Last night on television Michael Hogan Tim Roth shines in the stylish thriller Tin Star
Homecoming Hollywood hero Tim Roth was almost unrecognisable last year as serial killer John Christie in BBC One’s Rillington Place. Now he has removed the bald cap and bifocals – and even used his own London accent – for Tin Star
(Sky Atlantic).
Here Roth was on the other side of the law as police chief Jim Worth. This British detective and recovering alcoholic had rather randomly relocated to the Canadian Rockies to take up a post as a small-town sheriff.
The mountains made a breathtaking backdrop as we watched Worth adjusting to life in a quaint community where most of the crime was committed by beery ranchers or hungry bears. So far, so twee – until an oil conglomerate built a controversial refinery nearby. When the local doctor committed suicide, Jim suspected foul play. The oil firm’s spin doctor Elizabeth Bradshaw (Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, relishing her femme fatale role) and head of security Gagnon (Christopher Heyerdahl) started to take on a sinister hue.
The simmering plot boiled over when a member of Worth’s family was murdered – a scene so shocking, we were shown it twice for full effect. Cue Jim’s demons being unleashed on a blood-splattered revenge rampage.
Cinematically shot and twangingly soundtracked, Tin Star was a noirish thriller. Its backwoods setting and eccentric townsfolk would have rung bells for Fargo fans, while Roth was quietly charismatic. The script was gratuitously foul-mouthed, though. The father in me flinched when Worth repeatedly swore in front of his children.
Sky has splashed lots of cash on these international co-productions but have a modest hit rate. The Last Panthers and Penny Dreadful worked but Fortitude, Guerrilla and recent effort Riviera flopped. They’re over-hyped, overlong (Tin Star is another 10-parter) and ratings tail off rapidly. Can Tin Star fulfil the promise of this intriguing opener or will it go the same way as its stablemates?
At least the serial killer in Safe (ITV) showed some imagination. Although it was mothers who got abducted by “The Crow”, men were his real target. He tied husbands up before snatching their wives, relishing the man’s helplessness. He taunted them during the frantic search. Finally, he made them widowers, savoured their grief and went after them too.
Well, it made a change from yet another psycho slaying attractive young women, before leaving their bodies in a state of undress for cameras to linger lasciviously on.
The debut run of Safe House two years ago starred Christopher Eccleston as a retired cop running a hideout for police witnesses in peril. It involved lots of brooding and buried secrets but wasn’t as good as it should have been, instead settling for solidly unspectacular.
The second series had a new cast, location and case. Unfortunately, it also had the same far-fetched premise. When former detective Tom Brook (True Blood’s Stephen Moyer) heard news of a violent kidnapping, he was convinced that it hailed the return of The Crow, who he’d hunted while on the force.
Despite the current investigating officer’s initial doubts – entirely understandable ones, it must be said – the victim’s family were soon placed under Tom’s protection on the Anglesey coast. I suspect his house won’t stay safe for long.
The action flitted between two settings which were 80 miles – and several worlds – apart. Crimes were committed amid the clinking prosecco glasses and boutique hotels of Liverpool’s Albert Dock. This contrasted starkly with the creaky wooden boats, clucking chickens and crackling fires of remote, rugged Wales.
If only the plot hadn’t been so strained. A strong supporting cast – full of familiar faces such as Ashley Walters, Dervla Kirwan, Jason Watkins and Sunetra Sarker – struggled to keep proceedings plausible but couldn’t manage it. First, the police failed to spot the cold-case connection or protect a family at risk. Then they happily handed them over to a meddling maverick with a grudge.
Even worse, it all felt wearyingly generic. A cop coming out of retirement and pleading for “just one look at the case file”? Not again. Scheming police chiefs, surly sidekicks, talk of “MOS” and “copycats”? How clichéd. Safe House seemed inspired by other, better fictions rather than real life. The Crow will doubtless get caught but I won’t be sticking around to see it.
Tin Star ★★★★ Safe House ★★