The Hour

[shapinglight]

It's possible I may not have made it clear enough previously, so just wanted to say again, I love The Hour and...

Slight spoilers behind cut



...I don't for one minute care if it's full of anachronisms and Bel would never dress like that, and no one at the time would have behaved like Freddie. I. Do. Not. Care. I'm in love with the characters and all their lovely nuances.

Am slightly concerned that the payoff will be a let down, and more than slightly concerned that either Clarence or Lix will turn out to be the Soviet mole in the BBC (because I don't want them to be), but so far I've loved every single minute of it and am still busy making crap icons while hoping a proper icon maker will feel inspired to make some.

ETA: Now with major spoilers in comments

Comments

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to seeing them. :D

Have you seen the latest press release on those damned comics?

[shapinglight]

:sigh: No.

:goes to look:

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Ah, so Angel is trying to raise Giles from the dead, is he?

Well, that'll end well. Also, I suppose that bloke on the Jeanty cover of the Buffy comic is supposed to be this new male character Andrew Chambliss was raving about. Yay?

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

Yeah, predictable I know.

[shapinglight]

It makes me want to cry. It really does. Think I'll go to bed and try to dream about The Hour instead.

[gillo]

I like the show, though it inspired me to check on whether Hancock's Half Hour was actually on TV as early as that. (Answer, yes, but none of the original first series survives, so it was a very, very minor anachronism.)

The plot is somewhat patchy, but the acting is just stellar - and what an amazing cast-list. Tim Piggot-Smith and Juliet Stephenson in such minor roles - and so good at it. Julian Rhind-Tutt so gorgeously despicable. And so on and so on.

[shapinglight]

The plot is somewhat patchy, but the acting is just stellar - and what an amazing cast-list. Tim Piggot-Smith and Juliet Stephenson in such minor roles - and so good at it. Julian Rhind-Tutt so gorgeously despicable. And so on and so on.

Yes, it's the characters and script -in the character sense rather than the plot sense - that's doing it for me. There are so many wonderful little tell-tale things going on. Last night, for instance, there was Hector with the injured man at the demonstration. You could see he'd gone into officer jollying along the wounded soldier mode - in other words, straight back to the war. And I must admit to being a bit in love with Clarence for giving Bel a chance and feeling very gloomy at the thought that he might turn out to be the mole. :(

[quinara]

I'm off away from the land where iPlayer exists... Please spoiler me?!??

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Really? Are you sure? If you are, I'll write you a quick summary when I get home from work.

[quinara]

Ooh, please do, if you don't mind! I don't have a problem with spoilers generally and am mostly just interested in working out how quickly I need to get the DVD so I can watch the end!! (And I don't want to be left out of the squee!)

[shapinglight]

Okay, here goes.

The public are outraged about Suez. There are demonstrations. The Hour team is trying to work out how to get around the 14 day gagging rule that means they're not allowed to discuss current parliamentary business.

Angus warns them off again, and when Hector tries to intervene, reveals he knows about Hector's affair with Bel. Hector has to back off. Meanwhile, Freddie is still pursuing the Brightstone thing. He has a surprise visit from Lady Elms, who tries to warn him off. He refuses. Then he's given a telegram by Lix from one of her Cairo agents, which reveals that Kish had copied Angus in on a memo telling everyone that Peter Darrall (remember him?) was an MI6 agent but had been turned. When Freddie passes this news on to Bel and Hector, Hector agrees to try and get more info out of Angus, which he does by bribing him in return about his relationship with Adam Le Ray (that's a great scene, actually. Julian Rhind-Tutt does this almost imperceptible wince that I can't begin to describe). Turns out the Brightstones are a list of bright politically active British young people that the Soviets have marked down as potential agents. Ruth Elms was one of them and her parents were trying to save her from the government basically by marrying her off to Adam (and she was pregnant). Freddie confronts Lord Elms one more time and Elms reveals that Freddie's name was on the list too.

Meanwhile, there's lots of character stuff going on with Freddie, Hector and Bel, Bel and Marnie, Bel and Clarence, Freddie and Lix etc that is just too delightful for words. And Freddie and Hector go outside reporting together and Hector has a throw back to his army days (IMO). It's great stuff.

I am still a little worried about the payoff. I'm almost certain that the mole in the BBC is either Clarence or Lix, and am leaning more and more towards thinking it's Lix, sadly. Also, we still don't know why Kish chose to kill himself.

[quinara]

Ooh, ooh, further to email: I've managed to get about a quarter of the way through and am attempting to see if I can get further... Lix hasn't done much yet, but thinking it over I'm not sure I'd much mind her being the agent, especially if it meant a sudden influx of Lix backstory. It's not as if the Soviets have been the real bad guys so far anyway, instead of MI6 (I am seeing more of the Cold War perspective on that end). Possibly I just want her to pull a Kalashnikov out of her desk for the amusement factor... (Although I do realise this would send the whole series into bathos and ruin everything.)

