This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 14th March 2015.
Banished:
Thursday, BBC Two
Pompidou:
Sunday, BBC Two
Paul
Whitelaw
You'd
have to be mad, foolish or both to challenge Jimmy McGovern's
reputation as one of Britain's leading TV dramatists. Fuelled by
anger, humour and compassion, his greatest hits include Cracker,
The Lakes, Hillsborough and The
Street. That's one helluva strike rate.
However,
even writers of McGovern's stature can be scuppered by compromising
circumstances. Banished is proof of that. Set in a late 18th
century penal colony in New South Wales, it follows the arduous lives
of British convicts and Royal Navy marines as they struggle to
survive in this 'Godforsaken' land.
It's
a typical McGovern piece in that it revolves around terrible moral
dilemmas, miscarriages of justice and the powerful notion of doing
the right thing under desperate circumstances. Indeed, the script is
fairly solid and engaging. If you're a fan of the expletives 'whore'
and 'scum' it's an absolute treat. But the problem lies in the way
it's been transferred to screen.
Despite
being set in a supposed hell-hole, it has the glossy look of an
afternoon TV movie. The intrusive score sounds curiously synthetic
and cheap. The actors are too groomed. The relatively grime-free camp
looks like what it is, an outdoor set. It just doesn't feel lived in.
Good direction and production design can disguise such fakery –
just look at the authentically filthy Deadwood, for example –
but it's difficult to fully invest in the reality of Banished.
Another
glaring flaw is the prominent presence of Russell Tovey as upright
convict James. Within his limits, Tovey is a perfectly competent,
rather charming actor. But his inability to convincingly convey anger
and intensity is a major stumbling block, especially in a brooding
drama such as this. With his mannered contemporary inflections and
sudden shifts into slurred, stilted rage, he sounds like Michael
Caine channelling the wayward spirit of William Shatner.
It's
frustrating, as the rest of the cast are fine. I was particularly
impressed by Julian Rhind-Tutt playing against upper-class type as
Tommy, a supposedly wronged, working class convict. Ewen Bremner is
also rather interesting as a permanently aghast vicar wrestling with
his morality. Imagine Edvard Munch's The Scream as played by Derek
Nimmo. That, I assure you, is a compliment.
The
intensely compelling scene in which, against his will, Reverend Spud
was forced to hang Tommy for sleeping with fellow convict Elizabeth
was classic McGovern. Pleasingly melodramatic, it climaxed with
Tommy's life being spared at the last second when the Reverend's
saintly wife screamed, “This is crucifixion!” Irresistible stuff.
While
the prison hard-man – a Scot, naturally – and cruel Navy captain
flirt dangerously close to pantomime villainy, McGovern is careful to
ensure that characters such as the quietly humane sergeant and
nominally lenient governor are sketched along more nuanced lines.
It's
far from perfect, but Banished does have much to commend it.
If McGovern can sustain the drama, then its faults may be less
troublesome in the long run.
A
daft visual comedy starring Matt Lucas as a penniless aristocrat,
Pompidou is a mixed bag. Though aimed at a family audience,
some of the more grotesque gags – e.g. Pompidou pulling organs from
his butler's stomach – feel oddly out of place in this otherwise
bright and colourful cartoon world.
While
Laurel and Hardy, to whom the show is indebted, often employed
similarly offbeat nightmare gags, the consistency of tone in Pompidou
is far less assured.
Still,
Lucas is a gifted clown and his latest venture is certainly quite
funny and likeable. It just needs to settle on what it wants to be.
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