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KALEIDOSCOPE In View - The Month in Television

OCTOBER 1996

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

by Matthew Newton

It is perhaps inappropriate to comment on the lack of home-grown science-fiction or fantasy programmes on British television in a year that has seen the return of Doctor Who (in a manner of speaking) and the commissioning of a third series of Bugs. Or maybe not, given these examples, since Doctor Who was American and Bugs is just Bugs.

However, at a time when television schedules are all too often dominated by game shows, Noel Edmonds and dramas about policemen/doctors/lawyers/undertakers with personal problems and a vintage car, it is refreshing to come across a programme that is truly different. One programme that can be certainly be described as different finished its run during October: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Neverwhere told the story of Richard Mayhew, a young Scotsman living in London who on stopping to help a girl in the street found himself drawn into a strange alternative version of London. In order to return home, Richard was forced to help the girl, who rejoiced in the name Door, in her quest to discover who killed her family. However, a simple synopsis like this cannot do justice to the show, as its plot is not going to win any awards for innovation; it is in its style and execution that the series scores.

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Neverwhere is that it felt more like Doctor Who than Doctor Who did. This is perhaps mainly due its use of videotape rather than film (and in a manner considerably better than a lot of eighties Doctor Who due to a properly atmospheric use of lighting), but also by showing that a well-written script is the key component of a series that can only be enhanced by production values. Despite great performances by a cast who appeared to be having fun, the script was clearly the star of Neverwhere; introducing us to a range of mostly outrageous characters who were given truly sparkling dialogue. All this is not to criticise production values; they were clearly adequate for a series that knew its limitations in this respect, but they were still able to show us an eerily different version of our capital.

Another similarity with Doctor Who was perhaps in the casting of Neverwhere, as it featured a number of well-known actors (Freddie Jones, Peter Capaldi, Clive Russell, Hywel Bennett) in the sort of roles that they would not often get the chance to play. Special mention should perhaps go to Russell and Bennett who played the villains of the piece and managed to both threatening and hilariously funny, although in this they were aided of course by Gaiman's script. 1996 has been a vintage year for Bennett villains with Neverwhere following only months after his equally nasty part in Karaoke. It is interesting how an actor best known as a pleasant leading man in the seventies has now cornered the market in psychopaths.

The ending of Neverwhere was clearly left open to allow for a second series. Ratings have apparently not been encouraging so it would appear that the show was perhaps a touch too different for much of the viewing public. However it was different, and succeeded in being very entertaining as well, and for this I applaud the BBC.

Of course, I am not arguing all BBC drama should be in the vein of Neverwhere - well, it wouldn't be very different if it was, and of course we are always going to see much conventional drama. It is however encouraging to stumble upon a more conventional piece of drama that is truly excellent, namely Crossing the Floor. This one-off drama opened a somewhat truncated Screen One season in October, and was the third in Guy Jenkin's series of political dramas (following A Very Open Prison and Lord of Misrule).

With the majority of the beleaguered Conservative Government down to just one, the Home Secretary David Hanratty, played by Tom Wilkinson, crosses the floor to join the Labour Party. This triggers a vote of no-confidence and a general election.

As with Neverwhere, the plot was very simple, and Crossing the Floor featured many devices familiar from other political dramas, such as the MP who is having an affair with his researcher and the nosy investigative journalist. However, also like Neverwhere, Crossing the Floor was gifted with an excellent script, which mischievously poked fun at the activities of politicians.

Much humour arose from two characters whose origins were clear - the ineffectual Prime Minister (played by James Fleet), who is not given a name throughout the whole film - and Tom Peel, the smarmy leader of the Labour Party (Neil Pearson). One particular classic moment concerning the latter character was the Labour Party Political Broadcast seen during the film, which featured Peel's beaming face appearing in unexpected places.

However, despite the excellent supporting cast (with Fleet and Pearson joined by Helen Baxendale and Clive Russell amongst others), this was very much Wilkinson's show. Hanratty is something of an anti-hero (although perhaps not as much as Francis Urquhart), so it was a combination of writing and playing that was able to make the character sympathetic, particularly towards the end of the film.

I am never normally keen on single dramas, much preferring continuing series, and I had missed A Very Open Prison. I watched Crossing the Floor out of impulse and was thoroughly taken with it. The film had many laugh out loud moments (particularly one involving reference to the Nolan Sisters) and managed to be both clever, pointed and eventually moving. Given the ending of Crossing the Floor I don't imagine that there will be another film in the series in the near future. However, should truth follow fiction in the impending general election in the real world, and Jenkin is provided with some new material, I do hope that this isn't the last we hear of David Hanratty and his colleagues...

Kaleidoscope - The Classic Television Organisation

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