Bingewatch.
It’s the word of the moment and the most fun you
can have in front of a television without a subsequent feeling of moral
emptiness. But it’s a term that seems to be reserved for modern series and, in
particular, modern US series. Whilst there is no doubt that contemporary
classics such as Breaking Bad and House of Cards reward being watched in one
continuous stretch (indeed, were commissioned with this in mind) there are also
many great British dramas from decades past that you can immerse yourself in. House
of Cards was, after all, a brilliant Brit production originally. Here are ten
more of the best classic dramas, all readily available on DVD, for you to get
your retro on to.
10
Whilst both shows feature a group of formidable women
incarcerated behind bars ‘Orange is the New Black’ is definitely NOT the new
‘Tenko’. This bunch of banged-up females are prisoners of war, held by the
Japanese during World War II and, while there are the occasional moments of
gallows humour, the emphasis is on heavyweight drama rather than sassy comedy.
Much like another wartime series higher up this list the characters are well
drawn and varied, ranging from the young and naïve to the pragmatic and
practical and each has their own suspenseful and poignant journey to undergo
throughout the show’s three series. Beware of becoming too attached to any of
these ladies, however, as even the main characters aren’t safe from the
soldier’s bullet. But those soldiers are characters too, in particular Bert
Kwouk’s Major Yamauchi, an honourable military man who fervently believes that
he is doing the right thing.
9
Written by Jimmy McGovern, one of the most uncompromising
screenwriters around, ‘Cracker’ is a crime drama that raises the bar for
maverick telly detectives. Fitz (a breath-taking turn from alternative comedian
Robbie Coltrane) is an odious individual – an alcoholic narcissist who makes
Gregory House look like Bertie Wooster. Fortunately for the viewer he is also
an incredibly charismatic and brilliant criminal psychologist whose similarity
to many of the show’s perps enables him to get right inside their heads. By
focusing on the inner workings of the murderer’s mind McGovern crafted a
darker, more disturbing police series than anything that had gone before, as well
as providing a springboard for the likes of Christopher Eccleston and Ricky
Tomlinson to become the television A-listers they now are.
8
Tomas Alfredson’s big screen version may have looked the
part and nobody disputes Gary Oldman’s acting chops, but there is only one
George Smiley and that is the legendary Sir Alec Guinness in this elegant TV
adaptation of John le Carre’s classic game of ‘whack-a-mole.’ The pace may be
glacial and the ‘action’ consist largely of middle aged men trading codenames
in darkened rooms, but it is drenched in the faded grandeur of a shadowy secret
service that feels so authentic you can almost smell the tweed and cigars.
Diving into its seven episodes is like submerging yourself in a gloriously suffocating
subterranean world.
7
Funny how many of these series have been plundered by
Tinseltown for (generally inferior) cinematic remakes. Here’s another. It’s
hard not to glamourise drug use onscreen as otherwise great films like
Trainspotting demonstrate; ‘Traffik’ gets it right by taking a very measured,
almost documentary approach. An examination of all sides of the heroin trade
from production to distribution to the end user the series is intelligent,
realistic and forensic in its detail, yet still manages to pack an incredible
emotional punch due to Julia Ormond’s entirely convincing portrayal of a middle
class junkie and a stunning chase sequence through the streets of Hamburg that
culminates in a truly explosive set piece.
6
As one of the most gripping TV thrillers ever made it was
inevitable that ‘Edge of Darkness’ would be watered down into a Hollywood
friendly soup sooner or later. In a career defining role Bob Peck plays copper
Ronald Craven whose daughter, an environmental activist, is gunned down before
his eyes. His quest to uncover the truth leads him into all manner of sinister
cover-ups that go to the top of the political tree not just in Whitehall but
Washington as well. Originally broadcast in 1985 ‘Edge of Darkness’ captures
the horrifying immediacy of potential nuclear war like no other drama and if
its cold war shenanigans do tend to date it rather, the intensely human story
of a man seeking the truth about his child’s murder is absolutely timeless.
5
Those who claim that HBO invented sophisticated,
psychologically acute drama should devour Dennis Potter’s six part opus
forthwith. Michael Gambon gives the performance of his career as the tellingly
named Phillip Marlowe, a crime writer hospitalised with a chronic skin disease.
