Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Jacqueline Bisset, 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 penultimate episode of Dancing on the Edge, Stephen Poloakoff’s jazz masterpiece, was turned up another notch as the police started to close the wrongly cast net on Louis Lester and in an episode in which echoed the rise and fall of the Louis Lester band, the heat and the mood was increased and given just that little extra spice in jazz movements.
Elsewhere little empires were being developed and created and the relationship between Matthew Goode’s Stanley Mitchell and those he was forever trying to impress was heading for new heights, of which more than surely will see come crashing down in the final episode as, like Europe in the 1930s was tying itself up in knots and on the verge of complete and utter irreversible breakdown, so too do the pieces seem to falling apart in the lives of all concerned with the band.
What has become prevalent is the increasing mood of underlying racism and the band almost becoming performing parodies of themselves as they find their services are required to play for a Mason’s meeting, Stephen Poloakoff’s script mirroring the unreasonable and unbearable attitude that was creeping into parts of British society at the time. The unnerving sound of Jane Asher declaring that they had to change rooms twice because they were too near Jewish people is still a shocking statement even after 80 years and is certainly powerful and evocative writing.
What has been tantalising to watch is how the characters have grown over the four episodes broadcast so far. Not only are the four main actors, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery and Joanna Vanderham simply oozing acting class as they portray the lives of those caught up in the heady days of British Jazz, some of the more minor characters have also unleashed themselves from the sidelines and once more resembled the actors that a generation of television viewers before the advent of the 21st century would recognise. Jacqueline Bisset is dominant in her role, a performance that she seems to relish in and John Goodman and Mel Smith also have retained that unique quiet and unreserved wit that made them household names over the years.
As the noose around Louis Lester starts to become tighter, will the real killer be caught? Whichever way this drama is resolved; it has been a distinctive pleasure to watch.
Dancing on the Edge concludes next Monday on B.B.C. 2.
Ian D. Hall