Critics choice: From There to Here
Writer Peter Bowker wastes no time in letting us in on the locale of his ambitious new drama. With a quick blast of The Stone Roses and a football-venerating voice-over before the opening credits roll, there’s no doubt we’re Manchester bound. The vibrant city is the backdrop for a three-part, intergenerational, inter-class saga, set across four years, from the mid-Nineties to the aftermath of the Millennium. Family forms the heart of the story, and tonight we’re introduced to Daniel Cotton (Philip Glenister) and his cosy Cheshire life. With a supportive wife and two grown-up kids, it all seems smooth enough. The only blot is his wayward brother Robbo (Steven Mackintosh), a perpetually broke club owner, and Daniel has plans to bring him back into the fold.
Bowker uses two real-life events to propel things forward. First comes the IRA bomb that decimated Manchester city centre in 1996, and here cracks open Daniel’s comfortable existence. And Bowker also takes the England team’s path through the Euro 96 football championships as a way of anchoring the programme’s different plotlines. Both these contexts give the series’ essentially small-scale concerns a wider resonance, even if their purpose feels contrived at times. The overall tone of the episode, however, is pleasingly restrained and the performances uniformly first-rate. We also benefit from Broadchurch director James Strong’s expertise, leading us to a well-paced denouement that keeps you wanting more.
Bowker uses two real-life events to propel things forward. First comes the IRA bomb that decimated Manchester city centre in 1996, and here cracks open Daniel’s comfortable existence. And Bowker also takes the England team’s path through the Euro 96 football championships as a way of anchoring the programme’s different plotlines. Both these contexts give the series’ essentially small-scale concerns a wider resonance, even if their purpose feels contrived at times. The overall tone of the episode, however, is pleasingly restrained and the performances uniformly first-rate. We also benefit from Broadchurch director James Strong’s expertise, leading us to a well-paced denouement that keeps you wanting more.
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