Ahead of the final episode of The Hour tonight, Julia Raeside defends Abi Morgan's slow-burning thriller against its critics
It's not difficult to guess why BBC2's 50s newsroom thriller The Hour was commissioned in the first place. With a big Mad Men-shaped hole in the TV schedules, execs were clearly keen to give us a retro-chic drama to provide that same aesthetic pleasure.
But The Hour, which reaches its finale tonight, has given us far more than that. For all of the show's well-documented faults ? we'll come to those in a minute ? it has turned out to be a gripping thrill-ride of a show; escapist and stylish despite playing a bit fast and loose with historical accuracy at times. That the action and the characters have proved so enthralling is largely down to Abi Morgan's brilliantly involving scripts. She hasn't matched His Girl Friday or Aaron Sorkin at his verbose best, but Morgan's show has the immersive drama of a soap and the sophistication of a Sunday night BBC1 thriller. Which is probably where it should've gone out.
I'll admit I was absolutely willing The Hour to be good from the moment it was announced. Romola Garai turned my head in The Crimson Petal and the White earlier this year and the thought of Dominic West in a Don Draper-style role did sound like superb casting. But the real revelation of the piece for me has been Ben Whishaw as tenacious young reporter Freddie Lyon. In an otherwise stately first episode, which I know put many off the show, Whishaw's acting had me absolutely hooked.
From very early on, it was clear that The Hour was really a spy thriller that happened to have a newsroom setting and beautiful 50s fashions. The chase is all, with Freddie's character the unstoppable force thrusting us along the twisting, turning corridors of the plot.
Bel and Hector's illicit romance was a nice garnish, but when Clarence finally pulled Bel into his office to give her an abrupt dressing down over the affair, I almost stood and cheered. If only he had done it in episode three so Bel's character could have been more involved in the plot rather than simpering at her married colleague.
Morgan has dealt with gender admirably, avoiding thumping us over the head with the differences between women now and in the 50s. Anna Chancellor's beautifully rendered journalist Lix has provided a hint of the "career or marriage" choice that so often had to be made; Hector's wife Marnie represents those who chose domesticity, and Bel embodies the struggle and indecision of women on the verge of their 1960s liberation.
A friend recorded the series without watching it and was on the verge of wiping it after reading so much negative press. But I begged him to give it a stay of execution until he'd seen the first two episodes. That's how long it took me to get truly wrapped up in it.
Some have said it moves too slowly, others that the dialogue sometimes jarrs with the inclusion of modern phrases. Morgan recently responded, saying that she held her hands up to the occasional mistake, but only if the anachronisms pulled people out of the drama. I like that she cares so much about the audience's experience ? although I wonder whether it wouldn't have hurt the BBC to give her scripts the historical once-over before committing them to film.
And for me, that's why The Hour has been such appointment-to-view television. The narrative is in constant motion, the characters slowly revealed to be more than just well-dressed cut-outs, and the world of 1950s London has proved totally engrossing.
But I know many people have had trouble with the show and didn't stay the full course. Where did it go wrong for you? Have you stuck with it and been rewarded? Are you looking forward to the finale? Morgan is keen to work on a second series ? so would you give it another chance? I am sitting by the TV, in an emerald wiggle dress, clutching a clipboard in anticipation.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/aug/23/the-hour-bbc-finale
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