'The Last Ship' by Sting

27 April 2018

On Thursday we were at the Derngate in Northampton to see 'The Last Ship' - Sting's musical about the fight to prevent closure of a Wallsend shipyard in the 1980s. Originally produced on Broadway in 2014, this completely revised version, with a new book by Lorne Campbell (who also directs), has been getting great reviews. Its tale of a working community pulling together to oppose the forces of capitalism has been compared to 'The Full Monty' and 'Brassed Off' but 'The Last Ship' is a bleaker show. A little slow to get started, the second half of the musical increases the narrative pace and builds to a powerful emotional climax. Sting's music very effectively blends North East folk styles with pop, alluding in places to the clog tradition (though I would have loved to see a proper clog dancing number in the show). Joe McGann leads an impressive cast in this touring Northern Stage production, with particularly fine singing from Frances McNamee  and Richard Fleeshman (you could imagine Sting himself signing some of Fleeshman's ballads). The ensemble choral singing was very strong, making the most of the distinctive North East accents. But the real star of the show was the amazing set and design by 59 Productions which makes very effective use of projection to create the massive scale of the shipyard on the large Derngate stage. The visual effects, blending live action and the physical set with video and lighting, were stunning.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

24 April 2018

There seems to be an increasing trend for football players missing games because they get injured in the warm-up but this sort of thing is still thankfully rare amongst orchestral musicians. So it was a shock when the start of our Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert last Saturday was delayed after one of our oboe players was stung on the lip by a wasp while the orchestra was tuning-up. Sadly she was unable to play in the concert – as was our principal ‘cellist who had been taken ill a few days before. Nevertheless, the orchestra managed a fine performance of a challenging programme with Philip Luck’s ‘cello solos proving a particularly impressive highlight. Continuing our season of music inspired by the visual arts, for this concert NSO conductor John Gibbons had selected a series of pieces evoking the sea. ‘The Garden of Fand’ by Arnold Bax is based on an Irish mythical figure, Fand, the daughter of the Lord of the Ocean. It is an ethereal piece underpinned by the constant swelling of the waves. Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic poem ‘Sadko’ also draws inspiration from legend, being based on an epic Russian poem in which the hero Sadko is transported to the realm of the Sea King. The best known piece in the programme was ‘La Mer’ by Claude Debussy – a three-movement impressionist picture of the sea that requires a mixture of concentration, delicacy and power from the orchestra. There was fine playing from all sections of the NSO, particularly the woodwind and Nick Bunker’s excellent trumpet solos. But the highlight of the concert was undoubtedly Richard Peaslee’s trombone concerto ‘Arrows of Time’, magnificently played by Carol Jarvis. ‘Arrows of Time’ is an accessibly tuneful modern piece with playful syncopated rhythms. Carol Jarvis gave a virtuoso performance, demonstrating an amazing dexterity in the fast passages and a beautiful tone in the slow movement.

BBC Young Musician podcast

20 April 2018

Regular readers will be familiar with my enthusiasm for the biennial BBC Young Musician competition which I have written extensively about here since 2006. I am really enjoying watching the category finals of the 2018 competition (currently being shown on Friday evenings on BBC4) and I will share my thoughts after the concerto final on 13 May. I am also really enjoying the new BBC Young Musician weekly podcast which accompanies this year’s competition. Hosted by 2016 BBC Young Musician finalist, saxophonist Jess Gillam, it’s a really engaging discussion about what it is like to learn an instrument, practice, perform in public and develop a musical career. Each week Jess and her friends discuss their own experiences and interview former BBC Young Musician winners. Jess Gillam – who performed twice with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra last year (reviewed here in March 2017 and July 2017) – is a natural presenter: open, engaging and enthusiastic. The podcasts, which have so far covered topics including stage fright, practice and getting into music, are interesting and amusing. There don’t refer directly to this year’s BBC Young Musician competition so there are no spoilers. Well worth a listen. See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062pf6x/episodes/downloads

