‘The Great Train Robbery’

An intriguing two part telling of one of the most audacious heists in British history – the theft of  £2.61 million from the Royal Mail train travelling between Glasgow and London in August 1963.

Over its two parts (each 90 minutes long, both written by Chris Chibnall), The Great Train Robbery sees events from two sides. Part one, with Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) heading the gang, is the lead up and stopping of the train as some 15 men, holed up for a week in a nearby farm purchased specifically for the occasion, empty the train of 120 mailbags. An enormous embarassment to the government of the day, DCS Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) is placed in charge of the investigation with DI Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) his righthand man. Results are expected – and quickly. Part two is the tracking down of the gang with pressure placed on narks to deliver names – nothing of this size would not go unnoticed in the London underworld.

Some are rounded up pretty quickly – the instruction not to flash money around too easily ignored by some. And the clean up of the farmhouse was not as thorough as it should have been. But it’s the ringleaders the overbearing and bullying Butler (its the 1960s after all – 15 hour shifts 7 days a week expected with no time off) wants – and the likes of Reynolds, Gordon Goody (Paul Anderson) and Roy James (Martin Compston) are that much more difficult to track down. Reynolds certainly keeps his head down – with the takings more than double what was expected (calculated to present-day value of £58 million), he knows the authorities will throw everything at him: even Parliament steps in and interferes with investigations.

Both parts are straightforward, point-of-view procedural dramas chronicling events and built around known truths. It’s all pretty low key but intriguing nevertheless – but with Reynolds a likeable rogue and Butler a bullying member of the establishment, there’s no doubt where most sympathies lie!

Rating: 64%

‘The Gentlemen'(Season 1)

Thematically adapted from his film of the same name, Guy Ritchie extends the narrative over an eight episode miniseries as old-school aristocracy with their vast, expensive-to-run secluded estates look to financial opportunities offered by the criminal underworld.

On the death of his father, second son Edward ‘Eddie’ Horniman (Theo James) unexpectedly inherits his father’s title and sizeable estate. Older brother Freddy (Daniel Ings) is something of a walking disaster, abusing his privilege (and assumed inheritance) in drink, drugs, gambling – and debt. But if the reading of the will is a surprise, it’s nothing compared to Eddie’s discovery there’s an agreement with underworld legend Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone). An enormous marijuana producing state-of-the-art laboratory is to be found deep beneath the stables. And there’s 11 other estates with similar arrangements and a sizeable annual fee payable to each of the families. But with Glass currently incarcerated it’s daughter Susie (Kaya Scodelario) running the multi-million pound business.

Mom (Joely Richardson) and Freddy are only too aware of the arrangement. But Eddie wants out. In looking to extract the family, over the eight episodes Horniman finds himself drawn further and further into proceedings. Protecting the family name finds necessary collaboration with the Glass empire against the Colombian cartel, American billionaire Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito) and born-again, self-proclaimed pastor Gospel John (Pearce Quigley) and his thugs. With his military training, Horniman discovers he’s a natural. And with lots of double-crossings, deals, counter deals as well as the inconsistent older brother, Eddie needs to be at the top of his game.

The extended format of a miniseries suits Ritchie. There’s plenty of snap to the dialogue and action is thick and fast with occasional extreme violence – namely Ritchie’s trademarks. But time is spent on character development: Eddie in particular goes on a very personal journey from an officer in a UN peacekeeping unit to a heart of darkness.

Rating: 77%

‘Slow Horses’ (Season 3)

The odious Home Secretary continues with his own political aspirations to privatise elements of the British secret service – and sets in motion a series of events that threaten the security of the country along with rekindling internal animosities within the service itself.

The death of a British operative in Istanbul a few years earlier is central to season three of the excellent Slow Horses. The slovenly Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) continues to berate his team of MI5 losers but the kidnapping of office manager Standish (Saskia Reeves) forces him into a degree of prior unseen action. Naturally, it involves ‘The Park’ and deputy head of the department Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) – only more prevalent this time round is the tension between Taverner and her boss, Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo). And then there’s River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), so tightly wound to claw his way out of Slough House that he’s an easy target to jump to false conclusions and risk everyone around him to save the day. He finds himself in direct confrontation with Head of Security, the bullyboy Duffy (Chris Reilly) and his team. Still smarting from season two, The Dogs get nasty.

