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Ugh, eat, eat before diving into Whitechapel. Don't repeat my mistake of dining on cold leftovers, alone, at night, in a tiny dark room. The first 10 minutes of this 3 part show are already making me wish for more sterile bloodshed. Even Ben Kaplan's death by piano wire in series 7 of Spooks was more palatable than what I'm watching now. But stomach notwithstanding, a respectable start. Murder's murder, after all, and it ain't pretty, even if the people solving them are.
The first death comes quickly and the victim's gurgling taunts the viewer while a police officer carefully approaches the scene - a sharp contrast to the posh bow-tie party that RPJ finds himself at. His senior promises an administrative post as soon as he completes the rounds, and so off boy wonder goes to head up a murder investigation. At the scene, DS Ray Miles (Phil Davis) isn't altogether thrilled at the prospect of another ladder climber taking control, and DI Joseph Chandler's (Mr Penry-Jones) inability to keep his dinner down doesn't reassure him. The fireworks aren't popping, yet, but the egos have surely landed.
Admittedly, Rupert Penry-Jones is not the most devastating actor that Britain has to offer, and I doubt that playing another posh totty law enforcement officer does much for the resume. We'll see if he brings any gravitas to the role, or if he continues to rely on above average writing to float his career. Or more dynamic costars. One senses that Phil Davis, who's always reminded me of a far tamer, and British, Gary Busey, has an enormous store of psychotic energy. He doesn't so much speak his lines as he does growl them, delivering a sharp punch that fills the screen without overpowering it. It makes his the more intriguing character to watch, a good thing because I'm only 10 minutes into the show. Back to!
Alas, my Spooks run must be put on indefinite hold as I am out of access. Where are you, series 5 and 6?! I just finished series 4, in which Adam was pelted with a bullet by a lunatic sharpshooter and rogue agent. Unlike Lucas North who, in series 7, managed to ferry Ros and traitor Connie through London's underground after being hit, poor Adam is left gurgling blood whilst Harry looks to be the next target. Even though word is that the next two series played more like the Adam Show - not that I particularly object to excessive displays of Rupert Penry-Jones - a lot goes down in those forthcoming episodes, in the form of tech guy Colin, nice Ruth, and hottie Zaf. There is an attempted coup, more Adam going crazy, and the introduction of superwoman Ros Myers.
But, if it's RPJ we're looking for, I think I've just set myself up for an evening with Whitechapel, a surprise ITV hit from 2009. The show mashes together some contrasting police personalities in order to solve some Jack the Ripper copycat murders. Mr Penry-Jones does a natural turn as the posh, media-savvy detective inspector who thinks the department foot soldiers could do better with a tie and some deodorant. Phil Davies, who played his boss in the short-lived lawyer drama North Square, prefers the gruff and scrubby way of solving murders and that sort of thing. Whitechapel's been commissioned for a second series, so I'm looking forward to playing catchup.
