Can’t wait to do The Split again
Tytyty tytyty tytyty
IF Shakespeare were alive today I’ve no doubt he’d be penning scripts for Eastenders. He certainly knew how to write a gripping soap opera of warring and embittered families. King Lear on BBC2 on Monday was an epic production covering all the big themes – love, greed, power, betrayal, madness, bad dads and rebellious daughters. The cast read like the Who’s Who of British acting royalty, with Anthony Hopkins as Lear, Emma Thompson, Emily Watson and Florence Pugh as his daughters, plus Jim Broadbent, Christopher Eccleston and Downton’s Jim Carter. We had to tune in to the Shakespearean language. But that was no great tragedy for this marvellous drama. IN a cut-throat industry it’s extremely rare for a TV series to be recommissioned before anyone has even seen the first episode. Bosses usually wait to see how many of us tune in. But word on the tellybox rumour mill said that BBC1 legal drama The Split – and the services of awardwinning scriptwriter Abi Morgan – were snapped up for a second series weeks ago. As the finale ended, the news was confirmed. All I can say is thank goodness for that. Some fans may have been split, sorry, but this is the drama that has everything. Heroes, villains, romance, betrayal, courtroom fights and tasteful furniture. Not to mention a fantastic, predominantly female cast, led by Nicola Walker’s marginally distracting blue eyes, but also featuring Barry Atsma as Christie. More of him in his grey joggers please. It even had a silent disco. Tuesday’s finale grappled with plenty of issues.
I was already traumatised by the Doctor Foster-esque dinner party from hell when Nina, played by Annabel Scholey unleashed a barrage of home truths.
Then there was Hannah and Nathan’s kids listening on the stairs as their parents’ marriage fell apart. Oh the heartache!
There have been echoes of Love Actually. Who didn’t half-expect Joni Mitchell to start playing when Nicola Walker’s Hannah found out Stephen Mangan’s Nathan had an affair?
Rose, played by Fiona Button, and James, actress Rudi Dharmalingam, forged ahead with their wedding. Even divorce lawyers love a good wedding.
At the party, Nathan gazed at Hannah and said: “We’ve been together our entire adult life.” She didn’t look too thrilled.
In the end she ran into Christie’s arms, giving us a frisson of excitement.
I was convinced until that final twist that she would “do the right thing” and stick with nice-but-dull barrister Nathan.
But who could resist Christie? “He’s too tall, too blonde, too Danish,” yelled Nathan. Yes, exactly.
Elsewhere, dad Oscar, played by Anthony Head, dropped dead just after the wedding and a hug with Hannah.
He had been looking a bit peaky, which in drama-world means “about to die”.
And Goldie slept with Davey, but had her wedding ring cut off.
There is plenty more to explore. Will Nina stick with the comedian? Can Rose and James steer clear of adding to the 45 per cent of marriages ending in divorce? And will Hannah change her mind again?
Set against the backdrop of divorce and a hugely dysfunctional family, happiness always seemed just out of reach.
Break-ups do make for brilliant television. Some might have felt cheated by the finale but I’m glad the series is not filing for divorce just yet. SHOCK finale of the of week. The 14th season had, gasp, a Grey’s Anatomy show runner happy ending. Has taking Shonda Rhimes been three weddings happy pills? With Sky Living to conclude the glossy was a medical drama, there of nauseating outpouring the usual love, rather than It death and tragedy. was unnerving.
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