It’s a pretty straight forward narrative of secret documents that cannot be allowed to come to light and various interests involved to find or destroy said secrets. With the archives now located in a bunker outside of London, it’s about who can get to them first – and find them among years of pre-digitised records.

As with season two, Slow Horses has settled into more ‘traditional’ spy storylines. Unlike that season, however, the engaging plotline is dominant. Whilst important, the relationships between the various colleagues become secondary. They are still beautifully crafted and more screen time given to the ‘losers’ such as a still-grieving Louise Guy (Rosalind Eleazer). And however results are achieved, it’s only too apparent that The Park still needs the Slough House team even if there’s a reluctance to admit to it. And that, of course, will lead its legions of fans into season four.

Rating: 79%

’Mary & George’

A rare foray into English Jacobean history as Mary Villiers plots and cajoles the moulding of her son George to the court and become the lover of King James I.

On the death of heavily-in-debt husband Sir George Villiers (Simon Russell Beale), Mary (a splendid Julianne Moore) finds herself and adult children penniless and without a home. Manipulation and a proposal hard to refuse, the coarse and uncouth Sir Thomas Compton (Sean Gilder) agrees to marry Mary and pays for George (Nicholas Galitzine) to attend the equivalent of a finishing school in France.

With a new home for her base, intrigue aplenty by Mary follows as she looks to secure a court position for her second son on his return to England. Eldest son John (Tom Victor) with his parlous mental state is a lost cause. The main obstacle for Mary is the Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson) who has shared the king’s bed for many years.

But Mary has two advantages – Queen Anne (Trine Dyrholm) is tired of Somerset’s arrogance and many of the court also despise Somerset. As James I (Tony Curran), the king rules England. But as James VI, he is also King of Scotland. Son of the beheaded Mary, Queen of Scots he succeeded to the English throne on the death of the childless Elizabeth I. Suspicious of the English court, James surrounds himself with fellow Scots and rewards loyalty with money and titles. Somerset, the king’s favourite, is one such beneficiary. The likes of privy council members Sir Edward Coke (Adrian Rawlins) and Sir Francis Bacon (Mark O’Halloran) are less than happy. Surreptitiously, help for Mary is forthcoming.

Audacious and entertaining, this historical psychodrama finds no holes barred as court protocol and manners are shredded over the seven part miniseries. Nudity and profanity is in abundance as hedonism reigns supreme at court resulting in a romp in extremis and which will undoubtedly upset and offend many. But Julianne Moore is at her devious best as an arch manipulator and tactician who not only gets her way, but destroys virtually all who stand in that way. Even the not-so-bright George is not adverse to being put in his place by the schemes of his mother, by now Lady Buckingham, as her successes begat further successes. George may be the all-powerful lover of James, but he still needs guidance from mom. Sadly, it’s Nicholas Galitzine who is the weak link in Mary & George – an unconvincing petulant, pig-headed, privileged Eton schoolboy-type courtier with little charm and even less deep-seated deviousness to win favour above the other jockeying pretty boys at court.

But it remains lewd, wicked and a lot of fun based loosely on true events.

Rating: 68%

‘Criminal Record’

Powerful, intense eight episode narrative as two East London detectives go head-to-head over a historic murder case that highlights old values, prejudices and institutional racism.

For DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo), the incarceration of Errol Mathis (Tom Moutchi), half way through a sentence of 24 years for the murder of his girlfriend, looks to be a miscarriage of justice. A chance 999 call from a terrified woman in fear for her life from a current boyfriend sets Lenker off on her own investigation. There were just a few too many details coming from the phone call to simply ignore. In spite of being told to drop it, she confronts DCI Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) who headed the case more than a decade ago.

Only a year into her position, Lenker certainly upsets the establishment in questioning the highly respected and long-serving Hegarty. And his loyal team of (white male) detectives are less than impressed as the rookie detective continues to make her own investigations. Initially under the guise of trying to find the 999 caller, she talks to Mathis’ mother (Cathy Tyson) and lawyer (Aysha Kala). And a web of corruption, racism and bending of truths slowly unfold. Even the torching of her vehicle and arrest of son Jacob (Jordan A. Nash) for possession fail to divert Lenker’s determination to uncover the truth. Obsessed in the belief it’s all down to Hegarty, her relationships with husband Leo (Stephen Campbell Moore) and colleagues are put at risk.

