Like a lot of Doctor Who fans, I'm finding it difficult to wait patiently for the return of Russell T. Davies in 2023. So I decided to check out some of Davies' work since leaving Doctor Who and last night I watched the first episode of A Very English Scandal from 2018. It's good, really subtle, it's a work that expends a lot of its creativity on how people talk and behave.
I'm not sure it was the best choice to get a sense of where Davies is now as a writer. It's based on a book which was in turn based on a true story, the Thorpe affair. Jeremy Thorpe, an MP and leader of the Liberal Party, allegedly had an affair with a man when homosexual acts were illegal. When the former lover threatened to expose him, Thorpe allegedly tried to have him killed.
The series assumes all this is true. One of the most interesting things about it is that it refrains from showing anyone as a villain or hero. Thorpe, as played by Hugh Grant, is charming and warm. Norman Scott, the lover, is played by Ben Whishaw whose clumsy attempts to blackmail Thorpe seem borne of panic and naivete more than malice.
It's kind of an old story but very nicely executed--the clever old powerful man charmed by the simplicity of a pretty youth, and then the clever old man finding that same simplicity to be the bane of his existence. The same wide-eyed innocence that charmed Thorpe also compels Scott to only attempt to blackmail Thorpe when he's strapped for cash and to communicate by sending a note to Thorpe's mother or a rambling, wildly indiscreet phone call to Thorpe's wife.
Both Grant and Whishaw are great and so far I'm noticing them more than the writing. But I think Davies can be credited for the juxtaposition of some incidents. It's good, in any case.
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