Titmuss Regained: Episode 3 – “And the Next Day…” (1991)

 

This is the way the miniseries ends:  not with a bang but a whimper.  In my opinion, anyway – I can’t argue that the ground for the ending wasn’t well-laid, but I just didn’t find it very satisfying.  It focuses less on the issue of countryside development, and Titmuss’s conundrum thereof, and more on personal issues between Titmuss and Jenny.  Even though, like I said, their problems have been apparent from episode 1, they seem to derail the narrative a little here.

 

But what of Ken Cracken, junior minister and senior tool?  The young snake, it would appear, has been reading Machiavelli between episodes.  While in the first two installments of the series, he basically just takes advantage of the situations happening around him and claims them as his own victories, he actually makes things happen here.  He gets a read on people, figures out how to play them. 

 

I like that, seeing Cracken taking a more active role in his own schemes.  I don’t think I realized how little Cracken actually does in episodes 1 and 2 until I saw him at work here.  It’s more fun to see him hatching schemes instead of just plotting them.  It comes down to whether or not Titmuss is able to figure out Cracken’s game and thwart it in time.  Naturally, I’ll leave you in suspense on that point.

 

Accent Watch

 

This might be the best RP I’ve heard from PC so far.  Impressive, considering how early it came in his far and how much thicker his natural accent seemed to be back then.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Eh, not necessarily.  It’s fine for what it is, but I just didn’t find it all that exciting.

 

PC-wise – Possibly.  Cracken is a hoot, and I’m sure PC got a kick out of playing that little weasel.

 

Warnings

 

One sex scene – seen far away and in low light, but still unmistakable.

Titmuss Regained: Episode 2 – “Tomorrow” (1991)

 

Because Titmuss isn’t in enough of a quandary over the whole “shall I take a cement mixer to my old stomping grounds?” thing, episode 2 drops a few more issues on his head.  First, he’s moved back to the country with his new wife (Jenny, a widow – their courtship was sweetly awkward,) and she’s expressed an interest in joining the local group of anti-development protestors.  The press is all too quick to catch whiffs of the story, and Jenny doesn’t exactly appreciate the putting down of Titmuss’s foot.

 

Meanwhile, Titmuss is far from amused by Cracken, his own would-be Brutus.  Cracken has all sorts of schemes that he plots, either in his office or out rabbit-hunting, with Mr.-Burns-ian delight.  But Titmuss has been at the political game a lot longer, and he’s put up with entitled Oxbridge types before.  There’s one episode left in the miniseries – I imagine that, by the time the dust settles, Cracken will realize he’s not quite ready to play with the big boys.

 

We see a direct clash between the two this episode, something beyond condescending remarks about Titmuss’s less refined tastes and brusque manner.  Cracken is self-assured enough to show his hand, and Titmuss in turn shows him what he’s made of.  It’s fun to see Cracken on the ropes, twisting in the wind a bit before he goes underground to plan his next move.

 

Also, here’s an interesting side-story.  Each episode spends some time on the villagers, their protest movement, and the everyday goings-on of their lives.  Today, there’s a scene in which a mother has sent her adult daughter to marriage counseling.  Why?  She has no interest in having sex with her “intended.”  Granted, for her, it’s a personal issue (she grew up on a rabbit farm, knows full well where the phrase “at it like rabbits” came from, and is now sick of the idea,) but I was still intrigued.  The counseling session ends with her having to decide between once-a-week sex or once-a-week therapy.  Darn prescriptive attitudes.

Titmuss Regained: Episode 1 – “Today” (1991)

 

From what I can tell, Titmuss Regained is PC’s first foray into playing unscrupulous politicos.    He’s played powerful, less-than-moral men in sitcoms (The Thick of It, obviously,) sci-fi (Torchwood,) and historicals (can’t forget old King Charles I in The Devil’s Whore!), but this, it seems, is where he cut his teeth.

 

This miniseries is evidently a sequel to an earlier story that I’ve not seen.  Both revolve around Leslie Titmuss, a country man from the “by your own bootstraps” school of political advancement.  Episode 1 sees him championing development in rural areas, but he runs into trouble when his childhood village winds up in the path of the bulldozer.  While he knows that, in light of his usual M.O., it’d be hypocritical to go against the proposal, he has an awful lot of hometown constituents preparing to make a fuss.

 

PC plays Ken Cracken, a junior minister in Titmuss’s department.  His introductory character moment involves yelling at the man who catches him and his secretary in flagrante, if that gives you any idea what he’s like.  Cracken is aggressively ambitious, he’s snobbish, and he seems to enjoy messing with people “just cuz.”  Translation?  Probably not someone you’d bring home to meet the folks.

 

PC’s performance is a lot of fun.  This role came early enough in his career that his acting is still a little unpolished, but Cracken is full of the unique energy that PC brings to his work.  He’s a sleazy, two-faced politician, but in a really entertaining way.  Also, his disregard for the environment (and thus, his love of urban development) is ridiculous.  He takes a palpable glee in it; you’d think he was a villain from The Lorax.

 

I have to say, Shameless was one of the first British series I watched, and I saw all 11 seasons, but I didn’t even recognize David Threlfall as Titmuss.  I saw on the Netflix envelope that he was in it, but I had to check IMDb to figure it out.  Not even a hint of Shameless’s Frank Gallagher, and bizarrely, he looks/seems older in this, even though Shameless started a decade later.

 

Accent Watch

 

A really nice RP, crisp and plummy.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Not necessarily.  Good performances, and the premise is interesting enough, but it’s awfully slow-moving.  Hasn’t hooked me yet.

 

PC-wise – Quite possibly.  Like I said, Cracken is a broad but entertaining baddie.

 

Warnings

 

Sexual content and some light swearing.