'The Likeness' by Tana French

13 April 2018

Regular readers may remember that I have been working my way through the six Dublin Murder Squad novels by Tana French. As each novel features a different lead detective I have been able to read them out of order. I have now completed the set by reading novel 2: ‘The Likeness’ (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Grainne Gillis). This is a sequel, of sorts, to ‘In the Woods’ (reviewed here in May 2017) in that its narrator is Detective Cassie Maddox, who was partner to the previous novel’s narrator Detective Rob Ryan, and the events of ‘The Likeness’ take place against the backdrop of the fallout from their previous case. But each novel stands alone as a murder mystery and ‘The Likeness’ is grippingly plotted. I found the premise that an undercover detective could pass herself off as the murder victim, resuming her life amongst her closest friends, a little too far-fetched – even if she happens to be a doppelgänger for the dead woman. But once you go with it, this premise sets up a thrilling undercover investigation to try to work out exactly what happened and who committed the murder. ‘The Likeness’ also introduces Detective Frank Mackey – a recurring character through several of the other Murder Squad novels. Now I’m waiting for the seventh novel in the series to be published.

'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ by Karen Joy Fowler

6 April 2018

I really enjoyed reading Karen Joy Fowler’s 2013 novel ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’, particularly because I had heard nothing about it and didn’t know what to expect – so I will try to be careful not to give too much away here! Rosemary Cooke was a very talkative child: her parents encouraged her to limit her constant chatter by starting to tell stories from the middle, and only saying out loud one of each three things she wanted to say. So Rosemary’s first-person narration of this novel starts in the middle of her story and the reader only gradually pieces together the full dramatic picture. The book opens with a brilliantly attention-grabbing scene but this holds no clues to the unexpected direction the narrative takes. (Or rather there are some very small clues but they only become apparent in hindsight.) ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ has a very cleverly constructed plot and is witty, funny and surprisingly fascinating. But I don’t want to say any more in case I spoil it for you ...

Monmouthshire

4 April 2018

We had a lovely holiday in Monmouthshire last week, staying at a cottage in a small village near Usk, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. We had some great weather and enjoyed dramatic walks up Sugar Loaf mountain and Blorenge. We visited the spectacular castles at Raglan and Chepstow and the towns of Monmouth, Abergavenny and Brecon.

'Julius Caesar' by William Shakespeare

4 April 2018

We really enjoyed the live screening of Nicholas Hytner’s production of ‘Julius Caesar’ at the new Bridge Theatre in London, which we watched at the Odeon in Milton Keynes a couple of weeks ago. The original reviews of this promenade production, where the audience form the Roman mob, were mixed but I thought it worked stunningly well as a live broadcast. Hand-held cameras gave you the feeling of being right in the middle of the crowd without missing any of the action. And the marshalling of the crowd was incredibly impressive, with discreetly positioned stewards making sure the mass of people parted at exactly the right moment to let the actors through. The cast were great, particularly David Calder as a Trumpian Caesar (complete with ‘Let’s Make Rome Great Again’ baseball cap), David Morrissey as Mark Antony (whose “And Brutus is an honourable man” speech was a political spin masterclass), Michelle Fairley as Cassius and the wonderful Ben Wishaw as Brutus. The modern dress production, which starts with a rock band entertaining the crowd at a political rally, is chillingly believable: the merciless slaughter of Cinna the Poet by the mob was genuinely horrifying. If you get an opportunity to see an ‘encore’ screening I would recommend it.

'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare

21 March 2018

We last saw Christopher Eccleston on stage (alongside Jodie Whittaker) in Polly Findlay’s production of ‘Antigone’ at the National Theatre in London (reviewed here in June 2012). As I wrote here, Eccleston was excellent as King Creon, giving a subtle and clever performance, turning his mood on a sixpence and discovering moments of humour amongst the angst of classical Greek tragedy, without resorting to sending it up. So I was fascinated to see what he made of another classical king, working with the same director on the new Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Macbeth’ which we saw in Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday. Christopher Eccleston was impressive again – a mixture of steely intensity and capricious mood swings, conveying much about the character’s inner turmoil through his movement and body shape. There was some great acting but otherwise I found Polly Findlay’s production strangely flat. The three young girls playing the witches were great – their synchronised speech perfectly co-ordinated – but cute rather than sinister. The idea of the witches reminding the Macbeths of their lost children was clever but its realisation wasn’t scary enough. Michael Hodgson’s ever-present Porter – a seedy janitor keeping an eye on the events of the play and chalking a body-count tally on the wall – was amusing but slightly out of kilter with the rest of the production. But Edward Bennett stood out as an excellent Macduff – an exasperated rational grown-up stranded amid a group of over-reacting adolescents. And Niamh Cusack stole the show as Lady Macbeth, giving a brilliantly physical performance with every muscle of her body betraying her thought processes.

