Roadkill: Episode 3

 "I love your turbulence. It makes people think."

I may, while admiring the craftsmanship of the script, have been a little on the lukewarm side about last episode. Fortunately, and pleasantly, this third episode was full of incident, drama, wit, subtle characterisation and, yes, relataile characters.

We begin with two contrasts. Charmian is, indeed, dead. But we move swiftly to scenes of Peter smoothly speechifying as he leaves hospital. It's then sraight home where an outraged Lily has called a family conference- including environmental activist and Peter's other daughter Susan- to discuss his infidelity. It's a fascinatingly subtle series of scenes. Susan is closer to Peter, yet her politics are so different. And Peter's wife Helen throws him out of the house not for his infidelity but for the damage to her dignity of it becoming known, and her becoming an object of pity. These scenes feel very real.

Then Peter returns to Madeleine (still a surprisingly small role for Sidse Babett Knudsen), and a parallel reckoning as she lets out her own rage at being the other woman, used, never allowed into his life. Peter's personal life has collapsed, and all because of his past action- even before another consequence materialises as his secret daughter Rose, in prison, wants to make contact.

But Peter's secrets are being uncovered, as the barrister slowly pieces things together, ending with possession of the tape containing Charmian's last interview from before she died. The walls are seemingly closing in for Peter. Yet there also seem to be walls closing around the prime minister, and we all know that Peter is in the frame.

The concluding episode looks as though it will certainly ne exciting, but this episode was good fun, full of great dialogue and pithy observations, such as that the UK pretty much only does arms manufacturing, pharma and financial services. This still isn't Edge of Darkness, but it's good telly.

Roadkill: Episode 2

 "You think you're too popular to be sacked."

It's odd. There's a lot going on here, the plot is nice and intricate- very  State of Play, still- and there's some nice social commentary, if a bit broad brush, particularly into the Tory psyche. The cast is excellent. But something isn't quite clicking with me, and I'm unsure what.So much happens. Arch-privatiser Peter shows us the other side of his libertarianism with his very sensible thoughts on prison reform (and, privately, drug law reform), but the PM slaps him down. Sensible, humane criminal justice policy may be de rigueur in the rest of Europe but for some reason it's not how Tories, or perhaps even the British as a whole, roll.

We move on to a facinating scene in which Margaret hands some documents to Peter's former barrister- an alternative way of the truth coming out if, as seems possible, Charmian is either dead or incapacitated after being hit by a van following a very interesting and revealing evening in Washington DC. This nicely parallel's Peter's crash at the end when Duncan tells him (having done a swtcheroo of DNA, interestingly) that the myserious young woman in pison is indeed his daughter. Meanwhile, Peter's acknowledged daughter manages to uncover the fact he has a girlfriend and is delightfully pragmatic about the way she handles it.

And there are lots of other little revelations and, indeed, character moments. On the surface it all seems very good, and Hugh Laurie in particular is superb. And yet I'm not sure I feel invested in any of the characters. It's a clever script, but seems more about ideas than people. I'm not sure that should necessarily matter enormously in a political drama, but this seems to be structured, with dramatic beats, as though it should.

Let's see how this goes.

Roadkill: Episode 1

 "Voters think of me as a character..."

So, alternating with the crown, I'll be blogging this very current political thriller from David Hare, starring Hugh Laurie as exactly the sort of morally dodgy character he's been playing of late. First impressions are extremely promising: an intricate yet clear plot that reminds me of State of Play while being very much of our time.

We first meet ambitious Tory transport minister Peter Laurence immediately after he's won a libel case and makes a speech on the steps which has to have been intended to echo Jonathan Aitken, bavk in the Major years back in that innocent era when Toty misisters would actually resign for misdeeds and the concept of absolute truth was rather more fashionable than it is now. But, well, he's essentially Boris Johnson, isn't he? A shagger, a "character", a man with no pirnciples.... although, it seems, Peter is at once more criminal and much more competent than Boris.

