Refreshingly, and unusually, this actually was as good as the hype proclaimed. It was a gripping, richly nuanced drama (a lot more than just ‘a spy thriller’). The length (6 episodes) was long enough to allow depth and exploration of character and relationships while not being self-indulgently extended for repetitive thrill scenes of chases and/or explosions.
The plotting and pacing was excellent. We are told enough to keep us engaged and at an effective pace and there was an almost exemplary balance between thrills and necessary exposition and character development. The number of dramatic revelations, particularly in the first episodes was most impressive, not least as they were always both highly plausible and often totally unexpected. Far too often one of these characteristics dominates at the expense of the other with the result that both elements are disappointing. Not so here.
The starry cast gave uniformly excellent performances –and the quality of script obviously greatly helped. This. Ben Wishaw was predictably excellent and the development of his relationship with his one-time partner Michael was thoughtfully and sympathetically depicted – but without any sense of it being ‘special’ because it was ‘a gay relationship. It was just a relationship. As it should be. Keira Knightly was superb (with an almost disconcerting resemblance to the Princess of Wales, I felt). Likewise the enigmatic Sarah Lancashire. She gave a wonderfully sinister performance full of icy coiled energy.
The two hit-women injected a marvelously psychotic element of pitch-black comedy into the drama with high-quality banter. Their use was smartly restricted and often relatively brief so that they became that much more effective. Given the universally acknowledged success of these performances, I hope that in the next series the mistake is not made of making them too prominent and so throwing off the balance of the drama.
The smaller parts were superbly done as well – and starry. Kathryn Hunter was particularly enigmatically effective as the ambiguously-named, trackie-wearing Lenny. And the familiar locations were a great pleasure to see.