Southcliffe Review: “The Hollow Shore” (Series 1, Episode 1)

From there, Chris injures his knee and consults with his uncle, who reveals that Stephen was never in the SAS and was only ever in the artillery “a long time ago”, they then drive him into the woods, beat him, piss on him and leave him. This is the final tick to the ticking time bomb and the episode arrives at full circle. The morning after his humiliation, Stephen begins his rampage starting with his mother and his dog. The gradual descent into murderous intent is one which is brilliantly handled. By taking us into the life of a mass murderer before the murders take place, Grisoni and Durkin find that there is no crazy cult behaviour, no dungeon full of true crime books, no diaries filled with bile but just a man who has been touched by a great deal of bad luck.

Their assertion is that this could happen anywhere to anybody. Southcliffe is a fictional town but it’s also a vanilla town, it could be anywhere and the accents roam from southern to northern. The townsfolk (although complete introductions haven’t properly been made to everyone yet) are all recognisable townsfolk. Also, despite this being a British drama, the theme of the mass shooting is something which is very prescient for American viewers considering the spate of shootings that have occurred over the past years, particularly recently with all the political controversies as well. Commendably, this is a drama which doesn’t take a political angle but simply a human one, Grisoni has said himself that Southcliffe “is not Dunblane” (a shooting which took place in Scotland) but is rather about loss. The next three episodes may delve a little further into some of those more thornier issues but from this it appears to be a taking a much different route.

This is a very slow burn and very patience testing first episode, the reaction on Twitter following the show last night was split right down the middle. One side, very much like myself, found it engrossing, different and challenging, the other side saw it as relentlessly grim and boring. I have to say from only the first episode I found Southcliffe to be indelibly engrossing, incredibly well made and very well acted; Sean Harris is absolutely brilliant and it’s great to see him take a leading role (despite the fact that Rory Kinnear is apparently going to step more into the frame in the following episodes) and Joe Dempsie equally matches him in a very different role than we have seen him in before. I have complete admiration for Channel 4 and Warp Films for making a drama that isn’t necessarily plot driven, for not shying away from difficult material and for having complete faith in its creators to make something completely on their own terms.

Grisoni and Durkin are incredibly reliable pair of hands. Durkin brings his own brand of slow, uneasy brooding tension and unease while Grisoni’s talent as a screenwriter precedes him. He previously wrote the utterly stunning Red Riding for Channel 4, another project that took a fictional glance on real life events, and from this very impressive, very atmospheric first episode, Grisoni and Durkin are a highly complimentary duo and Southcliffe may just be the drama highlight of the year thus far.