The staggeringly audacious structure interweaves the real-time hospital scenes
with the imagined world of his novel and flashbacks to his own youth. It
quickly becomes clear how closely inter-related the three strands are and how
the exciting conclusion of Marlowe’s novel mirrors the impending mental
collapse of its author. If this all sounds frightfully challenging then that’s
because it is, but, this being Dennis Potter, its enlivened by some stunning
musical routines, lashings of bawdy wit and the kind of imagery that stays
imprinted on your retina forever. Flawlessly written and acted this is the
‘Ulysses’ of British TV drama.
4
From ‘Twin Peaks’ to ‘Lost’ and ‘Life on Mars’ we love a
cryptic drama series that teases us with hidden meanings, freaky symbolism and
impenetrable plot twists. ‘The Prisoner’ is the daddy of these types of shows
and still the biggest basket case of the lot. Patrick McGoohan (whose warped
brainchild this evergreen slice of head-fuckery is) plays a nameless spy who
quits, is drugged and then wakes up in a quintessentially 1960s day-glo village
where everybody is a number (he becomes Number 6) and the big boss keeps
changing from week to week. There are basically two kinds of ‘Prisoner’
storyline: Number 6 tries to escape the Village (he fails, usually crushed by a
giant inflatable ball) or his tormentors employ ever more outlandish schemes to
get him to spill his guts (they fail). But within these parameters lies some of
the most bizarrely psychedelic imagery ever witnessed on mainstream television.
And just to round off the madness the order in which the episodes appeared in
transmission (and are presented on the DVD) is completely different to the
order McGoohan intended them to be shown. Be seeing you.
3
Let’s just look at that cast list shall we: Derek Jacobi,
Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, Sian Phillips. Do I really need to
say any more? Oh alright then. Long before HBO’s sex and sandals vision of ‘Rome’
came this outrageously enjoyable romp through the lives (and messy, messy
deaths) of the Roman Emperors. Seen through the eyes of the eponymous
stuttering ‘idiot’ (Jacobi) it plays out like Coronation Street in togas – only
better. You might think that a prestige adaptation of a classic novel would be
stiff, pompous and inaccessible but not a bit of it. The stellar cast are
clearly loving every second (although you’ll believe Brian Blessed can do
subtle), the script is simultaneously highly articulate and deeply irreverent
(and very funny) and the scandal, conflict and naughtiness is non-stop.
‘Quinitilius Virus, where are my eagles?’
2
The first thing you need to know about ‘Secret Army’ is that
its narrative of Belgian evasion lines rescuing British airmen in World War II
directly inspired the goonish innuendo-fest sitcom ‘Allo, Allo!’ But don’t run
away just yet because, although it does have its fair share of stagey melodrama
and ludicrous plotlines, ‘Secret Army’ actually lends itself perfectly to a
right good bingewatch. Over the course of its three series there is credible
character development (including some of the most three dimensional German
officers depicted onscreen), high profile and genuinely shocking deaths of
beloved characters (‘Game of Thrones’ eat your white-walking heart out!),
profound questions about the nature of good and evil dressed up as rollicking
adventure yarns and a steady increase of palpable suspense and tension which
leaves you desperate to know how it all ends. And the answer is, not how you
would expect it to.
1
Yes, it is a children’s show but so is ‘Doctor Who’ and
nobody shies away from bestowing glittering plaudits on the Gallifreyan
gadabout so it’s about time Steven Moffat’s other great project got the
recognition it deserves. No other TV drama, adult or otherwise, has blended the
effervescent wit of the finest screwball comedies with storylines so jaw
dropping harrowing it’s amazing they were broadcast on a Sunday teatime
(seriously, for a show aimed primarily at young teens the body count is
astonishing). ‘Press Gang’ is set in a school newspaper office with Spike and
Lynda (Dexter Fletcher and Julia Sawalha) as the bickering Tracy-Hepburn
lovebirds and an assortment of nerds and oddballs chasing the juiciest stories
whilst dealing with all manner of angst and issues. Aside from the sparkling
central duo the series’ greatest creation is Paul Reynolds’ Colin, the paper’s
wannabe yuppie financial guru whose money making schemes and general Thacherite
greed result in some inspired farce. ‘Press Gang’ ran for five series and
remained remarkably consistent throughout. Particularly impressive were the
bold framing devices used to create drama and suspense in the darkest episodes
– the two part ‘Last Word’ is simply one of the tensest pieces of television
ever broadcast. Never underestimate a good kids show, and ‘Press Gang’ is the
greatest kids show of them all.