[shapinglight]

I think it's possible that what she saw during the war or prior to it may have affected Lix. I don't know if you've managed to see that bit, but there's a great scene between her and Hector where they discuss a photograph she took during the Spanish Civil War. Mind you, that war turned George Orwell against Stalin, so it would seem bizarre to me if it did the opposite to Lix.

Anyway, it's entirely possible that scene is all we'll get in the way of Lix backstory, but it's a very good scene. Also, yes, much more Cold War influence in this ep, but still in a very understated British way.

[quinara]

I did (finally!) manage to see that scene, and it was great. Considering how Lix has been reacting to things in Budapest, I can't really believe she's a spy either - unless the comment about her only thinking about film was supposed to be generally more telling? I don't know, I don't think I'd mind her being a spy, but I could only buy it if her drinking is a way of her trying to get out. Although, you also would have thought that she'd have been more suspicious of Mr. Kish, perhaps? I don't know.

[shapinglight]

I don't know, I don't think I'd mind her being a spy, but I could only buy it if her drinking is a way of her trying to get out. Although, you also would have thought that she'd have been more suspicious of Mr. Kish, perhaps? I don't know.

Well, she was the one who drew to Clarence's attention that no one the BBC seemed to have worked with Kish, and Clarence looked all shocked, which was obviously supposed to make us think Clarence was the mole (which he may well be, I suppose), and now she's turned up this other information for Freddie rather conveniently. Who knows?

I hope we're at least going to be given a reason why Kish killed himself.

[quinara]

I hope we're at least going to be given a reason why Kish killed himself.

Ooh, yes, definitely. (My head filled in the blanks that he was getting pretty bloody miserable anyway, having killed off his bessie mate Peter for MI6, and the fact that Freddie sounded like he was onto something (and wasn't a mole) made if feel like he could finally let go and pass the torch... But an actual concrete answer - and someone asking the question - would be nice!)

[shapinglight]

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but there's an interview with Anna Chancellor in this weekend's Observer, which talks about Lix a lot and also mentions that Abi Morgan is currently writing a second series of The Hour. Of course, that doesn't mean the BBC will ever make it, given that they have no money and the government wants to destroy them, but you never know I suppose.

I've also swung back more towards Clarence being the mole after reading it, though that would make me sad too, after the Clarence/Bel scene in ep 5.

[quinara]

Thanks for the link! I'm not sure what to think, but I'm very glad to hear that Abi Morgan's writing another series; I shall live the dream that it will get made until they actually take BBC Four off the air. :D

[shapinglight]

I shall live the dream that it will get made until they actually take BBC Four off the air. :D

:( That'll be a black day, but it needn't necessarily affect The Hour, as it's on BBC2.

Anyway, if this government were a pheasant, Hector would definitely shoot it.

[quinara]

Oh, right... *gives away that she watches everything on iPlayer* Still, extra hope there then!

[shapinglight]

iPlayer is good. I love it, in fact. Yay! for iPlayer, and (hopefully) for ep 6 not being a complete let down.

[triniroslin15.livejournal.com]

I want to watch it... but I can´t stand Romola Garai (I think it's because she looks like Bryce Dallas Howard that I hate LOL)

But eventually I'll give a chance.

[shapinglight]

I had to google Bryce Dallas Howard, as had never consciously heard of her. I don't think she looks that much like Romola Garai. Maybe the shape of the face?

That said, Romola Garai's character didn't really work for me in the first ep of The Hour. I didn't warm to her until ep 3. Now, I think she's perfect for the role.

I hope you enjoy the show when you get around to it. It's not anything like Mad Men, despite people trying to sell it as the British version of that show.

[triniroslin15.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a chance. When the season will be over?

[shapinglight]

Next week. There are only 6 episodes.

[triniroslin15.livejournal.com]

Great, I think it's better watching the six episodes in a row. :)

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

It was a great episode, fabulously acted by absolutely everyone. I particularly loved Freddie and Hector together.

[shapinglight]

I particularly loved Freddie and Hector together.

Oh yes, they're wonderful together. Hector is sort of jealous of Freddie and wants to be more like him, yet he feels superior to him too. And vice versa. It's an odd relationship.

And of course if you're me, the slash practically writes itself. :)

[kathyh]

Freddie and Hector were absolutely classic in this. I am seriously not sure whether Hector is jealous of Bel's relationship with Freddie or his with her *g*. The scarf was wonderful!

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I am seriously not sure whether Hector is jealous of Bel's relationship with Freddie or his with her *g*

I think both? I think Hector admires Freddie and is jealous of his insight and lack of fear and would like to be like him, but can't quite do it. And he's also jealous of the easy friendship that Bel and Freddie have. Perhaps he's never seen a man and a woman be genuine friends before?

Eeek! I'm speculating about the feelings of fictional characters! This is serious.