NOUGHTS + CROSSES Series Two

Nowhere To Run

UK BBC One, all on iplayer Director Koby Adom

Cast Masali Baduza, Jack Rowan,

Helen Baxendale, Paterson Joseph

It took so long for another series of this TV take on Malorie Blackman’s YA book to be announced that we rather assumed the axe had fallen. And this abbreviated second run arrives so belatedly that you’d be forgiven for struggling to revive a feeling of being invested.

Once again we’re in Albion, an alternate Britain ruled by an African empire, where “Noughts” (whites) are oppressed by “Crosses” (blacks). When we left star-crossed lovers Callum and Sephy, they’d gone on the run.

Picking up a month later, season two takes a very different route to the book on its way to the same tear-jerking conclusion. The first half maintains the couple’s fugitive status. Then they quit running and try to negotiate with Sephy’s father, Albion’s ruthless PM (the ever-reliable Paterson Joseph). A secondary interracial romance featuring Callum’s brother Jude is one of the better innovations.

As before, it’s a series with some impressive design work – especially in the hair and costuming departments. Once again, realism is not a high priority – this is a world where Britain’s Most Wanted can pop round mum’s without anyone noticing; where the PM turns up in person at police raids; where you can quit or rejoin terrorist organisations willy-nilly as you choose.

And if anything, it’s become even more soapy. Earnest heart-to-hearts outnumber action scenes by at least 10 to one. There are more emotional conversations in kitchens than a month’s worth of Eastenders. It also feels like Covid has had an impact on the scope of the drama – a prison riot should probably involve more than about five people…

Still, lachrymose and implausible though it may be, there’s no denying the sweetness of the central romance, or the chemistry of the series’ young leads. We’re glad they got a shot at their tragic closure.

Jude also falls for a Cara in the second book, but in that she’s a black hairdresser, not a mixed-race cleaner.

“I really fancy some pickled onion Monster Munch.”