Love/Hate is graphic/great

Having no insider knowledge of it, I feel RTÉ have done a good job on portraying the life of gangland criminals in Love/Hate. Amazingly, the opening episode of the third series on Sunday night had an average audience of 630,700 viewers, a massive 35% share.

With gangland crime on the increase and reportage in the media more prevalent, this series seems strikes a chord with so many people because it portrays an underworld in Ireland that most are blissfully unaware of to the full extent.

It also takes the average viewer well out of their comfort zone and no more so than in Sunday’s episode which caused Joe Duffy’s telephone lines to almost implode on Monday morning due to the stream of complaint from the public that it was too graphic in content.

The controversy centred around a rape scene and the portrayal of prostitution, but in my opinion the men didn’t get off too lightly either with considerable violence shown to some quarters. As the radio storm continued into Monday evening, it could only ensure that more will probably tune in next week to see what it’s all about.
Certainly, creator and writer Stuart Carolan has cranked up the pace for season three. The six-parter kicked off in spectacular fashion – with Nidge, Darren and Tommy (Killian Scott) staring down at the camera at some as yet unseen horror but with the level of gurgling and rasping you could hear, one could only guess that whatever has happened, it’s not good. With that I was hooked, needing to know who the poor unfortunate off-screen was and who was responsible for his condition.

Going back a few days, we see that Nidge is now running matters since John Boy’s demise in season two with a mixture of steely ruthlessness and shrewd diplomacy. When one of his men is mistakeningly beaten up by the local IRA contingent, new man Git (Jimmy Smallhorne) isn’t too sympathetic to the incident.

A misguided pipe-bomb revenge tactic follows which leads to Nidge going on a Paddy’s Day bender with Git and son, Dano (Jason Barry). Getting drunk with the unhinged Git was never going to end well but throw in some cocaine, a drunk girlfriend and Fran and it all goes to hell. The scenes that followed were, in a word, horrific. The tension created was masterful but almost unbearable at the same time. I looked away from the TV more than once as events unfolded.

Sometimes the episode strayed into unintentional humour, mainly through the varying accents of some of the actors. Tom Vaughan Lawlor is, however, brilliant as Nidge and his accent pretty much stays the course. He is also one of the more believable characters in the show. Robert Sheehan on the other hand as Darren can have a few dodgy moments.

I’m a huge fan of his since Misfits, but he sometimes seems like he doesn’t know where his character is heading for, is he still the guy unwillingly coerced back into gangland culture from series one or is he the ruthless right-hand man he is supposed to have morphed into? Peter Coonan as Fran overacts a small bit but he is still a brilliant character.

It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted but then again, you know from the outset that this is not Glenroe. So, people really shouldn’t be so shocked when it turns out to be not quite for all the family.

Keeping with Sunday viewing, as Remembrance Week drew to a close, there was plenty of warfare on show with films like Platoon and Where Eagles Dare and documentaries on various as aspects of the First and Second World Wars, along with reflections on those currently serving with Britain on the frontline in Afghanistan.

There was a different side to the usual fare on ITV3 however in Housewife, 49.

It first aired in 2006, but seen as I hadn’t seen it I settled down for two hours to see the wartime diaries of Nella Last brought to life. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother during the Second World War in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Nella Last was part of the Mass Observation project, a non-governmental scheme designed to document and examine the lives of people. Documenting a vast portion of her life, she signed her weekly diaries “Housewife, 49”, which was her age when she first began the correspondence. Her diaries of the years 1939–45 provided the narrative for this television film but she in fact continued writing to Mass Observation until just before her death in 1968, which have been collated and turned into three books.

It gave an insight into what it was like for ordinary people to live through World War Two; the bombing of Barrow in April 1941, including her own home at 9, Ilkley Road. During the course of the programme, Last moves from being rather isolated and depressed in a difficult marriage to an outgoing, funny and confident woman who, through her voluntary work during wartime with the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) and Red Cross, becomes a backbone of the local community.

She makes many friends along the way, as her view on her role in life changes dramatically. I particularly enjoyed the somewhat tentative relationship she struck up with Mrs Waite (fabulously played with a stiff upper lip by Stephanie Cole) the head of the local WVS.

The war merely served as the backdrop to the story of her changing relationships with those around her – standing up to domineering husband (David Threlfall) and being involved with her sons Arthur (Ben Crompton) and Cliff (Christopher Harper), who is changed by his experiences of combat.

Not quite Saving Private Ryan in the war story category, but a lovely tale of getting on with life as the bombers raid overhead.