![]() ![]() Safe House could have been a very pedestrian, though good, drama but the skills of Eccleston, Thomason, Joseph and Ferdinando, coupled with Evans’ taut direction, lift this episode well above the average. The bad guy of the piece, Peter Ferdinando (the “Half Face Man” in Peter Capaldi’s first Doctor Who story, Deep Breath), is just as skilled as those on his opposite side, evoking disdain with every piano-laden appearance. Likewise, Paterson Joseph ( Babylon, Peep Show) as their friend Mark (and perhaps something more to Katy) puts in a solid and real performance. Her frustration at their predicament bubbles away under the sunny exterior. Marsha Thomason ( Lost, White Collar), playing his wife Katy, portrays with great sympathy. Any “grumpy” or “gritty” descriptions of Eccleston are amiss here. Despite not being honest with his wife, initially, he is man looking for something else in his life – and one suspects that’s to be a father (as the football scene with the young boy of the family under his protection demonstrates). Though haunted, his performance does not let this dominate his role and comes over as a charming, fully-rounded character. Former Doctor Who Eccleston is incredibly warm, likeable and engaging as Robert. To take your mind off these slight niggles is the fascinating cast. But Evans does sterling work with the setting, so it’s hard to begrudge. ![]() Though directed exquisitely by award-winning Marc Evans ( Hinterland, Collision), the “horrible things can happen in beautiful places” trope so prevalent in television (again Broadchurch, or Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude) is wheeled out here. ![]() There is some familiarity, however, in the look of Safe House. Minutes later the arrival of Paterson Joseph is played as a portent of doom, only to reveal a heartfelt reunion. As it does often, misdirection is a hand played throughout.Īfter the sumptuous opening shots of Eccleston swimming, which set the pace for the next 50 minutes or so (this is not a rushed affair, perfectly paced), the audience is “tricked” into thinking something sinister awaits him – only to find a surprise party awaiting. Though the kidnapping of the boy early on the episode may have had viewers thinking, “Hold on, not another drama about a child being kidnapped/killed?” (see Broadchurch, The Missing), Safe House avoids familiarity in this arena and takes a different route. With the assailant on the loose, the family needed to be protected – enter Eccleston, Thomason and their safe house. Thankfully, the boy’s father, Jason Merrells, finds him – though he also finds himself upon the receiving end of quite the violent beating from his son’s would-be kidnapper, ending up in hospital. ![]() In a parallel story, a family’s day out in Blackpool (something I didn’t realise people still did in 2015) is ruined when their son is temporarily kidnapped by a creepy chap named Michael, played by Peter Ferdinando. It is not long at all before this proposition needs an answer. Keen to “rehabilitate” his friend Robert, Mark suggests that the couple’s idyllic hideaway would make a perfect “safe house” – a place where witnesses and those under threat could be free from harm under the protection of the former man of the law. ![]()
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