John Byrne takes in the latest from Marvel, a new drama from the Beeb, a returning procedural about a cop with total recall, and the TV debut of a brilliant Irish documentary.
Reviewed: Marvel's Agent Carter (Sunday, FOX); The Outcast (Sunday, BBC One); Unforgettable (Friday, Sky Living); The Irish Pub (Monday, RTÉ One)
For several weeks Fox have been plugging the life out of Marvel's Agent Carter, and the Captain America spin-off finally arrived last Sunday, with Hayley Atwell reviving her movie role as the eponymous spy just as my enthusiasm was about to wane. But for once the hype was justified as the opening episode was a like a Noir-ish version of Nikita, the recent Maggie Q spy vehicle. But much better.
Atwell is impressive in the lead role, as she brings quite a charismatic presence to a character that could be rendered one-dimensional in the wrong hands. As well as being physically up for the action element (or at least the camera crew were up for it), she can lift a scene with just a stare or walk. In one scene she pulled it off with a dance. I know little of her ambitions, but this lady clearly has talent, and that's always an asset.
It's a typical piece of modern revisionism, placing a feisty, affirmative woman in a post-WWII male-dominated environment. A female spy? The lads at the American government's Strategic Scientific Reserve haven't laughed so much since prohibition ended. A woman's place in the spy world of 1946 revolves around answering the phone or filing reports. Leave the heavy filing to the men. Meanwhile, Carter strikes out, incognito.
Atwell's as up for this as her character and knows this is an opportunity to raise her career up a notch or two. As a bonus, she hits if off on-camera with former Broadchurch cast member James D'Arcy, who plays her sidekick, English butler Jarvis. The chemistry is both immediate and convincing.
If they can keep up the relentless pace, these well-defined characters and the show's superb period style will do the rest. If you're not a fan of comics, please note that, although it bears the Marvel moniker, this is as a far removed from spandexed superhero action as it gets. Captain America made the odd brief appearance at the scene-setting start, but make no mistake - this show is Agent Carter's. It does exactly what it says on the trailer and is an absolute hoot.
It's been a mixed 2015 so far for BBC 1 in terms of that key Sunday night drama slot, varying from yet another successful run of the well-worn Call the Midwife, the instant hit that was the Poldark reboot, and the rather peculiar flop that was Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. So after something old, something new and something borrowed, something blue arrived in the shape of The Outcast.
Adapted by Sadie Jones from her own hit novel, this story makes for pretty grim viewing, so much so I wondered why John Simm wasn't in the cast. He would've been ideal as the father of young Lewis Aldridge, whose childhood was shattered after his mother drowned when they were out together on a picnic by a river. Greg Wise did a fine job as Gilbert Aldridge, the father who had returned from WWII with few parenting skills, but Lewis started to really go off the rails when Dad found a new Mrs Aldridge.
It was grim and quite relentless, as a deeply-wounded boy became a troubled teenager. On the plus side, Finn Elliot was superb as the younger Lewis and George MacKay put a lot into the role as his life descended from boarding-school pupil to prison inmate. As ever with these two-parters, much depends on what happens next Sunday as the story plays out.
I haven't read Jones' novel, so I'll be glued to the finale, oblivious to Lewis' future. But as someone who suddenly lost a parent at a very young age, I found The Outcast depressingly familiar. Such scars run very deep and the story is – so far – very believable and realistic.
Television, though, is more often an escape from reality, and the classic whodunit has always been a staple of the medium. But procedurals can get a raw deal, and although hugely popular they're considered to be terminally uncool. Certainly, they can be extremely predictable – there's a killing at the beginning and an arrested perp at the end – and can be cheesier than a 1970s' game show. But when they're done well, they can make for great telly. Monk, for example.
Back for a third season, despite being cancelled at the end of its second, Unforgettable (Friday, Sky Living) stars Australian actress Poppy Montgomery as detective Carrie Wells, a New York cop who has hyperthymesia, which means she has a remarkably detailed memory. That obviously comes in very handy when solving murders.
Ably supported by Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck) as Lieutenant Al Burns, Wells' former lover, and Jane Curtin (Third Rock from the Sun) as Doctor Joanne Webster, Chief Medical Examiner of New York, Unforgettable fits effortlessly into the formula for such shows: murder (check), quirky crime-solver (check), trusty partner (check), pal in the business (check). There's even the long-term story arc here, as Wells seeks out one memory that she can't recall: the day her sister was murdered.
Season three's opening episode saw Wells go undercover at a counterfeiting ring to find a killer. True to form, there's a bit of danger here and there for the main players, but in the end Carrie gets the killer, the gang regroup and can look forward to doing it all over again next week.
Unforgettable will never get any awards for breaking new ground but it is fun, and doesn't try to be anything it's not. It's certainly more enjoyable than the second season of True Detective, which so far has been all smoke and mirrors.
Finally, The Irish Pub got an airing on RTÉ One on Monday, and it was irresistible. If you haven't seen Alex Fegan's 2013 documentary about that very Irish institution, the local boozer, you really ought to make amends. It's so invigorating.
Director Fegan is a genuinely talented documentary-maker and – unlike the modern tendency to make the documentary-maker a star – he leaves an invisible mark by being as unobtrusive as possible, leaving his camera work and subject matter to combine with great effect.
The cast of publicans and their customers tell their stories in their own time and inimitable style. Paul Gartlan of Gartlan’s in Kingscourt, Cavan is the big scene-stealer, but ultimately it's refreshing to see an Ireland that isn't dominated by current British and American cultural and consumerist trends. No one in The Irish Pub is interested in Instagram accounts, cares what the Kardashians are doing, or calls their mammy 'mum' or 'mom'. They're too busy living their own lives, at their own pace, and sometimes in their local. Which is what makes this documentary such a rewarding, uniquely Irish experience.
John Byrne
