Britannia Rules the Airwaves

If you thought the almost complete lack of Doctor Who and Sherlock in 2016 meant there's going to be nothing worth watching from across the pond this year then think again. With the help of my faithful servant Igor Paul, I've compiled this selection of the very best dramas that the nation that gave the world cricket, deep fried Mars bars, and the Spice Girls (you're welcome, planet Earth) has to offer.

The Fall: What Is In Me Dark Illumine

“All her instincts are telling her to protect him at all costs.”

At long last, Stella gets her chance to probe, wrong-foot and challenge the enigmatic Peter Paul Spector in the season finale, 'What Is In Me Dark Illumine' and every minute of their time sitting across from one another is captivating. As is this entire hour of The Fall, really.

The Fall: The Perilous Edge of Battle

"There's some videos you should see."

Oh boy. Is there a single scene in the series to date that's more upsetting than Rose pleading for her life? Let's get our hankies.

The Fall: The Mind Is Its Own Place

"Is the world a place of pain and suffering, of grief and despair or is it a place full of joy, all sweetness and light?"

That black and white thinking lies at the foundation of Spector's darkest motivations. Oh, there's loads of miswiring present in this guy, but his worldview starts from the most perverse ways to deal with pain from the human condition. We already knew this, because Stella knew this. Stella gets 'vicarious'. Perhaps better than most, which only adds to the layers upon layers of emotional weight in The Fall.

The Fall: Beauty Hath Strange Power

"Why are women emotionally and spiritually so much stronger than men?"

Because the basic human form is female. Maleness is a kind of birth defect. Thus speaks Stella to Jim after he has melted down, a relapse in full-swing that has shades of just straight hissy fit. Anderson delivers this coolly, so matter-of-fact, so impersonally, with no discernible judgment. More on the gender conversation later but in the meantime much of everything in The Fall (and consequently my psyche during this rewatch) goes to hell sideways in its own sedate restrained languid way, though Peter in Stella's hotel room closet did almost give me a heart attack.

The Fall: Night Darkens the Street

"Life is the sum of all your choices. Choose your next move carefully.”

Stella's tightly controlled psyche is starting to fray badly while Paul dissolves into Peter and fails to compartmentalize with the same level of exactitude he's formerly shown.

The Fall: These Troublesome Disguises

"Once upon a time, this worked for me. You snap the band on your wrist when your thoughts and feelings overwhelm you."

I may need a rubber band on my wrist if The Fall gets any more overwhelming this season because who am I kidding, of course it will. Based on 'These Troublesome Disguises', it will gather its own kind of steam, uniquely painstakingly slowly, taking the time to give just the amount of space each breathtaking tense moment or grief-filled ache requires. This is a show where not a single second is not considered a chance to communicate the anguish, the precariousness, the crushing weight of our exacting human nature. And Allan Cubitt, the show's creator, is more confident and relaxed than ever that he can deliver to us this special little series, a watery reflection on remorse.

The Fall: The Vast Abyss

“You try to dignify what you do, but it's just misogyny. Age-old male violence against women.”

Aw shucks, is it really over. In what sense over? Certainly the last few seconds left suspended -- Stella was mid-breath. I mean not that I could necessarily stand another minute of this excruciating drama but damn was this was a stirring finale to the series' first season.

The Fall: My Adventurous Song

"Do you have any idea of the effect you have on men? I'd have left my wife, my kids, everything for you."

Alright okay. The Fall is a carnival ride. One that passes the operator on its way to another dreaded lap... and it’s getting faster. In ‘My Adventurous Song’, all the stories twist up and converge in weird ways with the thesis of the series meant to hold us down, under its weight, gasping for air as we plunge to the ocean floor.

The Fall: Insolence and Wine

“The Devil, quite literally, ladies and gentlemen is in the detail. Detail, detail and detail again.”

The rhythm of this series feels meticulous. This hour situated like a low-lying field covered in fog, somewhere between a high and low pressure system. It’s both the comedown from Sarah Kay’s murder and the new possibilities that surface while the lives we are insinuated in become more restless, as a result.

The Fall: Darkness Visible

"Perhaps she intuited something."

Wanna see a highly accomplished actress at work? You've definitely come to the right place. 'Darkness Visible' highlights the gifts to the acting profession Gillian Anderson offers with her inestimable micro-expressions, each more subtle and secreted than the last. What comes of it is this character of Stella Gibson, a woman who defies any one (or twelve) specific definitions, traits or qualities, who is other-worldly in her self-possession.

The Fall: Dark Descent

“No one knows what’s going on in someone else’s mind. And life would be intolerable if we did.”

The first three and a half minutes of 'Dark Descent', before the series name burns onto the screen, are stark and matter-of-fact. There isn’t any dialogue, there's no score, just incidental sounds. Two different people, a man and a woman, a window into their lives, almost mundane, juxtaposed. It's simple, like the inside of a spiral, tight and compact.

The Fall

Season 1 | Season 2 |
Season 3 | Articles |
Related Links | Cast

Programming note: Our coverage of The Fall is of the first two seasons only.

Not for the fainthearted, this BBC crime drama, created by Allan Cubitt, is a sophisticated view of serial murder from two perspectives: a female detective, and the killer himself. And neither one is what you'd expect. Gillian Anderson plays Stella Gibson, The Fall's unflinching lead investigator. Jamie Dornan portrays enigmatic psychopath, Paul Spector. Assists from John Lynch, Archie Panjabi and Ian McElhinney round out the subversive cast. The Fall manages to give you everything you want out of this kind of story but never in the way you expect you're going to get it. Did we mention Gillian Anderson is in it?

Season One

1.1 Dark Descent
1.2 Darkness Visible
1.3 Insolence and Wine
1.4 My Adventurous Song
1.5 The Vast Abyss

Season Two

2.1 These Troublesome Disguises
2.2 Night Darkens the Street
2.3 Beauty Hath Strange Power
2.4 The Mind Is Its Own Place
2.5 The Perilous Edge of Battle
2.6 What Is In Me Dark Illumine

Season Three

(Not yet written)
3.1 Silence and Suffering
3.2 His Troubled Thoughts
3.3 The Gates of Light
3.4 The Hell Within Him
3.5 Wounds of Deadly Hate
3.6 Their Solitary Way

Articles

The Fall season one review by Billie Doux

Related Links

The X-Files reviews

Cast

Gillian Anderson (DSI Stella Gibson)
Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan)
ACC Jim Burns (John Lynch)
Sally Ann Spector (Bronagh Waugh)
Professor Tanya Reed Smith (Archie Panjabi)
PC Dani Ferrington (Niamh McGrady)
Morgan Monroe (Ian McElhinney)
DCI Matt Eastwood (Stuart Graham)

Mark's Best of 2013

At first, I wanted to do something a little different this year. But I soon realised that that would require me to actually think of something different, so I ultimately decided against it. This is Christmas. It's not a time for thinking. It's a time for stuffing your face and saying "Thank you, it's just what I wanted" with absolute sincerity. So I ultimately settled for just doing the exact same thing I did last year.

Profitez de mes amis.

Oh, and beware the Spoiler Kitten if you don't watch any of the shows in the tags but might want to someday.

The Fall

"The media loves to divide women into virgins or vamps, angels or whores. Let's not encourage them."

I am going to discuss the entire first season (five episodes) of this Netflix series in depth, so if you haven't seen it all yet, you might want to leave now. (Beware the spoiler kitten!) You can always come back later, after you've seen it.