This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th April 2018.
THE SPLIT: Tuesday, BBC One
THE WOMAN IN WHITE: Sunday, BBC One
Written
by Abi Morgan, creator of The Hour, THE SPLIT appeared at first glance to
be a glossy legal drama. That turned out to be window dressing, an access point
for Morgan to explore the fragile intricacies of family relationships and
marriage.
It
stars the reliably excellent Nicola Walker as Hannah, a conscientious,
empathetic divorce lawyer who works for a prestigious London firm specialising
in cases involving the stinking rich and famous.
Hannah’s
job places her in emotionally charged situations steeped in heartbreak and
rancour, an area she’s more than qualified to tackle as, inevitably, she’s also
dealing with her own personal issues.
She
recently joined this company after leaving her family law firm behind.
Naturally enough, this is a cause of friction, as she’s now in direct competition
with her mother and younger sister, Nina.
This
tricky situation was compounded when their estranged father, played by Anthony
Head, suddenly returned after an absence of 30 years. It gradually became clear
that divorce and abandonment have played an unhealthily prominent role in their
lives, but at least it’s bought them nice big houses. Swings/roundabouts.
On
the client side, Mathew Baynton from Horrible
Histories plays a heartbroken stand-up comedian who’s written a brutally
frank and litigious show about his ex-wife, while Stephen Tompkinson and Meera
Syal play the Mackenzies, a multimillionaire couple going through a divorce.
This
came as a shock to Mrs Mackenzie, as she didn’t even know why they were meeting
with Hannah in the first place. Didn’t she think to ask her husband beforehand?
Presenting her as implausibly incurious was obviously just a lazy excuse for
Morgan to contrive an anguished scene. I’ve always considered her a good writer
who’s occasionally guilty of clunky engineering.
When
Hannah takes a dim view of Mr Mackenzie’s cowardly behaviour, he, with some
sneaky assistance from Nina, decides to hire the family firm instead. Further
complications ensue.
Morgan
packed a lot into episode one, but the various subplots mingled smoothly. Legal
environments have always been popular in TV drama, as they comfortably support
a range of stories and themes. Morgan exploits this hardy perennial quite
successfully. That aforementioned Mackenzie niggle aside, the dialogue and
action are convincing, and Walker is typically authentic.
Etched
in mature shades of grey, The Split is a
thoughtful rumination on the incessant complexities of being human. It has
heart.
One
of the first lines spoken in THE WOMAN
IN WHITE was “How is it men crush women time and time again but go
unpunished?”
You
don't often get the chance to describe the umpteenth adaptation of a 19th century
novel as timely, but this latest take on Wilkie Collins’ hugely influential
murder mystery is particularly resonant in the current climate.
It proves that a classic text can be subtly re-moulded without sacrificing its
original essence.
Suitably
shrouded in a haze of windswept romanticism and early Hammer-esque atmospherics,
it follows a sensitive artist haunted by a nocturnal roadside encounter with a
troubled young woman.
His
new job as an art tutor connects him with a pair of charismatic, cerebral
sisters happily out of step with Victorian propriety. What’s their mysterious
connection with the wandering woman in white?
It
was a comfortably subdued introduction to a story that will, I assure you, veer off
into entertaining lunacy soon. It also features Charles Dance looking for all
the world like a consumptive Jon Pertwee. What more do you want?
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