A wallow in 1980s nostalgia on the Costa del Crime
‘If Dallas made love to Pulp Fiction to the sounds of Duran Duran” is how Sky describes A Town Called Malice, a new eight-part crime drama set in the 1980s. Ok, we can play that game. It’s Bonnie and Clyde in Fila knitwear soundtracked by
Now That’s What I Call Music. But not necessarily in a good way.
It has been created by Nick Love, who found fame with The Football Factory (featuring Danny Dyer). He also made Goodbye, Charlie Bright (featuring Danny Dyer),
The Business (featuring Danny Dyer) and Outlaw (featuring Danny Dyer). We can only assume that Danny Dyer was unavailable for A Town Called Malice, but Love has stuck to his favourite theme of swaggering Londoners being – and you have to say this in a Danny Dyer voice – a little bit naughty.
The story is simple. Gene Lord (Jack Rowan) is the youngest and most innocent member of a Sarf London crime family. He meets Cindy (Tahirah Sharif), the girl of his dreams. But things go wrong during a fight with a rival gang and the couple end up fleeing to the Costa del Sol, pursued by a dogged detective, where before long they’re involved in dodgy dealings and Cindy is proving surprisingly handy with a shotgun.
I wanted to love this show, because a) the trailer looked great and b) I’m a sucker for the 1980s. It’s certainly got style and verve, plus a cast whose members seem to be having a whale of a time, notably Dougray Scott as an errant Lord living it up in Spain and Jason Flemyng as Gene’s dad. American actress Martha Plimpton is a left-field choice as a hard-as-nails south London matriarch, but let’s go with it. There’s also a two-second cameo from a music star which will have you squealing at the TV.
The plot is fun and Rowan is a winning presence, but Eastenders does the family stuff much better. Love runs through a checklist of his favourite things: small-time criminals, gang fights, Sergio Tacchini tracksuits. The 1980s setting slightly plays into the plot – the Costa del Sol is still being developed, meaning potential business deals opening up for the Lords – but otherwise adds nothing except the chance of a cheap nostalgia hit every five minutes.
It’s the TV equivalent of those “Does anyone remember…” Facebook pages. Look, a Wimpy bar! Blue eyeshadow! A policeman driving a Rover! The 1980s hits are wallto-wall here, but if you want to enjoy them in purer form just watch TOTP2 instead.
It is understandable that Channel 4 chose the title Nazanin for their documentary about Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe. But really it was a film about her husband, Richard, and his six-year fight to bring her home.
Film-maker Darius Bazargan followed Richard through hunger strikes and dealings with the British government. “With respect, you’re my fifth Foreign Secretary,” he said, politely but wearily, when approached by Jeremy Hunt with assurances that yes, of course, the Government was doing everything it could to help.
Bazargan was also there to capture the intimate moments, including the relationship between Richard and the couple’s daughter, Gabriella. Separated from her mother at the airport in Tehran, when Nazanin was detained and accused of spying, she spent three years living with her grandparents in Iran. When she returned to the UK, she could no longer speak English and at the beginning would tell Richard: “I don’t want you, Daddy. I want Granny, I want Mummy. Not Daddy.”
Richard dealt with this in the way that he has dealt with the whole affair: with seemingly limitless reserves of love and patience and endeavoured to make things as normal as possible for her. It was reassuring to see Gabriella sometimes engrossed in Minecraft when Nazanin called from prison.
The film captured many of these calls. At times, Nazanin spoke with rage and despair. “I might as well just go and die,” she said at one point. “It’ll be ok,” counselled Richard. “You’ve told me that for five years.” “I promise you it will.” The emotional toll on both of them was clear. As a viewer, you may have shared some of that fury, such as when British police officers guarding the Iranian embassy in London tried to prevent Richard from handing in a petition, because the Iranians did not want him standing on their steps.
The political background to this – Iran holding Nazanin hostage to secure the payment of a British government debt – was set out. But the film focused on the personal cost. Through calls and letters, Nazanin’s love for her daughter shone through. The final scenes of the pair reunited were very moving.
A Town Called Malice ★★★ Nazanin ★★★★