'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase' by Dirk Maggs

16 March 2018

Long time readers with good memories may recall me writing here in October 2009 about the 30th anniversary of the original radio broadcast of Douglas Adams’ 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (which was to be marked by the publication of an authorised Hitch Hiker sequel by Eoin Colfer). Now, nearly nine years later, the BBC is marking the 40th anniversary (well time is a funny thing!) with a new series on BBC Radio 4. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase' (broadcast on Thursdays at 6.30 pm) is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on ‘And Another Thing...’ by Eoin Colfer – the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy – with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. It’s a real treat for us HHGG fans, with the remaining members of the original cast reunited for another surreal journey through space and time. But for the uninitiated this is probably not the best place to start. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has become increasingly self-reverential: although a convoluted explanation is provided for why there are now two Trillians, it is no secret that this is merely an excuse for involving both Susan Sheridan and Sandra Dickinson who respectively played Trillian in the original radio series and the 1981 TV adaptation. There are also some poignant tributes to those actors who are no longer available to reprise their roles: in the first episode of the new series we hear The Book explaining the concept of the Babel Fish in the voices of Peter Jones (from the original radio series), Stephen Fry (from the film) and John Lloyd (who co-wrote some of the original series with Douglas Adams). Jim Broadbent does a good job of filling the aching aluminium feet of Stephen Moore’s Marvin the Paranoid Android. And there is an added poignancy now to the appearance of the late Stephen Hawking as The Guide Mark II. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09th4hf

'Mum' by Stefan Golaszewski

8 March 2018

I am delighted to have belatedly discovered Stefan Golaszewski’s brilliant BBC Two sitcom, ‘Mum’. The second series is currently being broadcast but series one is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b09sykkn. ‘Mum’ is a beautifully written, wonderfully acted, painfully poignant, incredibly funny show. Lesley Manville plays Cathy, recently widowed and surrounded by friends and family ostensibly trying to support her through her grief but clearly more in need of her support themselves. Peter Mullan is Michael – the old family friend who is desperately in love with Cathy but achingly unable to make the first move. Cathy and Michael are surrounded by a cast of ridiculously self-centred and annoying characters who Stefan Golaszewski somehow manages to make sympathetic. Lisa McGrillis is wonderful as Kelly – Cathy’s son’s dim but well-meaning girlfriend. And I loved Cathy’s foul-mouthed aged in-laws, played by Karl Johnson and Marlene Sidaway. ‘Mum’ is quite an old-fashioned sitcom: the action never moves away from Cathy’s house and garden. It has a similar gentle subtlety to Mackenzie Crook’s ‘Detectorists’ as well as the sad smiling feel of a Mike Leigh film. Highly recommended.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

