The Hour - Series 1 [DVD]

"The Hour" certainly represents the best in Television, British or otherwise. A first-rate thriller that combines politics and espionage, "The Hour" kept me on the edge of my seat for every episode (which, happily, last longer than sixty minutes). Furthermore, the series is outstanding not only in its acting, costumes, and settings, but also in its writing. The characters are surprisingly well-developed, far more than I've come to expect in this genre of television drama, in which characters tend to be stereotypical, if not conventional.

The acting, is, as one might expect from a BBC series, superb, not only the leading players, but also the minor characters, including Tim Piggot-Smith and Juliet Stevenson, as the secretive Lord and Lady Elms; Anna Chancellor, as an almost burnt-out foreign correspondent; Oona Chaplin, as the faithful wife of the philandering news anchor; and Julian Rhind-Tutt, as a slippery special aid to Prime Minister Anthony Eden. I was particularly moved, however, by the performance of Anton Lesser, as Clarence, the chief producer, whose very career hangs on the success or failure of "The Hour," a ground-breaking live BBC television news show, which cannot fail to rattle cages, both at the BBC and at Westminster.

One of the factors that makes the series so convincing is the attention to detail as far as the costumes and the settings are concerned. In fact, watching the series took me right back to the 'fifties, jogging my memories about wearing pencil-line wool skirts and cashmere twinsets by day, and buoyant ballerina skirts by night. The scenario of the Suez Crisis and the Russians in Hungary similarly conjured up crystal-clear images, some delightful, others thrilling, not to say terrifying: I was in Holland, my first baby was born April; I was listening to the BBC: Grace Kelly was marrying Prince Ranier; the British and Russians were testing nuclear weapons; Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan were clowning on "The Goon Show," which I found funny, but my Belgian husband found inexplicable. In Fall, we went to Brussels, where, for three days, throngs of protesters kept pouring into the streets shouting in unison, "Hongrie! Liberté!" (Hungary! Freedom!), even as the Soviet tanks were closing in on Budapest; and in Winter it was so cold that all the canals in Amsterdam froze solid, so that one could skate even under the bridges; and no coal was to be had, due to aftereffects of the Suez Canal Crisis. Although I didn't realise it at the time, 1956 was an amazing year, and "The Hour" replicates its social and political tensions with what seems to my memory to be striking accuracy.

Since the BBC Home Service played such an important part in my life in 1956, I was especially interested in a drama set at the heart of the BBC, and the complexities of making of a live television news programme; for me, the espionage and politics were delicious icing on the cake!

I do not think, however, that one has to be of vintage years to enjoy this political thriller, which is so well written and beautifully acted that its riveting plot and absorbing drama will leave you hoping for a second season; and, even if such hopes should not be realised, "The Hour", with its complex twists and turns and attention to detail, is so enthralling that you might want to enjoy it a second time.

And, perhaps, even a third.

I haven't seen Mad Men, so I can't (and I'm glad I can't) compare.

I've watched all but one episode (yet to air) and have found them all thoroughly enjoyable. The casting, despite some comments below, is spot on - as is the acting. Dominic West is very good as the wealthy privileged newsreader Hector, as is Ben Whishaw as the determined but slightly eccentric reporter Freddie. The background characters - Lix, the powerful dedicated foreign affairs reported, and Isaac, the slightly geeky but keen assistant to Freddie - all complement the main characters well. Julian Rhind-Tutt is excellent as Angus McCain, Eden's slippery Press Advisor. I certainly can't fault any of the acting.

As with many dramas, a range of sub-plots are interwoven: as Freddie looking to uncover a secret MI6 plot, Bel and Hector commence an affair, with the Suez crisis as a backdrop. The series touches on a lot of themes, including the position of women in the workplace, homosexuality in the 1950s, the role of the media (and in particular the BBC) and its relationship with politicians.

All in all, a good drama - I hope it continues.

This series has suffered as a result of confused comparisons with MAD MEN, a situation not helped by the BBC's own publicity department. THE HOUR, is in fact a complex story of conspiracy in high places, where events are viewed via the prism of a busy news room and against the wider back drop of the 1956 Suez crisis.

However there does seem to be a real muddle going on. The BBC's promotional blurb describes the series as having: "a passionate love triangle at its heart." The romantic drama of the "love triangle" is developed and focused upon to the extent that the conspiracy mystery aspects of the show hardly seem necessary. It's as if two separate scripts have been combined in effort to increase popular appeal.

Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw) is a very bright but troublesome reporter. Bel Rowley (Romola Garai) is Freddie's producer and friend. She falls for the upper-class Hector Madden (Dominic West), a well meaning but not very bright presenter; the triangle is complete! Probably the most believable character is Lix (Anna Chancellor), she also works on the news team and is very reminiscent of the extraordinary women that occasionally popped up in the TV world during that era; an authoritative spinster with the gift of inspiring others, and of course dedicated to her career to the exclusion of all else. It's a shame that Lix is not the boss as it would have helped credibility. Instead Bel has to shout at Freddie: "I'm your producer." He doesn't always seem convinced!

The pace is slow and methodical and not for those with a short attention span. It takes a ridiculously long time for the clever TV news folk to realise that their phones are bugged. Also an MI6 officer spends ages planted in the office before making an effort to do some spying.

The period detail and atmosphere is bit hit and miss. A significant quibble is the amount of smoking that goes on. Although it's true that in the 1950s everyone smoked and few places were off limits, there is a self-consciousness in the near continual smoking; we have to wait for actors to deliver their lines, because they are usually dragging on a cigarette. And why is the series so selective in striving for period realism? For instance; Hector Madden is upper-class and a news reader/presenter. In 1956 he would have spoken with an excruciating "posh" accent, and yet he speaks like a 21st Century metro male!

In summary; this DVD would probably appeal to a devotee of John Le Carre, rather than a MAD MEN fan.