Trevor Eve's portrayal of this most complicated of TV celebrities is just incredible. Hughie Green always had a reputation as not the nicest of men (off screen) but this drama really helps to flesh out his personality and bring him back to life.
Eve immerses himself in the role in a piece of method acting that would run Robert De Niro a close race. He totally nails all the mannerisms and characteristics that made Green such a memorable character. His appalling treatment of his wife and children is addressed (the scene where he shows his son a train set but won't let him play with it is both blackly amusing and yet hints at the monster within) and yet the scene when he comforts a child contestant who has been sick through nerves, or standing up to a racist TV producer shows that he wasn't totally without redeeming qualities.
The support cast are all wonderful although Mark Benton looks nothing like Jess Yates, and he has a very obviously fake bald pate on. In fact i found myself wondering just how Green managed to become such a firm favourite when he did so many awful things to people, including helping to ruin Paula Yates already damaged life. And yet somehow Green was never short of female admirers. He seemed to live a wonderfully weird life, with sex and alcohol very much at the forefront (and some of the sex scenes are quite graphic)and yet the script has its moments of bizarre black comedy (the scene where Yates and Green sing on national TV is an example of this). Also i should say the period detail is spot on (right down to smallest detail like recreating a period Thames TV studio and an audience looking like they really had stepped out of 1972).
This excellent little film shows that the BBC can still produce excellent drama when its not showing reality show rubbish.
Eve immerses himself in the role in a piece of method acting that would run Robert De Niro a close race. He totally nails all the mannerisms and characteristics that made Green such a memorable character. His appalling treatment of his wife and children is addressed (the scene where he shows his son a train set but won't let him play with it is both blackly amusing and yet hints at the monster within) and yet the scene when he comforts a child contestant who has been sick through nerves, or standing up to a racist TV producer shows that he wasn't totally without redeeming qualities.
The support cast are all wonderful although Mark Benton looks nothing like Jess Yates, and he has a very obviously fake bald pate on. In fact i found myself wondering just how Green managed to become such a firm favourite when he did so many awful things to people, including helping to ruin Paula Yates already damaged life. And yet somehow Green was never short of female admirers. He seemed to live a wonderfully weird life, with sex and alcohol very much at the forefront (and some of the sex scenes are quite graphic)and yet the script has its moments of bizarre black comedy (the scene where Yates and Green sing on national TV is an example of this). Also i should say the period detail is spot on (right down to smallest detail like recreating a period Thames TV studio and an audience looking like they really had stepped out of 1972).
This excellent little film shows that the BBC can still produce excellent drama when its not showing reality show rubbish.