The Guest is a four-part BBC TV thriller and the laws of modern television mean that Matthew Barry's script might have worked better if it had been a two-part or three-part thriller. The cost of living isn't the only kind of inflation around these days. And the critics haven't been altogether kind ('hogwash', 'bonkers', 'unhinged' and 'codswallop' are among the phrases to be found in the national newspaper reviews: a bit harsh, I'd say). For this is not a show that's totally devoid of merit (or indeed pace). I kept watching to the end, something I find myself less inclined to do these days when a TV serial rambles on, as so many do (Suspicion, which I abandoned quite early on, is a recent example of a show that appeared to be very promising, but failed to hold my attention).
The set-up is pleasing enough. Gabrielle Creevy (who is very good in the role) plays Ria, a working class young woman who is shacked up with her deadbeat boyfriend and very short of money. Fran, played by the glamorous Eve Myles, is an extremely rich woman who offers her a job as a cleaner. Soon the two women become close, and though we do get quite a lot of tediously predictable stuff about the class divide, the relationship is intriguing.
The story is set around Cardiff, and Fran invites Ria to be a guest in her second home, which is to be found in a remote coastal spot so appealing that I really wanted to go there myself and do a bit of sight-seeing. There is a death at the end of the first episode, while a murder that is committed subsequently gives rise to many of the plot holes in the script that have irritated reviewers.
Despite its shortcomings, though, I quite liked The Guest and didn't feel I'd wasted my time watching it. The reason is that Creevy and Miles are very different but compelling actors and they do their best to camouflage the weaknesses in the storyline. By and large, I'd say they succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment