooler show was Doctor Foster, the five-part second series was must-see television for one night a week showing the demand for such shows to get people talking about it the next day or immediately on Twitter and social media.

Hard Sun is an interesting case; a thriller with dystopian tendencies predicting the sun to explode in five years causing the end of our planet and how dealing with this world-ending event puts things into perspective. Yet the show premiered on a Saturday night at 9.30pm, with all six episodes of the series available on BBC iPlayer at once in a box set to allow viewers to watch the next episode immediately if they so wished.  The BBC attempted this at the tail end of last year with Gunpowder with relative success. The Corporation looks to be changing its ways with that of the audience needs and wants in the current climate.

McMafia is the stand-out show on offer though from British television. Reminiscent of The Night Manager, featuring a breakthrough role for a young British star to translate to the worldwide audience in a story with global reach wearing its expense on its sleeve. 

McMafia is an eight-part series which had a two-part show over New Year's Day holiday to entice the audience; it now sits at 9pm on Sunday for the water cooler effect.

Whilst it does not have the sheer wow factor of Tom Hiddleston's stab at a James Bond audition coupled with the telling adaptation of John Le Carre's source material, James Norton does embody the role of Alex Godman (has there ever been a more egotistical name) with relative ease sashaying from one suit to a tuxedo and jet to yacht as travel of choice; the supporting cast help with the reality of the world falling around him. The Night Manager had a glamorous cast of characters, whereas the Godman family and their rivals look more experienced at life and feel the pain and ache of having to leave their beloved Russia in exile.

As an audition for Bond, we have not yet seen Norton do necessarily atypical Bond things apart from fend off a choke-hold and wear a suit really well; whereas Daniel Craig has a ice-cold steeliness when he plays Bond, Norton has a somewhat laid back feel when he is smiling that would not translate to the iconic role of 007; but that does do a disservice to what he has done in three episodes of Alex - slowly he is getting warn down by the world he is step by step entering, becoming less and less of an investment banker and more an international money launderer to save his family's name and reputation, the hope being they can return to Russia.

Next of Kin began on ITV on Monday 8th January, a six-part global drama featuring a mixed-race marriage and the abduction of a British-Indian doctor in Pakistan against the backdrop of a terrorist attack in London.  Featuring a cast of talented actors, the series paints a multi-diverse London correctly but looks at well to do people in terms of class structure; both siblings are doctors, the female doctor's husband works with the government.

And that perhaps may be the one criticism of all these shows is that it focuses on middle-class individuals and not the problems that beset the working class population around the country. With all the series mentioned set predominantly in our capital city, London, there is a myopic window of the world being served to a licence-paying audience.

Kiri (Channel 4) is set around Bristol and deals with the sensitive issues of a mixed-race adoption and social services, written by Jack Thorne, it may well harken back to a gritty social realism more in common with Ken Loach and Alan Clarke than anything served up by the BBC in recent years; even Gunpowder is about upset middle class rebels wanting to blow up upper class people because they are against their policies.

It is indicative that the most socially political aware programme is based around characters outside of London; a city that is afraid to acknowledge people near the poverty line, whereas other cities do not have a problem with this awareness.

Netflix and the Current Climate of Sitcom

When saving for a house with your lovely girlfriend you need to make sacrifices, you need to do away with treats as you used to term them. That means making do without visits to the cinema or meals out at Pizza Express every week. It means being with the one you love, sharing those time together so all money can go into savings towards a better and brighter future in your first step on the property ladder.

A benefit of this also means committing to a different viewing practice of television. Luckily, my girlfriend had a Netflix account but this was in the early days of the provider. We used it initially for catching up and bingeing on Breaking Bad, then we noticed that the company started to release more original content. Firstly, with comedy specials by John Mullaney, then they went into original half hour format of comedy sitcoms vehicles for specific talent.

First to appear was Master of None by Aziz Ansari (who co-starred in Parks and Recreations) wrote and starred in this semi-autobiographical sitcom of a struggling Asian actor in the big city coping with pigeon-hole casting and casual racism, whilst also incorporating Ansari's rye eye on relationships in the modern world.

The cherry on the cake though is possibly Joe Swanberg's Easy; an anthology of eight episodes set in Chicago starring a multitude of talent from American independent cinema but where Swanberg as writer and director is given a platform to for a larger audience to access his work.

Swanberg who came from the Mumblecore movement of ten years ago, has always been able to write relationships and like the better writers of the last 30 years in American cinema, can write women well and effectively, something his sometime mentor Apatow struggles regularly with.

Swanberg puts his lense and scripts on differing relationships. From a marriage of 15 years struggling to add fire back into the bedroom, to a lesbian love affair that could be make or break by the adoption of vegan eating practices.  Yet he also comments on how people change in a relationship or struggle to adapt to the big life changes in their life such as impending fatherhood or new employment.

Swanberg by employing a revolving door of talent makes it easy (pardon the pun) for us to not fall in love with characters, historically the appeal of sitcom is you would want to be friends with the Friends cast - yet by having just a swift peek into this couple's life, we are now in a position of either taking it or leaving it without the need for a fully committed 24 episode season as is the want on network television.

