Yet another brooding thriller airs to the delight of the Twitterati…
For people glued by their fingers or thumbs to a keyboard or keypad, Twitter is the premier forum to cast judgement on whatever is happening right-bloody-now. Whether that happens to be Katie Hopkins calling Obama a wazzock, Danny DeVito’s agent announcing he will be starring in FAST AND FURIOUS 8, Nigel Farage admitting to a predilection for Meow Meow or, as I intend to discuss, ITV broadcasting a new drama.
So, type ‘SAFE HOUSE’ into your Twitter search and between TV critics praising or lambasting the show, you can see what politicians call the ‘hard-working people of Britain’ or Simon Cowell calls the ‘public’ think of SAFE HOUSE. There’s a positive reaction from the Twitterati; ITV execs will be gulping down the champagne if Twitter opinion translates to viewing figures. Many peeps were ‘gripped’, many were ‘on the edge of their seats’ and many are ‘hooked already’. And that’s cool with me, honestly, if you enjoyed it then that’s fair enough; however, if I’m being brutally honest… I wasn’t gripped. I was underwhelmed.
Director Marc Evans (HINTERLAND, COLLISION) introduces SAFE HOUSE with a stark, cinematic, slowmo shot of the protagonist, Robert (Christopher Eccleston), front crawling through metallic waters, intercut with a flash-back incident in which he and a female companion are shot by a gunman; the melancholy tone of this opening continues throughout this first episode of SAFE HOUSE, as does the expressive and impressive cinematography.
Robert is an ex-copper; one would assume he jumped ship due to the aforementioned shooting incident, it’s always a major bummer being shot after all, and he is clearly psychologically tarnished by said shooting. To make sure the viewer realises he is psychologically tarnished by said shooting, we see a box full of newspaper cuttings relating to said shooting which he keeps in his shed; it’s a bit cliché and a bit spoon-fed but we’ll let it go for now. Robert lives in a gloomy ol’ house in a beautifully sombre-looking and remote Lake District setting with his wife, Katy (Marsha Thomason) and the narrative jolts forward when his ex-boss, Mark (Paterson Joseph i.e. Johnson from PEEP SHOW), suggests they make the gloomy ol’ house, you guessed it, a safe house.
In two shakes of a lamb’s tail, surveillance cameras have been installed and Robert and Katy are awkwardly welcoming a family into their home. The family are being stalked by a nutter called Michael (Peter Ferdinando), who tried to kidnap their youngest son and beat the living daylights out of the father, David (Jason Merrells), who is a prison officer suspended from work for reasons unknown. It’s all very mysterious with various suspenseful subplots bubbling up all over the shop; in one particularly notable plotline, the family’s estranged eldest son, Sam (James Burrows), is now living rough in his car… bad idea…
Dialogue is at a premium; screenwriter Michael Crompton (CODE OF A KILLER, SILENT WITNESS) has opted for a less-is-more approach to words and focuses instead on the interweaving narratives. Despite this, the cast are all very competent. Eccleston plays Robert with all the requisite tarnished ex-copper attributes (brooding? Yes. Paranoid? Yes. Haunted? Yes) in a very consummate manner, as would be expected by someone of his talents.
So, why was I underwhelmed? Well, this just ain’t BROADCHURCH. Yet. This just ain’t THE FALL. Yet. It is a thriller with great potential, yes, but despite sharing the beautiful darkness of those other shows, SAFE HOUSE lacks that utterly insatiable, tantalising intrigue.  It could turn out to be equally as brilliant as BROADCHURCH and THE FALL, however, judgement should be delayed until episode 2 has aired… despite how ‘gripping’ everyone on Twitter says it is.
SAFE HOUSE episode 1 is now available to watch on ITVPlayer and episode 2 airs on Monday 27th April at 9pm.Â
