Picture from Channel 4.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Mullan, Anastasia Hille, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls, Richard E. Grant, Demosthenes Chrysan, Dragos Bucar, Shaban Arifi, Julia Ragnarsson, Danny Sapani, Nigel Lindsay, Osy Ikhile, Sidney Kean, Lisa McAllister, Catherine Winter, Amarildo Kola.
Richard Cotton’s acclaimed television drama, The Fear, reached its final destructive conclusion whilst retaining the excellent writing from beginning to end and not entertaining the idea of slipping into the realms of outlandish fantasy. It is for this that the writer and cast must be applauded fully for giving a distinctive and sensitive portrayal of Alzheimer’s Disease and yet also giving a huge shot in the arm to a hopeful resurgence in the British Noir art form.
By far the most impressive programme on Channel Four this year, The Fear finished in the only way possible for Brighton gangster turned businessman Richie Beckett and the overall question of whether when a man knows he is on the way out, through whatever disease that is attacking him, is it better to face death in the face or let a family member save you from yourself and take your life for you.
This final question brought Richie’s wife, portrayed by a fantastic Anastasia Hille, firmly into the frame as she takes it upon herself to be the one to pull the trigger and stop the grieving but blood thirsty Kosovan family from taking the final act of vengeance on the former head of Brighton’s underworld.
The Fear has been a consistent and incredible piece of television and one of the reasons is the way that the lessons that were first observed in British Noir have been lovingly captured and shown that no matter what this is genre that really deserves to be revisited time and time again. It is also a memory test and the clue from the opening moments of the story, that will also give you a disturbing recollection of its significance.
A brilliant story that not only encompasses the undesirable nature of mankind but also a much neglected look at a disease that is just a frightening prospect to those living with it as well as those on the sidelines watching the gradual disintegration of a human being and their reason to be.
Ian D. Hall