It says a lot for Hare's script that there are lots of characters and many moving parts here, but things are never hard to follow. The cast is superb. The hero is clearly Sarah Greene's investigative journalist Charmian,humanised as a recovering alcoholic, but also impressive are Helen McRory as a delightfully machiavellian prime minister and Pip Torrens as a cynical newspaper editor. The direction is excellent yet unobtrusive, and it's nice to see a variety of locations from a prison to a club where young people dance to The Fall's "Totally Wired". Where were these places when I was their age?

A very promising start. Early days, but this could prove to be something special.

The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre, 2016)

"When you're between any kind of devil and the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea sometimes looks very inviting."

I haven't managed to keep up with these wonderful lockdown gifts from the National Theatre, what with life being so very hectic these days, but they really are so kind to us, and really do need all the support they can get right now. Culture matters.

I’ve never seen this play before and nor, I’m afraid to say, have I seen any Terence Rattigan before. It may be terribly upper middle class, but this play is wonderful in how it deals with such deep, overwhelming emotion through the medium of deliberately awkward, very British dialogue. Perhaps our distance from the play helps us to see it more clearly; certainly 1952 is made to seem a long time ago. Restrictive divorce laws; suicide being a crime for which one can be imprisoned; the same for homosexuality, particularly resonant for the author and (it’s implied) for poor Dr Miller, who may perhaps be seen as the authorial voice. We are fortunate to live in the wake of the 1960s when these wrongs where righted.

Helen McRory is simply outrageously good here in the meatiest of female roles. As much of a revelation to me, though, is the play itself. The style may be old-fashioned, and the treatment of the themes may jar with our mores of today, although it’s fascinating to see how subtly subversive the play is. Rattigan is a writer I shall have to explore.

Penny Dreadful: Fresh Hell

"What would Dr Frankenstein be without his creature?"

So, at last the second season starts on Sky Atlantic. It looks as though last season's big bad is going to be witches, but in the meantime we have character arcs to set up for the new season, lushly and beautifully shot by James Hawes as always.

We add to the feminine theme of witches with a riff on Bride of Frankenstein as Billie Piper returns to play said monster, while her prospective mate finds another grimly Victorian job with poor conditions, this time working in a waxworks exhibit, a la Madame Tussaud's, except much more influence by lurid crimes and, well, penny dreadfuls. His boss, I'm pleased to see, is played by the excellent David Haig. 

Elsewhere, Ethan dithers about whether or not to return to Anerica while Vanessa remains her delightfully weird, brooding self. He tells her of his blackouts, after which he wakes to much blood. Much will come of this, especially as an inspector from the Yard is investigating the deaths of his pursuers from the end of last season.

Meanwhile, it's made clear to Sir Malcolm by his poor, bereaved wife that, after presiding over the deaths of two children, their marriage is henceforth to be eked out as a cold, artificial she'll with the two of them living apart. His surrogate daughter, Vanessa, is now his only family. No wonder she runs into his arms, able to confide in no one else. The witches, it seems, led by the mysterious Mistress Kali, are after her soul...

A very promising opening, if not quite up to the heights of last season's opener. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 2 (Seance)

"Your first-born has returned, father!"

Nice cliffhanger. The monster we saw Frankenstein creating last episode, a nice chap, was in fact the second attempt, and we see him being brutally and casually killed by his older brother, presumably the Frankenstein's monster of legend. Nice.

Interesting that Frankenstein is, against type, a cultured man, fond of the Romantic poets and choosing a name for his "son" from the secular Bible that is the complete works of Shakespeare. Proteus is nicely chosen, and close to Prometheus, which fits. I was half expecting Cailban.

So much else happens in this episode, though. We meet Brona Croft, a poor and dying prostitute played in an incomprehensible accent (I think it's supposed to be Ulster?) by the usually reliable Billie Piper. This is probably as good a point as any to whinge about the lack of subtitles from Sky on the watch again version; not good enough.

There's a murder, which the police and public are comparing to the Ripper murders (although "he only did whores!)"); is this the work of the ultimate baddie or of a odd only body-snatching Frankenstein?

Brona gets to meet, and get fucked by, Dorian Gray, quite the aesthete and fascinated by mod cons, even owning an Edison cylinder. He, Vanessa and Sir Malcolm are invited, this being the 1890s, to a seance, where he and the usually frigid Vanessa seem to hit it off. The highlight of the episode, though, is the seance itself, with Vanessa seemingly possessed by Mina's spirit and going full-on The Exorcist. This is superbly done, and Eva Green is amazing. This is also probably the finest sustained bit of swearing I've ever seen on television.

