THE WALK-IN
ITVX, STREAMING NOW
On the surface, this series is typical of its genre. A protagonist played by a quality and beloved everyman actor (in this case, Stephen Graham) is placed in a situation that upsets the balance between their work and their family lives, all filmed in a downbeat naturalist style. But there is actually so much more to this drama than first meets the eye. Based on real events, it tells the story of how a plot to murder an MP was thwarted, thanks to the efforts of an informer and anti-fascist campaigner. Graham plays Matthew Collins, a former organiser for the far-right groups
The National Front, British National Party and Combat 18 in south London, who now works for the anti-fascist advocacy group HOPE not Hate, after becoming an informant for them. Following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, Robbie Mullen (Andrew Ellis, This Is England ), a member of the banned group National Action, reaches out to Collins about a plot to murder another Labour MP. Over the five episodes, we see Mullen go from being a radicalised youth in a boring, left-behind Northern town, to being coaxed by Collins into becoming an informant – putting himself at considerable risk – infiltrating the group, and then testifying against his former friends at their trial. But what sets this series apart is the nuances in the characters – Mullen does a brave thing, but the writers do not shy away from showing that, despite his actions, he is still a racist (although less sure of himself) and a homophobe. And yet we see a sympathetic side to him, too, seeing how his lack of opportunity has led him to form his abhorrent views. It would have been easy to shave off the character’s rougher edges in order to make him more heroic, and to make his shift from villain to hero more “complete”, but ultimately that would be doing viewers a disservice.