The Game, episode 2, TV review: BBC2's 1970s spy thriller seen through the prism of the general election
Like Ed Miliband, our hero Joe Lambe is happy to use his looks to get what he needs - but we've yet to see him tackle a bacon sandwich
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Your support makes all the difference.Listen, it’s election night and you’re just not that into a 1970s spy thriller right now are you? So here is BBC Two’s The Game, seen through the prism of the 2015 General Election.
Brian Cox’s ‘Daddy’ is clearly our very own Prime Minister, David Cameron. While he’s all powerful and currently calling the shots, people are increasingly losing confidence (especially following the unfortunate death of double agent David Hexham) and he’s on the brink of losing power. Just like David Cameron, Daddy’s fate relies on MI5 catching up with the villainous ‘Odin’ and halting Operation Glass.
At the forefront of these efforts to avoid nuclear Armageddon is Ed Miliband, or MI5 agent Joe Lambe (Tom Hughes) to you and me. Like Ed, Joe is happy to use his looks to get what he needs (while Hughes is disturbingly handsome, he has nothing like Milifandom to his name) and has recently proved he has the hard nose to succeed. On the hunt for traitorous MoD employee Tom Mallory (Steven Mackintosh), Joe proved he’s learnt from his past mistakes by not trusting anyone twice. We have yet to see him tackle a bacon sandwich, though.
Nick Clegg? That’ll be bumbling posh twit Wendy Straw (Chloe Pirrie). She’s currently as effective as a Lib Dem cabinet minister – but don’t bet against her playing a major (mole-shaped?) role in the future. ‘Daddy’s Girl’ Sarah Montag (Victoria Hamilton) takes the mantle of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. She’s hard-headed, talented and, bar Joe, the men are all terrified of her. As for gruff northern copper Jim Fenchurch (Shaun Dooley), he’s Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood – a noble outsider startled by how things are done in London.
Beardy, cycle-clip nerd Alan Montag (Jonathan Aris) is obviously Natalie Bennett of the Greens. Nervous, slightly out of his depth, but essentially decent, honest and doomed. Like Bennett’s radio interviews, Alan is perhaps the one bum note of this series. Straining for comic relief, Aris has been given the job of class clown, with Alan a jumble of failed humour and bally-damn-and-blast-it poshness. Expect tears at bedtime when Joe and Sarah finally go into a very rude coalition.
This leaves us with the attention grabbing Bobby Waterhouse – the Nigel Farage of the piece. The courtship scene between Bobby and Wendy was a masterpiece of awkward Britishness, second only to the highly quotable exchange between Bobby and his terrifying mother (Judy Parfitt), in which he called her a ‘silly old package’ and she shrieked at him for displaying emotion. ‘We’re not Spanish!’ she harrumphed. Farage would love that.
Bobby has to be our Farage as I suspect he too is plotting to bring down the establishment (come on, Paul Ritter’s performance is far too brilliant to be wasted on a goodie). All pursed lips and public school bon mots, Bobby might try to project an image of affable silliness but underneath there’s a rogue’s heart, mark my words.
Surely someone’s a traitor at MI5. Who gets your vote?
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