Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Sam Troughton, Joanna Vanderham, Anthony Head, Jenna-Louise Coleman, John Goodman, Mel Smith, Allan Corduner, Mike Brett, Oroh Angiama, Jane Asher, Jamie Crew, Trevor Edwards, Austin Hardiman, Tom Hughes, Cosimo Keita, Neville Malcolm, Wunmi Mosaku, Jay Phelps, Caroline Quentin, Miles Richardson, Chris Storr, Steve Williamson.
The time between the two wars that decimated Europe was one of constant change, no less in British society which started to embrace the Jazz phenomenon that Berlin had taken to its heart in the more liberal establishments of a city that was also at the forefront of radical change, not for the better though. Seen through the eyes of a black jazz band, Dancing on the Edge by Stephen Poliakoff, takes the viewers of this intriguing drama through 18 months of some of the most unequalled times in British history and the coming of Jazz to the clubs and hotels of London.
The first in a five part series, the first by Poliakoff for many years on British television, sees a near all- star cast showing the kind of music that even today is somewhat neglected in its appreciation for what it gave to the country in terms of entertainment and the threads and tales it weaves through the lives of people who encountered this sound that came from across the Atlantic one way and from the beautifully decadent bars of Berlin in the 1920’s from the other direction.
There doesn’t seem a moment in the opening half hour where the underlying tensions of class, privilege and race doesn’t seem to rear its head and unlike other dramas such as Downton Abbey, it makes no qualms of showing what was to be expected of those in lower positions in society, women and people of a different background were expected to behave. Should you show a spark of inventiveness, a glimmer of wanting to better yourself and make others stand out for what they could achieve, it was up against some pretty tough set of rules that people could find themselves fighting.
In this the band was exceptional and none so more as Chiwetel Ejiofor as Louis, the leader of the jazz group and the marvellous Angel Coulby were extraordinary. The graceful elegance that Mr. Ejiofor presented himself in this opening episode was superb and whilst he was in exceptional company on screen with one of the finest actors of his generation Sam Troughton portraying the future King Edward, Matthew Goode as the writer out to make Louis’ band the hot ticket in London and a welcome return to Mel Smith as the hotel owner, Mr. Ejiofor gave the epitome of jazz in cool, understated but elegant flowing measure. Alongside him as the society photographer was Janet Montgomery, who has already made a name for herself this year on television in Spies Of Warsaw, in this she oozes elegance, a great part for her to play.
It may be five episodes long and there will be those that shy away from the series because of its subject matter but if the opener was anything to go by, it should be a hell of a ride.
Dancing on the Edge continues tonight.
Ian D. Hall