At first glance you may think, as I did initially, "Oh God, yet another police procedural" and that the setting in Georgian London was a desperate attempt to differentiate it from the zillion and one others.
But this genuinely is different. It is a high quality piece of drama with good production values, good scripts and solid acting.
It is also a rather brave piece of prime time television.
Firstly it has avoided the worst excesses of dumbing down. For example the structure and rhythm of the language (and I am no expert) feels old fashioned and of its time. There are no modern phrases ruining the suspension of disbelief.
Secondly it is also brave enough to have the characters expressing the mores of the time: gay sex is illegal and punishable by death; the investigators have no compunction about sending men and women to the gallows; they express disgust at the poverty of London, but do not articulate modern views of how society should change to help the unfortunate, they are just trying to set up a police force to control crime.
Thirdly all the main characters are white and male (as would be historically accurate). The only black Bow Street Runner was found to be a gay prostitute in episode two (from memory) and not seen since. There are no women on the "team" as such though they do appear as characters in the investigations.
Fourthly the grime of London is portrayed in pretty depressing detail. This is no "prettified" period drama.
Finally, there are very rarely any genuinely happy endings.
This drama therefore takes the dull checklist of accessible modern prime time drama (none to taxing, PC attitudes should prevail, minorities represented, happy endings) and deliberately ignores all of them.
I really hope it succeeds, but I have a suspicion its brave refusal to "tick the boxes" may mean we should savour this series as a one-off treat
But this genuinely is different. It is a high quality piece of drama with good production values, good scripts and solid acting.
It is also a rather brave piece of prime time television.
Firstly it has avoided the worst excesses of dumbing down. For example the structure and rhythm of the language (and I am no expert) feels old fashioned and of its time. There are no modern phrases ruining the suspension of disbelief.
Secondly it is also brave enough to have the characters expressing the mores of the time: gay sex is illegal and punishable by death; the investigators have no compunction about sending men and women to the gallows; they express disgust at the poverty of London, but do not articulate modern views of how society should change to help the unfortunate, they are just trying to set up a police force to control crime.
Thirdly all the main characters are white and male (as would be historically accurate). The only black Bow Street Runner was found to be a gay prostitute in episode two (from memory) and not seen since. There are no women on the "team" as such though they do appear as characters in the investigations.
Fourthly the grime of London is portrayed in pretty depressing detail. This is no "prettified" period drama.
Finally, there are very rarely any genuinely happy endings.
This drama therefore takes the dull checklist of accessible modern prime time drama (none to taxing, PC attitudes should prevail, minorities represented, happy endings) and deliberately ignores all of them.
I really hope it succeeds, but I have a suspicion its brave refusal to "tick the boxes" may mean we should savour this series as a one-off treat