Review: #MadDogs Series 4, Episode 1

Here at Philip Glenister Fans we have once again taken full advantage of Sky's decision to show the first episode of Mad Dogs Series 4 early via their On Demand service and we can now bring you our review of episode one.

It is (mostly) spoiler free, but we will put it under a cut for those who don't wish to read. Suffice to say, it's a very good episode and we can't wait for the concluding part!

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Nothing ever goes right for the Mad Dogs. We, the viewers, have come to know that by now, but it seems that Quinn, Baxter, Woody and Rick haven’t quite learnt this lesson…

Finally free from the CIA the boys are reunited for Baxter’s daughter’s wedding. They all say they’re getting on okay, but it soon become clear that that’s not the case at all. Then Rick tells them of his great idea to make them rich again.

After some hilarious scenes involving snooker cues, a fire extinguisher and a fish tank, two star cameos by Phil and John’s real life spouses (Beth Goddard and Kate Magowan) and some brilliant dancing from Phil(!) the quartet decide to go along with Rick’s plan. Which doesn’t bode well, because let’s face it; Rick is hardly the brains of the outfit, is he?

Skip forward two months and all seems hunky dory… the lads (and some of their partners) are back in Cape Town, and meeting up at Quinn’s beautiful and seemingly very secure house. But then, in a chilling shout out to the first series, Rick finds a dead goat floating in the swimming pool and the lads start to wonder if they’ve actually escaped from their past misdeeds. Something that the viewer has known the answer too for a while now. And the final scenes confirm that yes, their past has most definitely come back to haunt them… in a fatal way.

Some of the camera angles are a little strange, but it doesn’t detract from the feel of the episode or the acting. You can tell that these four (six, if you include Beth and Kate) are very close in real life… it bleeds through into the characters and their relationship. And the episode does still manage to pull off the tricky feat of balancing both comedy and thriller elements in equal measure.

We also felt that it was perhaps a little stretched out in parts near the beginning… We wonder if it would have flowed better if it had been one 90 minute special rather than two hour long episodes. But one thing is for sure… We cannot wait for the concluding episode because despite the surreal, wacky and dark nature of this show – We’ve grown to love the four leads (well, perhaps not so much Rick, because he can be a bit of a moron) and we will be sad to see their story end.

Mad Dogs: The Finale will air on Sky 1 (and Sky 1 HD)  on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December at 9pm. Sky’s On Demand users can get the first episode now via their Sky boxes.