Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Jill Halfpenny, Rupert Penry-Jones, Amy Nutall, Ray Fearon, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Tessa Peake-Jones, James Fleet, Alex Macqueen, Larry Lamb, Megan Trower, Chris Gascoyne, Judith Alexander, Joel Beckett, Luke Hammond, Joel Kai Ali.
You cannot buy good neighbours, the kind where you live in harmony with each other 24 hours a day, seven days a week, nothing ever getting you down with those that live next door, across the street, or around the close to which your presence counts…and yet neighbourhoods are pots of unspoken jealousy, they are the breeding ground of infidelities and trysts, and they are closest spots in which spying on you is readily available…and relished.
The excellent six-part series of Feud knowingly and tantalisingly plays into this area of subterfuge within the vicinity of the safety of your own home, and one that offers a full blown example of just how the closeness of a couple and how well they get on with one neighbour over another can cause upset, especially when the dynamic alters or something new comes into the equation.
Feud brings together a sterling cool gathering of British actors from across different generations of the fraternity, from the brilliance of Jill Halfpenny and Rupert Penry-Jones in the roles of dissatisfied couple Emma and John Bartlett, through to the sense of mastery that comes from the character of Nick Hewitt played by Alex Macqueen, and the dominance that comes from the fierce drama that is to be found in Tessa Peake-Jones and James Fleet combustible and abuse driven relationship in which Mr. Fleet plays completely against type and becomes that one person to whom we look down upon with disgust and disdain.
Secrets unfold and unravel as the Bartlett’s find that extending out their kitchen has brought a deeper sense of insecurity and resentment out in the local area, not helped by the clandestine approaches, and the anger of a policewoman brought down due to her latent racism and her hate for the Emma Bartlett’s job within the legal profession.
Played against the background of a murder mystery, the tale is perhaps one of the best to appear and commissioned on Channel 5. The slow build up, the use of an old nursery rhyme given a particular nasty connection, and the use of intimidation and false friendship as a tactic deeply resonates with the viewer to the point of welcoming uncomfortable truth; one that frames the point of being wary of being friends with those who live in close proximity to you. The truth of the series is not one of murder in the suburbs or sex in the city, but of just who lives behind the twitching curtains, the secrets they keep and closets they cling to.
Feud is an enlightenment of television, a reminder that the good old fashioned murder mystery is alive and well and written with class.
Ian D. Hall