Old ways, old values in contemporary London as gang warfare in East London escalates. Hegarty’s network built over decades provides plenty of leads – but it’s the likes of Lenker and DC Chloe Summers (Dionne Brown) who understand the lie of the land. It’s the current investigations that bring Hegarty and Lenker to work together but the Mathis case remains the elephant in the room. Question is just how much Hegarty knows, particularly when team member DS Tony Gilfoyle (Charlie Creed-Miles) is revealed to be an active on-line member of a far-right organisation.

Whilst guilty of occasionally skirting issues raised and abandoning characters worthy of knowing more (husband Leo and mother Zoë Wanamaker in particular), Criminal Record remains tense and compelling with strong central performances from Jumbo and Capaldi.

Rating: 77%

‘Killing Eve’ (All 4 Seasons)

An unofficial fascination with presumed female assassins results in MI5 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) leading a covert MI6 team headed by the highly irregular Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw). A series of high profile deaths, seemingly unconnected, are believed to be linked to one operative – Villanelle (Jodie Comer).

Initially working out of Paris, the stylish Villanelle and her handler Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) work for The 12, a secretive oligarch that commission Villanelle (and others) to assassinate – industrialists, politicians, spies. But as Eve is to discover only too quickly, the spy webs, legal or otherwise, are inextricably linked – Carolyn Martens seems to know everyone, with a number, including Konstantin, former lovers.

Obsession leads to obsession as both Oh and Comer also become inextricably linked over the four seasons as action switches from London to Moscow to Paris to Rome to Barcelona to Havana to Berlin. They consume each other as deaths mount, leads fail to produce the desired results and Shaw’s loyalties are less than apparent. It’s The 12 they’re all ostensibly looking for but Killing Eve is as much about the relationships between the four as it is about the murderous threat to European stability. Along the way, Eve loses her husband Niko (Owen McDonnell), tired as he is of the disconnect that has developed between them, as Villanelle disposes of the Russian family she thought was dead.

It’s a gorgeously told series of narratives, visceral in appeal as the malevolent glamour and violence of Villanelle is balanced with the married ordinariness of Oh. But roles flip as the series develops. Freed from the contraints of that married ordinariness, it’s Eve who, by the end, becomes the stronger character chasing down leads that will reveal the identity of The 12. Mordant wit abounds as the three women lock horns. Sadly, season three lost the edginess of the first two seasons written by Emerald Fennell as a somewhat uncertain, ungrounded Eve drifts through the tracking down of the ever untouchable Villanelle. But four sees a resurgence in the narrative. A more vulnerable Villanelle is finally reachable and the full extent of Carolyn’s behind-the-scenes machinations become apparent – particularly when another assassin, Pam (Anjana Vasan), trained by Konstantin, appears on the scene.

Rating: 77%

’Boiling Point’ (Season 1)

Personal and professional melodramas continue as the series picks up from the earlier film starring Stephen Graham as the acclaimed chef. Only, picking up the narrative a few months on, Graham is no longer working and his Assistant Head Chef, Carly, has opened a new restaurant – Point North.

Tensions in the kitchen continue as characters clash and tensions rise with Carly (Vinette Robinson) struggling to manage strong personalities as well as the financial pressures of the new venture and expectations of investors. But it’s a hard call – especially with little support from mom (Cathy Tyson) who places her own demands on her only daughter.

With its oppresive proximity, the kitchen is a hotbed of toxicity with Assistant Head Chef, Freeman (Ray Panthaki) throwing in the towel in the first episode. Mistakes were made but Carly absented herself on opening night as yet another (false alarm) panic call from mom saw Carly dash home. Freeman’s replacement Nick (Steven Ogg) is a great professional find but his behaviour towards Camille (Izuka Hoyle) is causing problems. Out front, flamboyant maitre d’, Dean (Gary Lamont) seamlessly holds the fort but occasionally the tensions in the kitchen blow up out of all proportions. And with its viewing window, events are not always privately conducted.

Season two will undoubtedly follow (t’s yet to be confirmed) with the likelihood of more of the same regarding the kitchen but, as with season one, will touch upon the personal lives of staff. As well as Carly’s home arrangements with mom, season one followed a deeply personal narrative with pastry chef Emily (Hannah Waters) and her support of young, self-harming colleague Liam (Stephen McMillan).

The younger, funkier front-of-house staff are less in focus in Boiling Point (future seasons?) and Stephen Graham is still there on the margins of the narrative. Like it’s American equivalent, The Bear, it’s raw and confronting.

