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For weeks now, there have been approximately zero original dramas hitting our screens, but over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, there were three (handily scheduled against each other): Vera, Case Sensitive and Exile. From the off, however, Exile was always the one with the most potential, running for 3 nights, starring acting heavyweights John Simm and Jim Broadbent, and billed as a high-quality British thriller. Aside from the fact that the BBC has a rather loose definition of ‘thriller’ (it’s more of a drama with a mystery), the rest is undeniably correct.
The story followed Tom Ronstadt (Simm), a failed journalist who, as we were shown in the first five minutes, also has a tendency for drugs and hitting women. A really likeable guy. He returned home to Lancashire, a place that he has not visited for twenty years since fleeing from his father, Sam (Broadbent), who brutally beat him after he found him going through his files. He was also reunited with his sister Nancy (Olivia Colman), who had spent her youth caring for Sam, an Alzheimer’s sufferer. As Tom began to reconnect with his old life, he began to wonder what was in those files that led his caring, placid father to beat him…
As expected, it was the performances that really elevated Exile. Simm carried the series on his back as if it weighed little more than an ant and, in true Simm style, embodied the role perfectly. Despite this, he was undeniably outdone by supporting actors Broadbent and Colman. Broadbent was quite simply brilliant as Sam, possessing a distant expression that was truly haunting, and if you didn’t melt when he asked Tom “Why is this happening to me?”, then perhaps you’re mad, in a coma… The only pity is that Exile wasn’t aired a few months earlier, as he would surely have got another BAFTA nomination along with his role in Any Human Heart.
Also deserving of BAFTA recognition was the phenomenal Colman who, for once, was allowed to be more than just a comedy sidekick. From our introduction to her in the first episode, where her harsh acceptance of her dad’s condition was painfully realistic, to the scene in the final episode when she finally faced the fact that she couldn’t care for her dad any more, allowing all her bottled up emotion to come to the fore, she was mesmerising.
But now we come to the main problem with Exile. The parts where it shone all centred on the struggle to cope with Sam. These moments were filled with exquisite writing, balancing tragically comic scenes with heart-breaking sadness. For the first two episodes, these moments were arguably the main focus of the drama, with the ‘thriller’ aspect not really developing until the end of the second episode. In all honesty, it would have been better if it had been kept as a sub-plot involving a less dramatic revelation. It’s not that it wasn’t an interesting, engaging plot (and it nicely avoided cheap shocks) but, unlike the earlier scenes, it wasn’t special.
Therefore, had the route that Exile followed being altered slightly, it would have definitely bolstered the overall quality. As such, it was only ‘very good’ rather than ‘exceptional’.
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