Line of Duty and other upcoming TV
Line of Duty started on BBC 2 last night and gosh, it was very good.
BBC2 drama gets to be intriguing in a way BBC1 drama normally isn’t allowed these days (I think this trend sort of started with Moses Jones in 2009). I wouldn’t have thought there was much of a difference between BBC1 and BBC2 viewership, but what do I know?
Line of Duty treads a similar path to last year’s The Shadow Line, in that no-one is black or white and everyone’s losing track of where the line is, let alone whether they’ve crossed it or not.
Lennie James plays DCI Tony Gates, a charismatic superstar police officer who leads a team with a brilliant clean-up rate. He’s got a wife (Kate Ashfield) and two kids, and he’s at the top of his game, but that in itself is drawing attention.
The leader of the anti-corruption unit is suspicious about the clean-up rate and in the first episode he’s joined by a young cop who refused to go along with the party line about an armed police shootout that was supposedly triggered by the presence of a bomb (there was no bomb). This cop is - like everyone else - initially under Gates’ spell, but it’s clear that some things are going to change as the series progresses.
Although there are a few different threads going on, this is really Lennie James’ show. I’ve been a fan of his for ages (if you’ve seen Jericho, you’ll understand, and if you haven’t seen Jericho, it’s worth making the time) and he just keeps getting better.
Gates isn’t corrupt - not at the start, at least - but he is pushing the edges of it. He’s having an affair, and his girlfriend tells him that she thinks she hit something with her car while driving drunk, so she reports it stolen. Of course, the fact that a body then turns up in the same sort of area she says she hit something will be no surprise to anyone who’s ever watched a crime show.
The show isn’t quite as bleak as Shadow Line or Luther, but the pacing’s pretty good and there’s a decent mix of action, quiet talky moments and twists. It’s not as flash-bang as Inside Men, but I have a feeling that it’s less likely to have such a disappointing ending.
Also I’ve been told by someone who didn’t really rate episode 1 that episode 2 is amazing :D.
ETA: iplayer link for episode 1 is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01k9pn6/Line_of_Duty_Episode_1/
In other news, here are a selection of new UK TV shows coming soon that are not on Sky (I’m afraid you’ll have to google those yourself - I do not have Sky so looking at shows I can’t watch makes me sad). Potential spoilers at all links, obviously:
Blackout (on Monday 2 July) - BBC - stars Christopher Eccleston, Dervla Kirwan, Andrew Scott and a bunch of other people. I can’t actually condense the main plot without spoiling something or other, so I will say that it sounds worth a go. Could be very, very good.
insidemediatrack.com/2012/06/21/first-look-bbc1-drama-blackout-trailer-starring-christopher-eccleston-and-dervla-kirwan/
Last Tango In Halifax - BBC - this is a six-part romantic comedy by Sally Wainwright featuring Derek Jacobi, Nicola Walker, Anne Reid (yay!) and Sarah Lancashire (among many others). It focuses on two old flames who meet and rekindle their relationship, and the effect that has on the people around them.
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/last-tango-halifax.html
Good Cop - BBC - Warren Brown playing a complex character, which presumably means he’ll start off seeming good and then be horrible. He plays a response cop whose life is thrown into turmoil when his best friend is murdered. At this point it sounds like I am going to be a very sad bunny at the end of the series (other people who are less invested in Justin Ripley will probably not be so bothered).
insidemediatrack.com/2012/04/15/first-look-warren-brown-in-bbc-drama-good-cop/
Parade’s End - BBC/HBO Tom Stoppard adaptation of novels by Ford Madox Ford. Stars everyone ever (Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam, Freddie Fox etc etc).
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/19/rupert-everett-miranda-richardson-bbc2
A Mother’s Son - ITV - psychological thriller (oh good!) starring Martin Clunes, Paul McGann and Hermione Norris. A teenage girl’s body is found and Hermione Norris suspects her son of the killing. Sounds interesting.
www.itv.com/news/anglia/2012-05-24/stars-filming-new-drama-in-southwold/
Case Sensitive - ITV - 2 more adaptations of Zoe Hannah’s novels, featuring DS Charlie Zailer (Olivia Williams) and DC Simon Waterhouse (Darren Boyd, who was excellent in this last time)
www.itv.com/presscentre/presspacks/casesensitive2012/default.html
Room At The Top - BBC - This was originally supposed to be broadcast...last year, I think, but there were some legal wrangles that had to be sorted. Happily that has been done, so this adaptation of the 1950s novel should be on later in the year (with Maxine Peake and Matthew McNulty).
