Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Olivia Colman, David Thewlis, Kate O’ Flynn, Dipo Ola, Samuel Anderson, Felicity Montagu, David Hayman, Maanuv Thiara, Daniel Rigby, Connie Kiss Mee, Nimisha Odedra, Hayley Carmichael, Lolly Jones, Souad Faress, Tina Harris, Jay Phelps, Garry Cooper, Aaron Neil, Bruce Lester-Johnson, Ali Azhar, Craig Blake, Joanna Burnett, Jason Williamson, John Mackay.
To present the act of murder as anything other than a stain on the face of humanity is to arguably lower the crime to one of a sideshow, of a circus in which the jury and victims are relegated to that of an audience, the smell of injustice clinging to the hotdogs and candyfloss on sale as the executioner, the killer dons clown makeup and entertains the crowd whilst distracting all by playing the fool.
However, the physical interpretation of the events that lead to the loss of another’s life is one that is ultimately played out for the cameras, the nation holds its breath and is astounded by the daring and the performance of the one accused, leading only to excited talk and gossip as they leave the arena, fulfilled and relieved in the presence of knowledge that they would never fall for such a sleight of hand, of being the victim.
In such belief it is easy to understand why as a society we have become more immune to the danger of death, we close our eyes and think of the loved ones that have been taken, but something inside us wishes to be ever more informed, to drink in the event over our cereals and boiled eggs, to splutter over our morning tea; it is why the four-part series starring the redoubtable Olivia Colman and David Thewlis, Landscapers, is one of the most peculiar, damning, and absorbing representations of murders, convictions and trials in British history and one that presents itself in the finest traditions of Film Noir.
Written and created by Ed Sinclair and Will Sharpe, Landscapers doesn’t just delve into the murders of Patricia and William Wycherley, it exposes the hole into which deceit, greed, and perhaps manipulated madness can be found at the heart of what can only be considered a brutal act of bizarre resourcefulness.
The case is not up for debate within the context of the four part series, barely skirting round the details of the event except for those that ultimately damned the pair in the eyes of the jury and the nation; instead it places the double murder and the way in which Susan and Christopher Edwards avoided detection for 15 years into the frame of fantasy, of the many themes encompassed by Film Noir, dream sequences, fleshed out images that only the protagonists can see and defend, the use of fiction to drive the point home, and by doing so, and despite the abhorrent act, it becomes a spectacle, a viewing sensation.
This sensation is not of the clowns in a three ringed circus, this is the epitome of how the system is incapable of truly bringing many people to justice, that sometimes it is down purely to luck, a spilled moment, a secret shared with a blabbermouth, that brings a murderer to the dock and justice dispensed.
Landscapers is not attempting to make heroes of the Edwards, nor indeed does it paint them as anything other than part-time fantasists living in the comfort of their make-believe heroism, but it does shine a truth on the way the public devours such occurrences in society, that we openly judge and damn the perpetrator of such ghastly inhuman acts and yet at the same time revels in the details and insanity of it all.
A superb four-part series, Landscapers defies all the conventions of detective drama and the portrayal of murder.
Ian D. Hall