Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: David Tennant, Toby Kebbell, Sophie Okonedo, Ashley Jensen, Jeany Spark, Tony Gardner, Katy Dickie, Brid Brennan, Monica Dolan, Anton Lesser, Roy Marsden, Alistair Petrie, Patrick Ryecart, Stephen Wright, Gus Barry.
David Tennant doesn’t seem to have been off the television during 2013 and thank heavens for that. Not content with playing the lead role as Detective Alec Hardy in the phenomenal Broadchurch, Aiden Hoynes in The Politician’s Husband, the dashing Jean-Francois Mercier in the acclaimed Spies of Warsaw and a little matter of reprising his role as the tenth incarnation of The Doctor for the 50th Anniversary of the much beloved Science Fiction programme, let alone his work on stage for the R.S.C, it’s fair to say that the Scottish actor has never seemed busier.
The Escape Artist, the three part series dealing with murder and the theatre of court room drama, only confirms just what a versatile actor David Tennant is. However the enjoyment of the programme was not solely down to the man who made audiences grip the edge of their seats for a couple of months as he investigated the murder of a young Dorset lad, The Escape Artist drew on the many strengths of the ensemble piece and in some cases actors that the man has had the pleasure of working with before. None so more as the excellent Sophie Okonedo who played fellow council Maggie Gardner to David Tennant’s Will Burton and the sublime Anton Lesser as Richard Mayfield Q.C.
However it was the relationship between council and accused that set the tone for this fascinating insight into criminality and the differences in procedure between English and Scottish law, the differences that allow a man so obviously guilty to walk free and that of a man who could exact revenge in the most perfect and seemingly ambiguous way and be bought to trail with his reputation in tatters. It is the way the three-part series was written that drew the audience in and instead of in the end a conclusion that would see law prevail, the drama was played out against the law of the jungle, the might of two men’s brains, both capable of evil and unbridled cunning to varying degrees, that won through in the end.
The dynamic between David Tennant and Tony Kebbell as the murderous Liam Foyle was enthralling and whilst not exactly the yin/yang effect of criminal behaviour, the slow merging of two distinct worlds was worth watching and a very enjoyable insight into the murky drama filled world of law. David Tennant continues to be one of the most popular actors of his generation and it’s not hard to see why.
Ian D. Hall