26 February 2018

In the 18 years I have been playing with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra I can’t remember us ever selling out a concert nearly a week in advance, but that’s what happened with last Saturday’s performance. Admittedly it was an appealing programme of film music timed to celebrate 40 years of ‘Star Wars’ and, although it is a grand building, Christchurch in Northampton doesn’t have the largest audience capacity. Nevertheless it was exciting to be playing to a full house. We opened the concert with John Williams’ suite from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – a substantial piece of music that shows Williams’ growing maturity as a composer, subtly referencing themes from the earlier ‘Star Wars’ films and playing with various musical forms (as in the ‘Scherzo for X-Wings’). This was the latest concert in our season of music inspired by the visual arts and featured Bernard Herrman’s chillingly familiar music for strings from Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’ which was inspired by Edward Hopper’s painting ‘House by the Railroad’. Apart from another work by John Williams, ‘Adventures on Earth’ from ‘ET’, the rest of the programme celebrated British composers writing for a golden age of British film in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s – including two Northampton-born composers. Malcolm Arnold’s music for ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ blends a typically bold Arnoldian theme with the children’s song ‘This Old Man’ which is sung in the film by 100 Chinese children as they walk through the mountains to escape the Japanese invasion of China. The other Northampton native was William Alwyn whose funeral march accompanies James Mason’s doomed battle through the Belfast snow in Carol Reed’s 1947 film noir ‘Odd Man Out’. It was fascinating to play Richard Rodney Bennett’s ‘Waltz from Murder on the Orient Express’ with NSO leader Stephen Hague – who played on the original soundtrack of Sidney Lumet’s 1974 film. We finished the concert with William Walton’s ‘Battle of Britain Suite’ – the inclusion of which in Guy Hamilton’s 1969 film was apparently due to the insistence of Laurence Olivier. It’s a brilliant piece of music which creates a series of effects in which different instruments mimic the engine noises of the planes, before ending with one of those glorious slow Walton marches. Saturday’s programme was a test of stamina for the orchestra which showcased each section of the NSO but felt like a particular triumph for the brass and percussion. It was an exhilarating concert of serious film music chosen by NSO Music Director John Gibbons to remind us of those many accomplished composers who wrote huge amounts of wonderful music for films that are now largely forgotten. It was great to discover some of this music for the first time and to give it a live performance to a packed audience.

'How to Stop Time' by Matt Haig

23 February 2018

Matt Haig’s novel ‘How to Stop Time’ (which I have just finished reading as an  unabridged audio book, narrated by Mark Meadows) has a great premise. Its narrator is old: if you saw him you would probably think he was about forty but you would be very wrong. Tom Hazard was born well over 400 years ago on 3 March 1581 in a small French chateau. He seemed to be a normal boy, but from the age of 13 he started to age much more slowly than everyone around him. Tom is not alone: there are other people with his ‘condition’, living out a series of lives across centuries, constantly having to move to new places and reinvent themselves every few years to avoid being taken for witches. This sense of the same person living multiple lives reminded me of David Mitchell’s excellent 'The Bone Clocks' (reviewed here in October 2014). It’s an interesting narrative device: this a novel about time travel in which the traveller only moves through time in one direction, very slowly. Tom’s tale is told in flashback, gradually filling in his time in Shakespearean London, on Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific Islands and in Paris in the Roaring Twenties. But this time traveller never brings the hindsight of the future to these historical settings, just the accumulated experience of his long long past. Unfortunately Matt Haig lays out the whole premise in the first few pages of the novel rather than allowing the reader to piece it together. And, while he very effectively evokes the melancholy of being someone who outlives everyone he ever loves, ‘How to Stop Time’ feels like a short story expanded into a novel.

'The Alternatives' by Aditya Chakrabortty

16 February 2018

‘The Alternatives’ is a new series of articles and podcasts from The Guardian which looks at communities who are working out their own answers. Two weeks ago Guardian journalist Aditya Chakrabortty interviewed Preston councillor Matthew Brown about how the city has successfully adopted ‘guerrilla localism’ (see: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/preston-hit-rock-bottom-took-back-control and: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/jan/31/the-alternatives-how-preston-took-back-control-podcast). And this week he spoke to Hazel Tilley, a long-time resident of the Liverpool neighbourhood of Granby, about the remarkable regeneration of the area sparked by a few individual citizens taking it upon themselves to clean up the street where they live. This led to the securing of substantial public and private investment, the development of a community land trust to take houses into collective community ownership and the involvement of architects Assemble – who went on to win the Turner Prize for their work on Granby Four Streets. (See: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/14/community-liverpool-residents-granby and https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/feb/14/the-alternatives-how-liverpool-suburb-upended-housing-market-podcast.) It’s a fascinating story – all the more powerful for hearing it (on the podcast) through the voice of one of the local people who made it happen. And there are clearly many parallels with Voluntary Arts’ ‘Our Cultural Commons’ series of articles (see: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/Pages/Category/our-cultural-commons).