The Ranch, meanwhile, is one of the more consistently funny sitcoms of recent years. It has the tropes and mannerisms of a typical family sitcom, yet it deals with an undercurrent of social themes - a family business struggling in the current economic climate, a married couple parting ways as well as a talented individual having to come to terms with the fact that his career and life did not pan out as he wished.

The show was released via the online network with 10 episodes and after a short hiatus, returned again with 10 more episodes making them more of an extension and conclusion of Season One rather than a stand alone Season Two.  Despite the hiatus, I could not imagine how much I missed the characters and the ease of the sitcom world inhabited by the Bennett family.

What is at times so refreshing and pleasing when you watch the show, is that even though a lot of the jokes are telegraphed and the characters are generic; it is that sense of wholesomeness and heart on the sleeve honesty that runs through the show that fills you with a sense of warmth and belonging.

And yet because the show is so professional, perhaps too polished, it can still hit you with an unexpected surprise such as the end of Season 1, Episode 11, 'Gone as a Girl Can Get' when Rooster (Danny Matherson) finds his Dad, Beau (Sam Elliott - grizzly and terrific) crying as he plants some flowers and wonders why people leave him. The scene is played not for laughs, but seriously, like families can be on occasion and it ends with two people at loggerheads usually on equal terms; there for each other.

The Netflix vehicle should be applauded though as gone are the time to sit down and watch a 90 minute comedy, and why so many comedies struggle due to the lack of jokes and hit count of laughter.  By minimising the screen time per episode to the 25-30 minute running time, you have to hit a home run less often, and if it is hit and miss, there is no need to worry due to the next episode being available straight away. An audience is more inclined to sit down and give the next episode another chance rather than dismiss it and forget about watching another episode the week after.

The Ranch, Easy and Master of None are available on Netflix now.

Designated Survivor

Designated Survivor, is one of those shows that makes you slap your hand squarely on your forehead when you hear the premise and wonder why has it never been made into a film or television series before.

On every occasion of the State of the Union speech at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, one member of the then President's cabinet is placed in a secure undisclosed location in case the very worst scenario takes place and all of the remainder of the cabinet are killed.  This individual would then be sworn in and become the new Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America.

In the pilot episode, this worst case scenario takes place as the Capitol Building is blown up by a devestating explosion in an attack far worse than 9/11.  Our protagonist is Tom Kirkman, and is portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland; Kirkman is the Secretary of Housing and Development who on the morning on the speech was about to take an Ambassador role in Canada after being removed from the cabinet.  Kirkman's plans have now changed forever.

After being sworn in swiftly we cut to Kirkman throwing up in a marble bathroom in the White House as the size of the task before him dawns on him. This is the most human part of the pilot which is very by-the-numbers; it states that he is well over his head, he never wanted to be the President, his son is a rebel and the military want him out before he has even begun.

Yet Kirkman knows what is required of him whilst his Chief of Staff Aaron (Adan Canto) tries to input his own ideology on the new man in charge, the same for the head of the military who wants him to command an attack on any Middle Eastern terrorist group so that America can have an enemy to face down.

Three episodes into watching the show on Netflix - which screens episodes weekly - the show is one of the better things I have seen on that service in recent months. It is a show fittingly of the time and portrays some of the best traits of America on to the screen; the ability to rise up from the ashes of a major disaster, the opportunism of individuals to make a difference and the pride of the nation circumvented through one role.  It also shows the worst; the class divide, the distrust of politicians and that glasses do not look good on TV.

Sutherland is a great piece of casting, taking the man who was Jack Bauer in 24 - the renegade who took over post 9/11 and would single handedly take on any terrorist with his bare hands, he was the best of America (brave and patriotic) and the worst of America (torture).  Here he gives Kirkman an air of nobility and decency reminiscent of President Bartlett from the West Wing and the current President Obama, but also a man who knows he is way in over his head but is capable of greater things if he has support.

Support comes from his wife Alex (Natasha McElhone), his speech writer Seth Wright (Kal Penn - sarky and honest) and his former assistant Emily (Italia Ricci) who is now a special adviser.

There are some beats that fall flat, the role of Special FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) is a little bit misguided, would an agent really be this selfish and even at work following the disappearance and death of a significant other.  At the moment Hannah's story is one of the threads that is not ringing true at the moment, but as she digs deeper into the explosion at the Capitol perhaps her role will grow and lead to interaction with the President.

One more thought on his name. Kirkman. Is he meant to be Kirk-man, like a nod to Captain Kirk of Star Trek, the head of the Enterprise with a rag tag of people who do not have much faith in him and yet he must show leadership when others are better qualified (Republican survivor Kimble/Spock) and win over support from naysayers (Aaron/Bones) and entrust those vital to the cogs of the machine (Seth/Emily; Scotty and Chekov)

The series is gripping without shouting out from the rooftops saying look at this, it has plot points that are sometimes telegraphed - yes the teenage son would leave his illegal drugs and roll of money in his sock drawer - but it always ends on a genuine surprise that you do not see coming. Can it sustain this over 22 episodes in a full season and seasons to come? This reviewer sure hopes so.