This article was originally published in The Scotsman on 20th July 2013.
BURTON
AND TAYLOR
Monday,
BBC4, 9pm
BADULTS
Tuesday,
BBC3, 10pm
Paul
Whitelaw
As
an avid connoisseur of BBC4 biopics – that magical domain of
dubious wigs, variable impersonations, straining budgets and
questionable authenticity – I feel authorised to judge BURTON
AND TAYLOR as one of their better efforts. While the casting of
Dominic West and Helena Bonham-Carter, who bear scant physical
resemblance to the legendary Dick and Liz, initially takes some
getting used to, their commanding performances eventually ease any
doubts.
Despite
being a backstage melodrama of sorts, it largely avoids camp –
which, given their famously volcanic on-off relationship, would've
been the obvious, lazy route – in favour of a more melancholic
tone. Set during the troubled production of their final professional
collaboration, an early 1980s Broadway adaptation of Noel Coward's
Private Lives (oh, the irony!), it finds Burton, aching and
ageing, struggling with sobriety, while Taylor descends further into
a spiral of substance abuse.
It
blatantly suggests that Taylor organised the Broadway run simply as a
means of spending time with the great love of her life. Burton,
meanwhile, is portrayed as the consummate professional, eager to
treat the play with respect, whereas his maddening and endearing
ex-wife can't resist playing up to her adoring audience.
The
great unwashed are portrayed in an amusingly unflattering light
throughout: a pack of baying hyenas who've come, not to enjoy
Coward's caustic wit, but another boisterous bout of 'The Dick and
Liz Show' (which is, of course, what we're effectively watching
ourselves).
While
exploring the conflict between the art of “proper” acting and the
trivial trappings of fame, Burton and Taylor is an ultimately
rather sad study of a doomed, turbulent love affair.
Despite
some heavy-handed moments, it's suffused with an effective sense of
wistful regret. Key to its appeal are West and Bonham-Carter, who
never slip into caricature. Granted, scenes of a drunk and maudlin
Burton quoting Shakespeare soliloquies in the lonely dead of night
skirt with kitsch (West resembles a despondent Michael Portillo), but
one gets the impression that Burton probably did behave like this. He
was An Actor, after all. And if Bonham-Carter's Taylor, with her
diamonds, minks, and yapping pooches, feels at times like a parody of
a film star, that's because she practically invented the cliché.
Both
actors capture the yearning vulnerability and mutual adoration of
their charismatic alter egos: despite being multimillionaire
superstars, you're left with the impression of them as tragic,
sympathetic lovers who couldn't live with or without each other. It's
a surprisingly affecting drama.
Sadly,
it's also the last hurrah for BBC4 drama, which was recently axed as
part of the BBC's (COUGH) Delivering Quality First cost-saving
initiative. But at least it bowed out with dignity.
Three-man
sketch troupe Pappy's take another stab at TV glory with BADULTS,
a tiresome flat-share sitcom that tries and fails to be a modern-day
Goodies by way of The Young Ones (Or Filthy, Rich &
Catflap: take your pick).
Despite
being broad, silly and eager to please, the gags are uninspired and
obvious, and the three of them seem to be playing the same noisy
idiot character, albeit pitched at slightly different volumes. Its
daffy spirit and intent are commendable, but no amount of good
intentions can compensate for such weak material.
