The Williams brothers really are one of the most prolific makers of crime drama in the UK. The Missing, Angela Black, Baptiste, Liar, Rellik… their output has striven to be bold and interesting. Some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t.
But with their last series The Tourist, they veered off in a new direction – black, Coen brothers-style humour. If that series did some interesting, fun things, Boat Story does a LOT more. Where The Tourist was No Country For Old Men, Boat Story is Fargo.
In the first few minutes alone we have narration, silent movie-style chapter cards, a severed head (and a mangled hand in an accident with some heavy machinery) and a fight to the death on a boat between a corrupt copper and a drug smuggler. Both died. It’s quite the start, and very Fargo.
Our main characters – Janet Campbell and Samuel Wells (Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph, both known better for comedy roles) – are losers. Janet is the one whose hand got mangled, and Samuel has moved up to the northern coastal town of Applebury from London. They get chatting on the beach as they walk their dogs next to a shipwrecked boat – the same boat where the drug smuggler and corrupt copper mauled each other to death. They not only find the bodies, but they also find what they had been fighting about – tens of millions of pounds worth of cocaine.
When I say that this is reminiscent of Fargo is because it’s about people making wrong decisions and reaping the consequences. Janet and Samuel decide to keep the drugs because they have nothing left to lose.
But what they don’t count on is that they’re not the only people interested in the drugs. We’ve seen this in other series and films that use this kind of comedic noirish plot device – the police, ruthless hitmen, a French drug dealer who masquerades as a tailor (The Tailor), and the boyfriend of the deceased are all after that precious cargo.
Some notes on this opening episode: it’s FUN! It zips around like a dervish, shooting off hither and thither with real energy and chutzpah. This is what happened in the opening episodes of The Tourist, and Boat Story does the same. I do feel it over-eggs the quirkiness sometimes, but it teems with ideas and funny, strange, macabre little moments. And, as it says in the chapter cards – sometimes epilogues need prologues, so the time jumps are signposted and easier to digest. And there’s a nice twist at the end.
This won’t be for everyone, but for those who appreciate a bit of attempted ingenuity on a Sunday night, this could be worth a watch.
Episode two tomorrow (Monday) night.
Paul Hirons
The Killing Times 
Well … you obviously enthused but this time I am in the “not for everyone” category despite the Williams Bros. Surprising as I really liked The Tourist, Giri/Haji and North Sea Connection (similar story but much better and based in lovely Irish fishing port). All of these introduced many novel quirky moments which I enjoyed. And I have seen and enjoyed all the Coen bros films.
Sorry, this first episode all seemed a bit too quirky for the sake of it and, despite one or two new moments, puts me off wanting to persevere to the end of the series. And North Sea Connection is far better!!
Many will like and enjoy it though – especially BBC.
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We started with this, but something about the violence, unremitting and not palatable… no, we let it rest. Maybe go back after that opening.
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I loved it! If all episodes would have been up I would have been up all night binge watching. Looking forward to the next episode.
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Thought it tried far too hard to be different, with the odd voiceovers, rapid recap (of sorts), and stuttering start. Once we got past the first crime scene with the parody Policeman, we both said ‘ this isn’t doing it for me; and switched off. What’s wrong with a crime, investigation, resolution, justice plot ?
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