'Novilunio' by Redi Hasa and Maria Mazzotta

9 February 2018

‘Novilunio’ is an intriguingly uncategorisable album by Albanian cellist Redi Hasa and southern Italian vocalist Maria Mazzotta. The ten songs suggest folk, jazz, classical, French chanson, pop and some Latin American rhythms. It’s a delightful mix – gentle, tuneful music with a melancholic air made distinctive by the ever-present ‘cello. You can get a flavour of the album at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=BBd-r6Ao3L0

'Before the Fall' by Noah Hawley

2 February 2018

I’m a big fan of ‘Fargo’ – the TV series inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film (reviewed here in October 2017). So I was interested to see glowing reviews for ‘Before the Fall’, the latest novel by Noah Hawley who created and writes the TV series. ‘Before the Fall’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book narrated by Jeff Harding) is an intriguing thriller. In August 2015 nine people board a private jet for the short flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York. What happens next makes all of them potential suspects in a horrific crime. Hawley unspins his carefully constructed plot piece by piece, mixing the aftermath of a shocking event with the backstories of each of the protagonists in turn. Like the investigators in the story, the reader is quick to leap to a series of possible explanations before the truth gradually emerges. The characters are all very well drawn (and Jeff Harding’s narration brings each of them to life in the audio version). The fall from grace of the mega-rich and the resulting media frenzy reminded me of Tom Wolfe’s novels ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ and ‘A Man in Full’. ‘Before the Fall’ is a gripping page turner.

The Blockheads

26 January 2018

Last Friday we were back at the MK11 venue in Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, to see The Blockheads. Regular readers who are keeping count will know this is the sixth time we have seen the band since our first encounter in July 2007, the last time also being at MK11 (reviewed here in December 2016). But this time the usual set-list of Ian Dury-era favourites was interspersed with songs from The Blockheads’ new album, ‘Beyond the Call of Dury’. At first listen the new songs sounded instantly and unmistakably Blockheads with catchy tunes, funky beats and those clever, dry, witty lyrics – but with occasional contemporary references to mobile phones etc. The Blockheads were on fine form – blending cheekiness, silliness and fun with incredibly slick musicianship. They always put on a great show and it’s always a pleasure to see them still going strong.

'A Passage to India' by E.M. Forster, adapted by Simon Dormandy

15 January 2018

On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see a new adaptation, by Simon Dormandy, of E.M. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’ in a joint production by the Royal & Derngate and simple8, directed by Sebastian Armesto and Simon Dormandy. I have fond memories of a very good stage version of ‘A Passage to India’ by Shared Experience at Milton Keynes Theatre in 2002 and this new version was similarly impressive. With a minimal set, the focus was very much on the actors and this was a strong ensemble piece, with a large cast collectively becoming a carriage, a train, an elephant and the Marabar Caves. Original music by Kuljit Bhamra was performed live on the stage, with the combination of ‘cello and tabla emphasising the Anglo/Indian confrontations in the story. The cast were all very strong with particularly impressive performances by Asif Khan as Dr Aziz, Liz Crowther as Mrs Moore and Richard Goulding (who we last saw as Prince Harry in Mike Bartlett’s 'King Charles III', reviewed here in January 2015) as Fielding.

‘Angstrom: The Man Who Wasn't Dead’ by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley

12 January 2018

This week I stumbled across the first episode of an excellent new radio comedy series. ‘Angstrom: The Man Who Wasn't Dead’ (on BBC Radio 4 at 6.30 pm on Wednesdays) is a very silly parody of Scandi-crime TV series, written by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley. Matthew Holness plays Knut Ångström – a brooding, alcoholic, maverick Swedish detective from the tough streets of Oslo. The absence of a body, or any evidence that anyone has been killed, doesn’t stop Angstrom treating every incident he encounters as a potential murder. It’s a loving pastiche of ‘The Killing’ (reviewed here in December 2011), ‘The Bridge’ (reviewed here in January 2014), ‘Wallander’ etc. Wonderfully childish and very funny – I’m really looking forward to Episode 2. You can listen to ‘Angstrom’ at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l0ds8

