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Roadkill: Hugh Laurie Plays a Politician Trying to Avoid Cancellation

On October 30, 2020May 20, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

A brash British populist dealing with a law suit, a love child, a mistress, and a suspicious PM

by Mike Hale | October 30, 2020 | New York Times

Credit…PBS, via Associated Press

Need to lend some charm, suavity and wry humanity to an otherwise objectionable middle-aged British male? Hugh Laurie is your man, filling that neo-George Sanders role in characters both mildly vainglorious (the spaceship captain of “Avenue 5”) and utterly despicable (the arms dealer of “The Night Manager”).

His latest, in the BBC mini-series “Roadkill” (beginning Sunday on PBS’s “Masterpiece”), falls somewhere in between, and trying to guess exactly where is our primary sport across the show’s four episodes. Peter Laurence may be a well-meaning, if destructively narcissistic, politician with a libertarian bent; he may be a soulless monster who doesn’t care about the bodies he leaves behind, perhaps literally, as he claws his way up the government. Laurie’s guarded, superbly understated performance keeps alive to the last moment the possibility that either, or both, might be true.

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Print Media Reviews Roadkill

Hugh Laurie Delivers in Soapy British Political Drama ‘Roadkill’: TV Review

On October 29, 2020May 20, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

Soapy British Political Drama Delivers

By Rebecca Strassberg | October 29, 2020 | Variety

We’ve been conditioned — mostly thanks to corruption, greed and a steady abuse of power — to mistrust politicians. For many, skepticism is such a deep-rooted emotion when it comes to the government, even being too trustworthy becomes suspicious. But you need not worry, that isn’t that case for Hugh Laurie’s Peter Laurence, the center of PBS Masterpiece’s saucy political miniseries “Roadkill.” Go ahead and bank on those instincts. What begins as a straightforward story unravels into an interconnected evening soap, better paired with gin than tea and crumpets.

When introduced, well-known political figure Laurence has just won a libel lawsuit. A smug grin from ear to ear, he’s off to discuss it with Mick the Mouth on “Alltalk,” a trashy radio show on which he appears weekly. It seems par for the course these days that a once guarded political figure could go off the rails on the airwaves or social media. High off getting his way in the high court, Laurence says, “People like me because I break the rules,” foreshadowing what’s to come.

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Print Media Reviews Roadkill

Roadkill reviews: Critics heap praise on Hugh Laurie’s performance

On October 19, 2020May 20, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

Critics have given ‘Roadkill’ a mostly warm reception

by BBC Staff | October 19, 2020 | BBC News

Hugh Laurie as Laurence Peter — The Telegraph said Hugh Laurie was “charismatic” as fictional MP Peter Laurence

The four-parter, directed by Line of Duty’s Michael Keillor, stars Laurie as a controversial Conservative minister.

The cast also includes Us actors Saskia Reeves and Iain De Caestecker alongside Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory.

Critics lauded the performances in the BBC drama but had some caveats, such as the “dodgy dialogue”.

Several newspaper critics bestowed four stars out of five on the first episode, which sees Laurie’s character Peter Laurence battling to stop both his public and private life falling apart against a backdrop of political plotting and intrigue.

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Print Media Quiz Reviews Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking

Quiz Finale Recap: The Court of Public Opinion

On June 14, 2020May 19, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

The Court of Public Opinion

By Emma Dibdin | June 14, 2020 | Vulture

Ironically for a story about trivia, Quiz is built around an unanswerable question. Charles and Diana Ingram and Tecwen Whittock were found guilty of cheating, but still maintain their innocence, and it’s likely nobody but them will ever know the full truth. And just in case we were still in any doubt about how thoroughly the makers of Quiz have embraced this ambiguity, the finale ends with an imaginary Chris Tarrant breaking the fourth wall to echo our collective thoughts: “So, come on then. What’s the answer, after all that? Tell us. It’s killing me.”

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Print Media Quiz Reviews

Helen McCrory steals the show in the final episode of Quiz

On April 16, 2020May 19, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

The star was in the spotlight as the Ingrams’ barrister

by Rachel McGrath | April 16, 2020 | The Evening Standard

ITV / Left Bank Pictures

Michael Sheen, Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford have all been praised for their stellar performances in Quiz – but one of their co-stars stole the show in Wednesday’s series finale.

After making brief appearances throughout the courtroom-meets-game show drama, Helen McCrory stepped into the spotlight as the Ingrams’ barrister, Sonia Woodley QC.

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