Rating: 73%

’The Tourist’ (Season 2)

Season 2 switches to Ireland from the Australian outback as Elliot decides, with the encouragement of girlfriend Helen, to discover his true identity. Naturally enough, they walk into a whole heap of trouble.

Elliot (Jamie Dornan) is content to continue travelling with former police constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald) who had been so supportive during his search to find his identity in the black comedy that was season one. Helen decides Elliot should find out more about his true self and they set off to Ireland – with Elliot kidnapped on their first day on the soil of the Emerald Isle.

Turns out Elliot is a member of the Cassidy family and he’s walked straight back into the family feud with the McDonnells he tried to escape from. Only Elliot has no memory – not of his mother Niamh (Olwen Fouéré), Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee) nor nemesis Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh).
Not to be outdone, Helen finds herself captive by the dodgy Garda detective, Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill), assigned to the case and is been stalked by former partner Ethan (Greg Larsen). He’s seen the light and is a reformed man.

If it sounds complicated, it’s not. Over the six episodes, it becomes clearer as who Elliot is and why he left (no explanation for memory loss though) as the reasons for the family feuds become clearer. Unlike season one, however, there’s little in the way of suspense or that wry, entertaining mismatch of characters and plot lines. It’s all too dull and predictable – with absolutely no reason for the reintroduction of the tedious Ethan. He was the weak link in season one so bring him back for more tedious pedantry?

Rating: 35%

’The Sixth Commandment’

Tragic true murder story somewhat insipidly told as events move from a tense psychological drama (episode one) to a run-of-the-mill police procedural/courtroom narrative.

On his retirement from teaching, the hugely popular Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall) foresees a lonely life of pruning his roses and time volunteering at the local church. He has kept his sexuality unexplored with only his brother Ian (Adrian Rawlins) aware of his preference. Meeting the charismatic Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke) changes his life in every conceivable way as the manipulative and calculating Ben becomes Farquhar’s live-in companion.

The death of 83 year-old neighbour Anne Moore-Martin (Anne Reid) two years after that of Farquhar finally sees the plans of Field unravel. Deeply religious, Moore-Martin trusts and loves Field as he moves into her home. It is only a chance comment by the dead woman’s niece, Anne-Marie (Annabel Scholey), that sets in motion a murder investigation linking Ben Field with the deaths of Moore-Martin and Farquhar.

Murder, gaslighting, mind control, liberal use of drugs, the psychopathic Field preyed on old, lonely people living alone and open to suggestion. He had a degree of support from naive Martyn Smith (Conor MacNeill) acting as a scout and who was equally in the thrall of Field. It’s an unpleasant tale. But it’s also, like Field, somewhat emotionless and controlled. Spall is excellent as the doomed teacher but having been dispatched by the end of the first episode, the remaining three episodes are generally uninvolving with a script full of ambling motherhoods and cliches.

Rating: 52%

’The Couple Next Door’

An interesting premise goes badly awry as a leaden script and wooden acting along with predictable plotlines create a banal, plodding six episode miniseries.

Suburban Leeds in Yorkshire (but strangely shot in part in Eindhoven in the Netherlands) and Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Pete (Alfred Enoch) move into a quiet, fairly affluent neighbourhood. He’s a journalist and Evie a pregnant primary school teacher. On arrival they are welcomed by ‘the beautiful people’ in the form of Becka (Jessica De Gouw) and Danny (Sam Heughan) – a couple relieved to see neighbours of their age on the street.

A friendship develops between the four that evolves into something deeply personal and complex as Evie loses the baby and Pete struggles with the attraction she has for the hunky Danny. The couple are surprised to discover Danny’s a traffic cop and he keeps popping up into Pete’s investigation into a corrupt local businessman. And just to make things a little more interesting, Becka is being stalked by a neighbour (Hugh Denis), Danny has more history than anyone bargained for and Evie is contending with her deeply religious parents.

A remake of a Ducth television series (and the likely explanation as to why Eindhoven), The Couple Next Door has all the hallmarks of a Harlan Coben miniseries – suburban lifestyle hiding a multitude of dramas and secrets. The trailer of the series suggested such possibilities. But it becomes obvious early on that this particular dire miniseries will not be offering anything remotely in the Coben league. An interesting enough first episode draws the audience into the storyline but, as it develops, pushes the boundaries of acceptance beyond the pale very quickly thereafter.

Rating: 30%