'Reservoir 13' by Jon McGregor

5 January 2018

One of my favourite episodes of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ is ‘The Missing Page’ (written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1960). Tony Hancock is reading a salacious murder mystery (‘Lady, Don't Fall Backwards’ by Darcy Sarto) but when he gets to the end the last page has been torn out, depriving him of the identity of the killer. Desperate to know whodunnit, Hancock sets out on a quest to find the missing page. The idea of a crime novel without a solution feels inherently frustrating but Jon McGregor’s wonderful new novel ‘Reservoir 13’ very effectively subverts the genre. ‘Reservoir 13’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Matt Bates) starts with the disappearance of a 13 year-old girl, Rebecca Shaw, who has been staying with her parents in a holiday cottage in a small Derbyshire village over the New Year. “When last seen she’d been wearing a white hooded top with a navy-blue body warmer, black jeans and canvas shoes. She was five feet tall, with straight, dark-blond, shoulder-length hair.” This description of the missing girl is one of several phrases that are repeated so often through the novel they become poetic mantras. As the villagers join forces to search the moors and the police investigation begins to probe into all aspects of village life, Jon McGregor plays with our expectations, suggesting all the familiar tropes of a crime novel. But soon it becomes clear that the disappearance of “Rebecca or Becky or Bex” is really just a hook for a beautifully drawn portrait of life in a small rural community. The seasons pass, and then the years, and we get to know many of the villagers, following the interlocking network of their personal stories in an elegant and completely believable soap opera. McGregor writes in short, simple sentences which have a poetic quality that reminded me of that other literary picture of a village and its inhabitants, Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’. McGregor’s omniscient third-person narrative makes no judgements, merely reporting events as they happen in a flat, matter-of-fact tone which seems to make them strangely more poignant. Events are also presented with the assumption that we already know the protagonists: there is no backstory and time moves relentlessly forward throughout the novel. I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to reveal that we never find out what happened to Becky Shaw (though there are plenty of hints about a range of possible explanations). But this doesn’t make ‘Reservoir 13’ a frustrating read: it is an unusual and compelling novel and I didn’t want to finish it. It was very exciting, therefore, to discover the companion podcast series ‘The Reservoir Tapes’, being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and available to download as free podcasts. In the 15 episodes of ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ Jon McGregor has written individual perspectives (‘Charlotte’s Story’, ‘Vicky’s Story’, ‘Deepak’s Story’ etc) which cast light on events before and after Becky Shaw’s disappearance. The podcasts introduce some new characters that don’t appear in the novel and many of them relate to a period before the start of the novel. But they completely integrate with what we know from the novel, forming an elaborate jigsaw puzzle in which everything starts to become clear – apart from the one thing we really want to know: what happened to Becky Shaw? See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097n5h3 or search for ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ in your podcast app.

'Dark' by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar

19 December 2017

I’ve just finished watching ‘Dark’ – the first German language commission from Netflix. This 10-part TV serial is a science-fiction thriller set in a small town in southern Germany. Superficially it has a lot in common with that other Netflix hit ‘Stranger Things’ (reviewed here in August 2016 and November 2017) but ‘Dark’ is much, well, darker. ‘Dark’ is written by Jantje Friese and directed by Baran bo Odar. It soon becomes clear that this is a time travel tale with an incredibly complex plot. To follow it you need to piece together a jigsaw involving three family trees over at least three generations, as you encounter many of the family members at several points in their lives – but not in the order you would expect. This family saga aspect, set in a small German town, reminded me of Edgar Reitz’s epic ‘Heimat’ films. ‘Dark’ also has elements of ‘Back to the Future’ and Steven Moffat’s brilliant 2007 Doctor Who episode, ‘Blink’ (starring Carey Mulligan). I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to unpick the complicated plot and it was terribly satisfying to work out some of the connections and twists just before they were revealed. The acting is great and the casting of the younger and older versions of each character is amazing. Highly recommended, with two caveats: don’t be tempted to binge-watch – you will need time between episodes to process what on earth is going on!; and make sure you select the original German-language version with subtitles rather than suffering the dubbed American voices.