A Very English Scandal. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Alex Jennings, Patricia Thorpe, Naomi Battrick, Jason Watkins, Alice Orr-Ewing, Monica Dolan, Blake Harrison, Michelle Dotrice, Eve Myles, David Bamber, Jonathan Hyde, Rhys Parry-Jones, Dyfan Dwfor, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Susan Woolridge, Peter Gardiner, Michael Culkin, Paul Freeman, Adrian Scarborough.

The Establishment has a way of winning every war it comes across, no scandal it seems is big enough to truly able to topple a Government, no outrage large enough to permanently harm the elected body that are there to supposedly look after the nation, its interests and its people; it is not the done thing and no matter who gets hurt, or whose reputation comes under fire, the party, the machine, the leadership continues, even if the face changes.

Britain’s alleged glorious past is always up for debate, its leaders scrutinised, inspected for the flaws that they exhibited during their life time, their conduct in office magnified, maligned and sometimes maltreated and yet for some the investigation into the their lives did not go far enough for some, and for others, the chill you can feel in hindsight is enough to make you realise that whilst every person is fallible, some are down right dangerous and come close to bringing the Establishment down.

In what is quite a departure for Hugh Grant, he takes on the mantle of a man to whom was accused of attempted murder in the life of Jeremy Thorpe and his relationship with Norman Scott. It is given the 21st Century treatment of baring a life for television and what could be argued as setting the story straight, bringing to task the wheels that were set in motion when the then leader of the Liberal Party decided that Mr. Scott was a liability to his life, and certainly his political ambitions.

The three-part series, directed by Stephen Frears, sees Hugh Grant at possibly his ingenious best, away from the caricature of the film idol and 90s exaggeration that had been built up, arguably undeservedly, perform in a role that he should, alongside Ben Whishaw as Norman Scott, be nominated for at the very least, a B.A.F.T.A.

With a great supporting cast, including Alex Jennings as Peter Bessell M.P., Adrian Scarborough as George Carman, Blake Harrison as Andrew Newton and a marvellous addition in Eve Myles as Gwen Parry-Jones the question of guilt is never far from the thoughts of the audience’s minds; the question of innocence far from the minds of those to whom lived through the events that unfolded and the remarkable decision of the jury.

Britain has changed a lot in the last forty years, in many respects a more open, more respectful and more tolerant nation, one though that at its heart, despite laws and oppression being challenged and changed, still perhaps sees murder as a viable tool to rid yourself of the opposition, no matter what form it takes.

A perhaps unsettling drama, but one told with unnerving accuracy, A Very English Scandal is a perfect representation of the times we have not left that far behind.

 Ian D. Hall