Ethan seems to start a relationship with Brona at the CGI docks (with a nicely half-finished Tower Bridge), but it's hard to tell, as I can't understand a word she's saying and there are no sodding subtitles. Meanwhile, Sir Malcolm meets eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle, who has translated the Hierogyphs found under the vampires' skin. It seems to foretell "the annihilation of man and the coming of the beast..."

I'm still loving this. Why has it taken is so long to get round to watching it?

Doctor Who: The Vampires of Venice

“According to this, I am your eunuch…”

Interesting how a story can seem to be “traditional” Doctor Who even though objectively there can be no real definition of what such a thing may be. But this seems to be the closest thing to that elusive concept we’ve had for quite a while. At the same time, the characters’ arcs and story arc are nicely developed here, and really rather foregrounded too.

Venice, 1580, and a sinister school headed by the mysterious Rosanna Calvierri is looking for young virgins to join its ranks for a purpose hinted at by the clear design influence of certain early ‘70s Hammer horror films. Meanwhile, the Doctor arrives at Rory’s stag so, where he has a confession to make.

The ending of the last episode is dealt with quite well here, and the consequences reverberate for all three of our regulars. The new dynamic between the three of them is fascinating, with Amy’s two girls competing for the position of alpha male. What’s great about this situation is the potential for comedy as well as humour. And Arthur Darvill's facial acting and physical mannerisms are amazing.

It’s interesting to see Rory again after all this time; he’s still a sort of Mickey-type character, he’s rather unprepossessing (rather fortunately for the Doctor, under the circumstances!) and not one for heedlessly running into adventure, but he’s resourceful (unsurprised by the TARDIS) and quietly very brave without being reckless. He actually adjusts to the situation quite well, too; it doesn’t take long for him to be taking pictures of Amy in 16th century Venice on his camera phone.

There’s more ‘70s style erotic Hammer horror as the Doctor finds himself inside a crypt, surrounded by a group of rather attractive young vampire ladies in their nighties. Personally I’d be rather happy to be in his situation but he seems to be rather alarmed. Matt Smith is great here, though, and I love the pic of Hartnell. Gosh, it’s been a long Marathon.

I love the way the inevitability of Amy’s smuggling herself into the baddies’ lair is played for wry humour, and the cheeky way we’re introduced to Guido’s stash of gunpowder, which tells us with a nod and a wink that it’ll be going bang later on. And the name “Guido” sort of underlines that…

There’s real tension between the Doctor and an appalled Rory though. And when Rory calls him on his recklessness (“You know what’s dangerous about you? It’s not that you make people take risks. It’s that you make people want to impress you.”), the Doctor is saved from having to reply by the fortunate arrival of some baddies. Rory’s words resonate, though; it’s very notable that the Doctor later firmly tells Amy to stay with Rory while he goes off alone to do the dangerous work of averting the sinking of Venice, and Rory thanks him.

The Doctor finally gets some rather interesting and arc-heavy explanations from Rosanna: the people of Saturnyne “ran from the Silence”, and “There were cracks” which meant “Silence, and the end of all things.” The aliens’ plan is more or less revealed, give or take a bit of cogitation by the Doctor, and there’s an interesting contrast between Rosanna’s willingness to put the survival of her species above everything and the Doctor’s less than unswerving loyalty to his own people making him the last of his kind.

But Rosanna has put herself beyond redemption. She has callously had Isabella killed, and didn’t even know her name. That’s a nice Doctorish touch.

Rory’s swordfight with the broomstick is the highlight of the episode, and shows just how extraordinarily good Arthur Darvill is. So good I hardly even begrudge him for getting to snog the lovely Karen Gillan. Grrr.

It’s nice to see Rory’s “We’re not leaving you!” to the Doctor at the end; he may not be reckless but there’s a definite latent heroism there. And Rory’s here to stay. This is good news. There’s a great dynamic between our three regulars, with unresolved issues but also a lot of comic potential.

We end with silence. Or should that be Silence? No crack, this time…

A solid episode. 4/5.