In a sea of great British programming these three shows stand out for their fabulous storylines, exquisite acting and sheer entertainment value.
~Broadchurch Ellie (Olivia Colman) is a detective who returns from maternity leave to find that her promised promotion has been handed to outsider, Alec Hardy (David Tennant). Within the hour she also learns that the body of an eleven year old boy found dead on the beach is that of Danny Latimer, best friend to her son and youngest child of her neighbours Beth (Jodie Whitaker) and Mark (Andrew Buchan). The opening scenes play out with quiet and grace before plunging you into deep, raw emotion. I will be forever haunted by the sight of Beth in her red dress running down the street between stopped cars as realization about her son begins to dawn. In this small coastal Dorset town, everybody knows everybody else. Not well enough, however, to know the small mountain of secrets, indiscretions, lies and shame that they have been hiding from each other in the deepest, darkest recesses of themselves. Apparently this village isn’t quite as sunny and ordinary as it at first appears. And things get complicated very quickly as everyone in town falls under suspicion for one reason or another, all of whom then come under heavy media scrutiny when the national press gets a hold of the story. As time goes on, secrets slowly unravel, fracturing relationships and casting doubt at every turn as the emotional carnage of the aftermath of Danny’s murder is set out in the open for everyone to ogle. No-one is unaffected: not families, not neighbours, not investigators. There is so much grief and pain in this show that your heart splinters into a million little pieces a thousand times over before you’re done watching. But what sets it apart from all the other shows of its ilk is that it has a beautiful, ethereal quality which belies all that suffering. And then there’s the music. Oh, the music. I don’t think a programme has ever quite managed to turn the music into a major character. It is haunting. Broadchurch is beautifully written and exquisitely acted. All of the characters involved are complex and well rendered so that all the twists and turns feel genuine and not forced. Season two doesn’t quite match season one, season three is much better.
~Life on Mars “My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma or back in time? Whatever’s happened, it’s like I’ve landed on a different planet. Now maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.” Those are the words spoken at the beginning of each episode of Life on Mars and pretty much sum up the show. 2006 Sam (John Simm) is hit by a car and when he comes to, he finds himself in the exact same spot, thirty years earlier wearing some pretty snazzy clothes. It sounds like one heck of a gimmick, but the whole time travel thing fades after a few episodes, occasionally teasing its way back in. At its heart, this show is a straightforward police procedural set in a time of police brutality, sexism and racism. As it turns out, a whole lot of TV fun can be had when you remove the shackles of propriety and representing it all, front and centre, is Gene Hunt (played beyond brilliantly by Philip Glenister) whom Sam describes as “an overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine stained, borderline alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding”. In return, Gene calls Sam a “great, soft, sissy, girly, nancy, French, bender Manchester United- supporting poof”. Turns out, though, that underneath all their grousing, these two characters are actually after the same thing, they just approach it from wildly different perspectives: Sam follows the rules, Gene breaks them. Despite this, they have a shared morality and nine times out of ten they get to the same place by the end of the day; upon which they celebrate with a pint down the pub. It all makes for some spectacularly entertaining TV with endlessly funny repartee, an amazing soundtrack and oodles of hilarious action scenes. The whole Sam-knows-things-others-don’t-because-he’s-from-the-future aspect is played sparingly, but is always spot on and winds its way through the show in some interesting ways. There are only two seasons of eight episodes each, although there is a sequel, Ashes to Ashes. It replaces John Simm with Keeley Hawes but brings most everyone else back. The premise is the same while darkening the theme a little. It’s equally as good as Life on Mars and takes place in the early eighties, which switches a few things up and adds yet another brilliant soundtrack. It also brings both shows to a nice conclusion. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere to watch at this time, so keep an eye out for it. I originally watched it on Hulu, indeed it was the impetus for signing up, but it no longer plays there.
~MI5 Known as Spooks in England, this show is all about a group of tech-savvy spies based at Thames House in London and led by the intrepid Harry, all charged with the task of protecting Britain’s national security. The show starts with a bang, quite literally, and doesn’t ever stop.In part, what makes this show so good, is both its best and worst point: anybody can die at any time. And I mean major characters. Which means that intensity is always through the roof because you know that your favourite person could be killed at any moment. At the same time it means that, well, your favourite person could be killed at any moment, damn it. Within the first couple of hours a character dies when her head is shoved into a vat of boiling oil. Let me tell you, this show can get pretty ugly. Storylines run the gamut from dealing with anti-abortionists, Mideast terrorists, government scandals, the IRA, you name it, all of which must be dealt with to protect the security and safety of UK citizens. Each incident brings a complex array of problems, twists, turns and vicious betrayals. Combine this with the rather messy private lives of the characters themselves, all of whom are having to tell so many lies even to those they love, and you have a dynamite show which always feels like it’s on the verge of exploding. And frequently does. The cast is led by Matthew McFayden, Keeley Hawes, Peter Firth and David Olweyo and at various points Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris and Nicola Walker along with a constant parade of familiar faces if you watch a lot of British TV. If you loved the crazy intensity of Breaking Bad then you’ll love this show too and with 10 seasons of 6-8 episodes it should keep you going for just a little while.
