Well, it set itself quite some task, but did it pull it off? At least The Shadow Line was highly entertaining, gripping and intriguing but trying to understand what was going on, what with the separate strands of plot was rather like trying to sort out a plate of spaghetti.
I suspect the modus operandi of writer, director and producer Hugo Blick was to throw as much as he could into the mix at the outset, then sort it all out as he went along. It's not an unusual way of going about plotting – Raymond Chandler did exactly that – but it is a somewhat risky strategy. In my view, Blick did finally pull it off – just. Given that he was dealing with extremely high-powered drug barons (Robert Pugh), extremely corrupt high-ranking police officers (Richard Lintern and Ace Bhatti) and one particular character who seemed to have unlimited resources at his disposal, yet no clear means of support (Stephen Rea), as well as – briefly – an obviously crooked civil servant, the denouement had to be something special. Anything less, any good cops rushing in and saving the day on the one hand, or any extreme and highly improbably scandal on the other would have seemed like a cop-out. Well, Blick did manage to carry it off, although his solution to the whole shooting match was less special than thoroughly intriguing. And if it was highly improbable, it was, at least, plausible.
There were several other strands of plot which needed to be resolved: the 'good' crook (Christopher Eccleston) whose wife had terminal Alzheimer's. the secret family of the amnesiac 'good' cop (who might well, we were led to believe at some points, previously have been a bad cop), a situation which had added poignancy in that he and his wife were desperate to have a baby together and had resorted to courses if IVF. Then there was the somewhat thuggish customs man (Sean Guilder), the ineffably effete, though highly dangerous gay crook (Freddie Fox), the ever-so-shadowy drug baron who had disappeared without trace and seemed to be the key to it all until he was bumped off (Anthony Sher), his girlfriend who, in one of the series' surprise twists, knifes him to death (Eve Best), the loose cannon nephew of the drug baron whose brutal murder set the whole thing rolling (Rafe Spall), and the retired police commander who likes nothing better than to muck around in boats and who, apparently, knew what was going on. All these strands also had to be woven into the fabric in a way which, although highly contrived, could not seem to be contrived.
Well, Blick did pull it off – just. Admittedly, he had to resort to tactics which, I have to say, came dangerously close to the hold theatrical hack of deus ex machine – one character turns out to be a baddie and Blick rather cheated on us by not giving us even the smallest hint that there was something rum about that character. One scene was especially clunky: the 'good' cop visits the retired police commander who decides to 'reveal all' and more or less delivers a comprehensive explanation as to what was going on. That, too, was a cheat. Also something of a cheat was how everything seemed to be in place when needed, and the really spooky one, softly spoken but thoroughly lethal, seemed quite omnipotent. Were things really like that for our secret services, whether active or, like him, renegade.
But what the hell: The Shadow Line was, as I say, highly entertaining, gripping and intriguing and far, far better, than to much of the post-modern cops and robbers series British television is apt to serve up. The cast was, in my view, more than competent, and it is gratifying that we can, at last, be shown a black copper (Chiwetel Ejiofor) whose casting doesn't at all hint at liberal guilt and positive discrimination but simply because he is a bloody good actor who made the part completely his own. It would have been hard to imagine any other actor in the part once you have seen the series.
I suspect the modus operandi of writer, director and producer Hugo Blick was to throw as much as he could into the mix at the outset, then sort it all out as he went along. It's not an unusual way of going about plotting – Raymond Chandler did exactly that – but it is a somewhat risky strategy. In my view, Blick did finally pull it off – just. Given that he was dealing with extremely high-powered drug barons (Robert Pugh), extremely corrupt high-ranking police officers (Richard Lintern and Ace Bhatti) and one particular character who seemed to have unlimited resources at his disposal, yet no clear means of support (Stephen Rea), as well as – briefly – an obviously crooked civil servant, the denouement had to be something special. Anything less, any good cops rushing in and saving the day on the one hand, or any extreme and highly improbably scandal on the other would have seemed like a cop-out. Well, Blick did manage to carry it off, although his solution to the whole shooting match was less special than thoroughly intriguing. And if it was highly improbable, it was, at least, plausible.
There were several other strands of plot which needed to be resolved: the 'good' crook (Christopher Eccleston) whose wife had terminal Alzheimer's. the secret family of the amnesiac 'good' cop (who might well, we were led to believe at some points, previously have been a bad cop), a situation which had added poignancy in that he and his wife were desperate to have a baby together and had resorted to courses if IVF. Then there was the somewhat thuggish customs man (Sean Guilder), the ineffably effete, though highly dangerous gay crook (Freddie Fox), the ever-so-shadowy drug baron who had disappeared without trace and seemed to be the key to it all until he was bumped off (Anthony Sher), his girlfriend who, in one of the series' surprise twists, knifes him to death (Eve Best), the loose cannon nephew of the drug baron whose brutal murder set the whole thing rolling (Rafe Spall), and the retired police commander who likes nothing better than to muck around in boats and who, apparently, knew what was going on. All these strands also had to be woven into the fabric in a way which, although highly contrived, could not seem to be contrived.
Well, Blick did pull it off – just. Admittedly, he had to resort to tactics which, I have to say, came dangerously close to the hold theatrical hack of deus ex machine – one character turns out to be a baddie and Blick rather cheated on us by not giving us even the smallest hint that there was something rum about that character. One scene was especially clunky: the 'good' cop visits the retired police commander who decides to 'reveal all' and more or less delivers a comprehensive explanation as to what was going on. That, too, was a cheat. Also something of a cheat was how everything seemed to be in place when needed, and the really spooky one, softly spoken but thoroughly lethal, seemed quite omnipotent. Were things really like that for our secret services, whether active or, like him, renegade.
But what the hell: The Shadow Line was, as I say, highly entertaining, gripping and intriguing and far, far better, than to much of the post-modern cops and robbers series British television is apt to serve up. The cast was, in my view, more than competent, and it is gratifying that we can, at last, be shown a black copper (Chiwetel Ejiofor) whose casting doesn't at all hint at liberal guilt and positive discrimination but simply because he is a bloody good actor who made the part completely his own. It would have been hard to imagine any other actor in the part once you have seen the series.