This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 28 November 2015.
Capital:
Tuesday, BBC One
Arena:
Night and Day: Sunday, BBC
Four
Paul
Whitelaw
Like
a sinister live-action Pigeon Street, Capital unfolds
on a single London street populated by residents from various
economic and ethnic backgrounds. Modern Britain in microcosm.
One
morning they each receive a mysterious postcard through their
letterboxes, bearing the stark legend: “We Want What You Have.”
The sender of this subtly threatening missive had yet to be revealed
by the end of episode one of this intriguing new drama, but whoever
they are it's probably safe to assume that they're making a vigilante
stand against rocketing property prices in the area.
Adapted
by leading TV dramatist Peter Bowker from the best-selling novel by
John Lanchester, Capital makes no bones about its satirical
intent. Yes, it's occasionally heavy-handed – the closing montage
of our miserable protagonists scored to Hark! The Herald Angels
Sing! was straight out of an EastEnders Christmas
special – but that's surely intentional.
Credulity
may have been stretched by the closing shot of “We Want What You
Have” daubed in enormous letters along the length of the street,
but only if we approach Capital as an earnest piece of social
realism. It's not. It's a tragicomic polemic.
That
layer of discomfiting humour is typified by Detectorists
co-stars Toby Jones and Rachael Stirling as an investment banker and
his spendthrift wife. Owners of a multimillion pound property that
would've once been home to lower middle-class families, their
unhappy, sterile existence is a nightmare vision of success. Their
children are just another accessory, an achievement on a par with
their house extension.
Upon
being informed that he'd received less than half of his promised £1m
bonus, a furious Jones delivered the key, soul-shrivelling line:
“What use is £30,000 to anybody?!”
Neighbours
include Gemma Jones as an elderly widow with a terminal illness who's
witnessed decades of change first-hand, a Zimbabwean refugee living
under a false identity, a Polish builder tasked with building dream
homes for his employers, and a Muslim family with two adult sons, one
righteously devout, the other more measured in his beliefs.
However
it pans out, it's refreshing to see a primetime TV drama tackling
immigration, greed and social inequality in a witty, thoughtful,
timely manner. Despite being set in a city where, unlike anywhere
else in recession-hobbled Britain, property prices continue to soar,
its themes strike a chord nationwide.
A
harbinger of quality, that bobbing neon Arena bottle scored to
Eno's Another Green Day is the most weirdly moving ident in
British television history. Arena: Night and Day paid suitably
esoteric tribute to its record-breaking 40-year reign as our greatest
arts strand.
Introduced
by John Lloyd as “an evocation” of its irreverent, witty spirit,
this new film was a beautifully edited, dawn-to-dusk archive mosaic
starring such diverse luminaries as Orson Welles, Poly Sytrene,
Francis Bacon, Tony Hancock, Kendo Nagasaki, Gerald Scarfe, Yoko Ono,
Mel Brooks, Sister Wendy and Elvis Presley's personal cook.
Its
diversity was illustrated via highlights such as a massed ukulele recital at
a George Formby convention in Blackpool, Andy Warhol and William
Burroughs schmoozing at the infamous Chelsea Hotel, a politely
baffled Mick Jagger being introduced to every single member of a
Moroccan drumming troupe, and Jeffrey Bernard avoiding deadlines
while boozing with Tom Baker in Soho.
A
mere best-of compilation wouldn't have done justice to Arena's
unconventional vision. This charming celebration was the perfect
birthday gift.
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