This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 29 April 2017.
LITTLE BOY BLUE: Monday, STV
THE BOSS: Monday to Friday, BBC
One
On
22 August 2007, 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in Liverpool while walking
home from football practice. A motive for his murder has never been fully
established, but it’s thought he was caught in the crossfire between rival
teenage gangs. Another senseless victim of gun crime. Another tragic headline.
While
the rest of us shake our heads in sympathy and get on with our lives, the
families of victims such as Rhys are given no such luxury. Their unimaginable
grief and anger can never truly dissipate.
Enter
acclaimed writer/producer Jeff Pope, whose four-part drama LITTLE BOY BLUE offers an unflinching glimpse into the living hell
of a devastated family.
Made
with the full co-operation of Rhys’ parents, Melanie and Steve, it follows them
through the aftermath of their son’s murder. It also sheds light on the police
investigation led by a sympathetic DS, and the actions of those responsible for
Rhys’ death (including a teenager bullied into hiding the gun).
Though
necessarily harrowing, Little Boy Blue
isn’t overcooked or manipulative. That’s not Pope’s style. His factual dramas
are renowned for their sensitivity and basis in extensive research.
Even
when dealing with characters as notorious as Ronnie Biggs, Karen Matthews,
Peter Sutcliffe, Myra Hindley, Fred West and Cilla Black, Pope always manages
to tackle potentially offensive subject matter in a responsible way.
True
to form, Little Boy Blue is refracted
through an understated prism of journalistic rigour and compassion. Its power
emerges from the realistic detail of such heart-wrenching scenes as Melanie and
Steve visiting Rhys’ dead body in hospital, where Melanie was gently yet firmly
threatened with arrest if she touched her son. He was still regarded as
evidence of an unsolved crime.
Explicit
mention is made of the police’s tarnished reputation, hence why the innate
decency and determination of DS Dave Kelly is quietly heartening. He’s not an
idealised hero, just a good man doing his best to ensure that an ordinary
family finds justice. He’s just about enough to restore your faith in the police
and human nature.
Stephen
Graham and Sinead Keenan deliver note-perfect, realistic performances as DS
Kelly and Melanie Jones, neither straining for emotional fireworks in their
respective roles. They’re entirely convincing.
So
what do we learn from dramas such as Little
Boy Blue? Why do they exist? More than mere voyeurism, they dig beneath the
headlines and force us to put ourselves in the shoes of everyday victims of
violent crime. The Jones family could be any of us.
Without
resorting to mawkish sentiment, Little
Boy Blue reminds us that humanity endures in a world awash with horror.
But
hey, at least we’ll always have the meaningless respite of generic daytime quiz
shows.
Hosted
by the affable Susan Calman, THE BOSS won’t
cause sleepless nights for the makers of afternoon trivia behemoths Pointless and The Chase. It’s too blandly derivative to threaten their
unassailable cults.
I
won’t bore you with explaining the rules, as I’d quite like you to read the
rest of this review. Suffice to say, it’s a tension-free compendium of standard
quiz rounds – number games, word puzzles, quick-fire trivia etc. – fatally
undone by the easiness of the questions. Pointless
and The Chase succeed because the
questions are well-chosen and occasionally quite esoteric, especially when it
comes to popular culture.
There’s
just no fun in watching a quiz boasting brain-teasers which wouldn’t challenge
even the most bog-standard, pie-eyed pub team.
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