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/legal-wrangle-over-bbc4s-room-at-the-top-resolved/5042736.article
World Without End - Channel 4 - sequel to Pillars of the Earth, hurrah! Stars everyone ever who wasn’t in POTE, including Peter Firth, Miranda Richardson, Cynthia Nixon, Indira Varma etc. TBH if you didn’t see POTE you probably won’t be interested in this, and if you did enjoy it you don’t need a long winded explanation of the plot (because there is no such thing as a short explanation).
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/29/channel-4-pillars-of-the-earth-sequel
Restless - BBC - espionage thriller based on William Boyd’s novel (?), set during the 70s so expect plenty of Russians. Sounds pretty intriguing and stars Hayley Atwell and Michelle Dockery, omgomgomg.
insidemediatrack.com/2012/06/25/michelle-dockery-hayley-atwell-rufus-sewell-michael-gambon-star-in-bbc1-spy-adaption-restless/
Hunted - BBC - also an action spy-thriller, although I believe this one is set in the present day. This was originally going to be called Morton (the main character’s name was Sam Morton, it is now Sam Hunter, do you see what they did there?), and I think it’s gone through a bunch of other names during production. As you might expect from the name, it’s spy-on-the-run, who-can-you-trust fare, although interestingly the characters are employed by a private espionage organisation rather than a government. I am tempted to say ‘expect explosions and plotholes’, but let’s see how it goes first (and if they do anything interesting with the premise).
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/hunted.html
Other shows I haven’t talked about that much but would recommend (that have been on in the last year):
Monroe - James Nesbitt as a brain surgeon, Sarah Parrish as a heart surgeon, assorted excellent supporting cast and really way better than you’d expect. May try to do a more in-depth lj entry on it. (returning for a second series)
Call the Midwife - excellent, excellent, excellent (and I say this as someone who doesn’t give a fig about pregnancy/childbirth storylines in most media). Funny and charming and heartwarming but still with a real bite to it (it is set just after the birth of the NHS). Wholly recommended. (returning for a second series)
The Shadow Line - I think I probably did talk about this one quite a lot when it was on, but it’s worth coming back to, especially in light of Line of Duty. Odder and more stylised and less focussed on the police, but still excellent and unsettling and gorgeous. Everyone in it is fantastic.
This entry was originally posted at http://hestia8.dreamwidth.org/32430.html.
BBC2 drama gets to be intriguing in a way BBC1 drama normally isn’t allowed these days (I think this trend sort of started with Moses Jones in 2009). I wouldn’t have thought there was much of a difference between BBC1 and BBC2 viewership, but what do I know?
Line of Duty treads a similar path to last year’s The Shadow Line, in that no-one is black or white and everyone’s losing track of where the line is, let alone whether they’ve crossed it or not.
Lennie James plays DCI Tony Gates, a charismatic superstar police officer who leads a team with a brilliant clean-up rate. He’s got a wife (Kate Ashfield) and two kids, and he’s at the top of his game, but that in itself is drawing attention.
The leader of the anti-corruption unit is suspicious about the clean-up rate and in the first episode he’s joined by a young cop who refused to go along with the party line about an armed police shootout that was supposedly triggered by the presence of a bomb (there was no bomb). This cop is - like everyone else - initially under Gates’ spell, but it’s clear that some things are going to change as the series progresses.
Although there are a few different threads going on, this is really Lennie James’ show. I’ve been a fan of his for ages (if you’ve seen Jericho, you’ll understand, and if you haven’t seen Jericho, it’s worth making the time) and he just keeps getting better.
Gates isn’t corrupt - not at the start, at least - but he is pushing the edges of it. He’s having an affair, and his girlfriend tells him that she thinks she hit something with her car while driving drunk, so she reports it stolen. Of course, the fact that a body then turns up in the same sort of area she says she hit something will be no surprise to anyone who’s ever watched a crime show.
The show isn’t quite as bleak as Shadow Line or Luther, but the pacing’s pretty good and there’s a decent mix of action, quiet talky moments and twists. It’s not as flash-bang as Inside Men, but I have a feeling that it’s less likely to have such a disappointing ending.
Also I’ve been told by someone who didn’t really rate episode 1 that episode 2 is amazing :D.
