SUMMER is traditionally a fallow period on television, particularly with regards to superior drama, so count yourselves lucky that this week you can embrace superb offerings from two of TV's finest writers.
Firstly, the multi-award-winning drama
The Street returns for a third run with one of its strongest episodes yet. Written by series creator Jimmy McGovern (Cracker, Hillsborough, The Lakes), it stars Bob Hoskins as Paddy, the well-liked landlord of the local pub and hub of the community. When Paddy bars the son of a powerful gangster (a menacing Liam Cunningham) for smoking in the gents, he staggers into a ghastly moral dilemma: either allow the gangster to bully him into relinquishing the ban or face a savage beating. For most people the choice would be straightforward, but Paddy is a man of principle. He's also a recovering alcoholic which, given his vocation, probably gives you some idea of his inner strength.
McGovern deliberately tethers his tale to classic Western tropes. It's High Noon at the boozer, Shane transplanted to the north-west of England. There are even a few licks of Sergio Leone-esque guitar on the soundtrack in case you missed the allusions. In less capable hands, this touching story of a barman doing what a barman's gotta do would be a load of predictable, sentimental old codswallop. But McGovern's ornery refusal to take the easy storytelling route ensures that it persistently veers into surprising territory. The ending may be a bit too tidy, but by that point you'll be so swept up by Paddy's last stand, you probably won't care.
Thematically, it's reminiscent of Ken Loach's recent movie Looking For Eric, a similarity heightened by the presence of its star, Steve Evets, playing a pragmatic football coach. But whereas Loach's surprisingly feelgood movie ended up as an unabashed celebration of community loyalty and – weirdly – vigilantism, McGovern opts for an altogether darker approach, leavened by the humour and humanity we've come to expect from him.
On the acting front, Hoskins is terrific playing a decent man struggling to do the right thing (a role he has essayed several times in the past, it must be said), and Timothy Spall endears in his traditional cameo as kind-hearted cabbie Eddie, the only character to appear in every one of these otherwise self-contained plays.
I was going to remark that you won't see a finer example of British drama on TV this week, but that was before I watched Freefall, a feature-length offering from renowned writer/director Dominic Savage. Like the aforementioned Loach and the late Alan Clarke, Savage is known for producing stringent, state-of-the-nation dramas, and this unflinching examination of credit-crunch Britain is no exception.
It follows the lives of three characters affected by the crisis in their own distinct ways. Aidan Gillen plays a high-flying yet emotionally bankrupt banking exec, Dominic Cooper an odious mortgage broker selling clients down the river, including an old school friend played by the increasingly notable Joseph Mawle, whose life unravels after signing up for a dream he can neither afford nor even comprehend. Cooper and Mawle in particular deliver exceptional performances.
Fuelled by righteous anger, Freefall is a polemical broadside designed to make you sick to your boots, with Savage's trademark handheld camera and semi-improvised, naturalistic dialogue lending it a pall of dreadful authenticity. It's an intense distillation of the greed, lies, selfishness and gullibility which fostered this recession, and although Savage's moralising and characterisation are slightly too broad at times (Gillen's avaricious automaton so excited by a business deal, he actually starts masturbating?), Freefall's compassion and acuity are to be applauded. It might even one day be regarded as an important snapshot of a terrible epoch, a la The Boys From the Blackstuff or Made in Britain. Highly recommended.
The Grey Expectations season continues with Liz Smith's Summer Cruise, a charming documentary in which – remarkably – the 87-year-old actress takes a holiday abroad for the first time. Filmmaker Daisy Asquith compiles an intimate portrait of a woman who, although beloved by millions, has lived alone for most of her life.
Smith admits to being emotionally scarred by the early death of her mother, and from being abandoned by her father and later her husband. And yet rather than wallow in self-pity, she manages to remain philosophical about her lot. There's something genuinely cheering about seeing this sweet, slightly daffy old lady being warmly greeted by an almost constant stream of well-wishers, and although nothing much happens – a trip to a Croatian chemists to buy some TCP is as breakneck as it gets – it's nice to spend some time in the company of this unassuming institution.
