http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/tv-and-radio/tv-preview-in-the-flesh-the-lady-vanishes-the-challenger-1-2841220
IN
THE FLESH
Sunday,
BBC3, 10pm
THE
LADY VANISHES
Sunday,
BBC1, 8:30pm
THE
CHALLENGER
Monday,
BBC2, 9pm
Paul
Whitelaw
Q:
What's the best way of surviving an onslaught of zombies? A: Refusing
to engage with popular culture on any level.
More
ubiquitous and malignant than even Sue Perkins, zombies are bloody
everywhere at the moment. From The Walking Dead to Warm
Bodies and practically every piece of modern horror fiction in
between, the brain-guzzling undead are second only to vampires in an
over-saturated market of zeitgeisty ghouls. So you'd be forgiven for
rolling your eyes in anticipation of BBC3's new zombie drama IN
THE FLESH. But wait! This one comes with a novel twist! And it's
a rather good one.
Taking
place in the aftermath of a zombie uprising, it depicts a world in
which, having being cured of their nasty affliction, reanimated
corpses attempt to reintegrate into society via a government-backed
rehabilitation scheme. The focus rests on Kieren Walker (his surname
an in-joke for zombie fans), a wan young sufferer of Partially
Deceased Syndrome who's tormented by harrowing flashbacks to his
untreated past.
After
being released from hospital – where patients partake in support
groups and restore their human appearance with contact lenses and
flesh-tone mousse – Kieren returns to the bosom of his family in a
northern village riven with anti-undead feeling. Given that zombies
almost always function as an allegory for something or other, here
they're depicted as victims of knee-jerk prejudice, epitomised by Rev
star Steve Evets' hate-spewing militia, the Human Volunteer Force
(basically the EDL/BNP with guns). Naturally, they're as rabidly
single-minded in their crusade as the zombies were in theirs.
If
this sounds heavy-handed, writer Dominic Mitchell actually succeeds
in exploring his premise with bleak wit and intelligence. A
satirical social-realist take on familiar horror territory, it echoes
the recently departed Being Human in its efforts to explore
the hardships of unfairly vilified “monsters” living on the
margins of society. Its ruminations on bigotry also recall HBO's
vampire romp True Blood, although stylistically they couldn't
be more different.
Bathed
in mistily desaturated colours, its persuasive depiction of a world gone
mad is anchored by a sensitive performance from Luke Newberry as
Kieran, whose fake tan and forlorn demeanour suggest a human
mannequin at a closing down sale. Ricky Tomlinson also turns up as a
nosy neighbour, thus adding to the general Ken Loach via George A.
Romero feel. Watching Jim Royle coping with a thwarted zombie
apocalypse is pleasingly absurd and disturbing.
Despite
being gilded in the moody emo trappings that every youth-skewed
fantasy drama must come with these days, In The Flesh rarely
feels earnest or corny. My only major qualm is that, by referring to
his zombies as “rotters” throughout, Mitchell makes his
characters sound like sub-par Terry-Thomas impersonators whenever
they're mentioned. Mind you, they are a bunch of cads, that zombie
shower.
Why
bother remaking a Hitchcock classic? It's not as if you'll feasibly
improve upon his work. Although its based on an obscure novel, THE
LADY VANISHES is to all intents and purposes a Hitch original.
And yet the BBC's latest adaptation surgically removes everything
that was good about his 1938 film – mainly the droll humour,
amusing characters and sparkling sense of playfulness – and turns
it into the sort of dull, bland, turgid thriller he would never have
dallied with in his prime. It's like painting over the Mona Lisa with
a pencil sketch of Emma Bunton.
As
superfluous as Hammer's failed 1978 remake, it takes the bare bones
of this familiar story – spoiled young socialite searches for a
missing spinster on a train full of people who appear to be
conspiring against her – and locks them into a dreary parable about
British xenophobia and entitlement. Tuppence Middleton and Tom Hughes
– recently seen to greater effect as the psychotic Julian in
Dancing On The Edge – make for a pair of colourless, pretty
leads, while the surrounding glut of character actors deliver the
sort of “Who's just blown off in my pantry?” performances
familiar from countless make-weight Agatha Christie adaptations.
Better
by far is THE CHALLENGER, a solid co-production between BBC
Scotland, the Science Channel and the Open University in which the
magnificent William Hurt stars as Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Richard Feynman. Tracing his determined quest to uncover the truth
behind the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster, it's a classic
David versus Goliath tale in which our irreverent, dishevelled hero
takes on the stonewalling mendacity of the authorities who
desperately tried to evade responsibility for this tragedy.
A
thorn in the side of the Presidential Commission tasked with
investigating its causes, Feynman is a tenaciously independent spirit
who refuses to accept the pussyfooting excuses offered in NASA's
defence. And thanks to his tireless studies, he eventually helped to
make the space programme safer.
It
would be very easy for a story of this nature to descend into a
quagmire of Hollywood cheese. And yet despite a couple of hokey
eureka moments, The Challenger tackles its fascinating subject
matter with a satisfying degree of control and charm. And Hurt's wry,
understated, entirely believable performance is an absolute delight.
As far as studies of ethical and political dilemmas in which
brilliant boffins investigate engineering data are concerned, it's a
lot more compelling than most.
No comments:
Post a Comment