ETA: iplayer link for episode 1 is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01k9pn6/Line_of_Duty_Episode_1/
In other news, here are a selection of new UK TV shows coming soon that are not on Sky (I’m afraid you’ll have to google those yourself - I do not have Sky so looking at shows I can’t watch makes me sad). Potential spoilers at all links, obviously:
Blackout (on Monday 2 July) - BBC - stars Christopher Eccleston, Dervla Kirwan, Andrew Scott and a bunch of other people. I can’t actually condense the main plot without spoiling something or other, so I will say that it sounds worth a go. Could be very, very good.
insidemediatrack.com/2012/06/21/first-look-bbc1-drama-blackout-trailer-starring-christopher-eccleston-and-dervla-kirwan/
Last Tango In Halifax - BBC - this is a six-part romantic comedy by Sally Wainwright featuring Derek Jacobi, Nicola Walker, Anne Reid (yay!) and Sarah Lancashire (among many others). It focuses on two old flames who meet and rekindle their relationship, and the effect that has on the people around them.
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/last-tango-halifax.html
Good Cop - BBC - Warren Brown playing a complex character, which presumably means he’ll start off seeming good and then be horrible. He plays a response cop whose life is thrown into turmoil when his best friend is murdered. At this point it sounds like I am going to be a very sad bunny at the end of the series (other people who are less invested in Justin Ripley will probably not be so bothered).
insidemediatrack.com/2012/04/15/first-look-warren-brown-in-bbc-drama-good-cop/
Parade’s End - BBC/HBO Tom Stoppard adaptation of novels by Ford Madox Ford. Stars everyone ever (Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam, Freddie Fox etc etc).
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/19/rupert-everett-miranda-richardson-bbc2
A Mother’s Son - ITV - psychological thriller (oh good!) starring Martin Clunes, Paul McGann and Hermione Norris. A teenage girl’s body is found and Hermione Norris suspects her son of the killing. Sounds interesting.
www.itv.com/news/anglia/2012-05-24/stars-filming-new-drama-in-southwold/
Case Sensitive - ITV - 2 more adaptations of Zoe Hannah’s novels, featuring DS Charlie Zailer (Olivia Williams) and DC Simon Waterhouse (Darren Boyd, who was excellent in this last time)
www.itv.com/presscentre/presspacks/casesensitive2012/default.html
Room At The Top - BBC - This was originally supposed to be broadcast...last year, I think, but there were some legal wrangles that had to be sorted. Happily that has been done, so this adaptation of the 1950s novel should be on later in the year (with Maxine Peake and Matthew McNulty).
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/legal-wrangle-over-bbc4s-room-at-the-top-resolved/5042736.article
World Without End - Channel 4 - sequel to Pillars of the Earth, hurrah! Stars everyone ever who wasn’t in POTE, including Peter Firth, Miranda Richardson, Cynthia Nixon, Indira Varma etc. TBH if you didn’t see POTE you probably won’t be interested in this, and if you did enjoy it you don’t need a long winded explanation of the plot (because there is no such thing as a short explanation).
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/29/channel-4-pillars-of-the-earth-sequel
Restless - BBC - espionage thriller based on William Boyd’s novel (?), set during the 70s so expect plenty of Russians. Sounds pretty intriguing and stars Hayley Atwell and Michelle Dockery, omgomgomg.
insidemediatrack.com/2012/06/25/michelle-dockery-hayley-atwell-rufus-sewell-michael-gambon-star-in-bbc1-spy-adaption-restless/
Hunted - BBC - also an action spy-thriller, although I believe this one is set in the present day. This was originally going to be called Morton (the main character’s name was Sam Morton, it is now Sam Hunter, do you see what they did there?), and I think it’s gone through a bunch of other names during production. As you might expect from the name, it’s spy-on-the-run, who-can-you-trust fare, although interestingly the characters are employed by a private espionage organisation rather than a government. I am tempted to say ‘expect explosions and plotholes’, but let’s see how it goes first (and if they do anything interesting with the premise).
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/hunted.html
Other shows I haven’t talked about that much but would recommend (that have been on in the last year):
Monroe - James Nesbitt as a brain surgeon, Sarah Parrish as a heart surgeon, assorted excellent supporting cast and really way better than you’d expect. May try to do a more in-depth lj entry on it. (returning for a second series)
Call the Midwife - excellent, excellent, excellent (and I say this as someone who doesn’t give a fig about pregnancy/childbirth storylines in most media). Funny and charming and heartwarming but still with a real bite to it (it is set just after the birth of the NHS). Wholly recommended. (returning for a second series)
The Shadow Line - I think I probably did talk about this one quite a lot when it was on, but it’s worth coming back to, especially in light of Line of Duty. Odder and more stylised and less focussed on the police, but still excellent and unsettling and gorgeous. Everyone in it is fantastic.
This entry was originally posted at http://hestia8.dreamwidth.org/32430.html.