Arts & Culture
Why we Brits love our gritty realism TV shows

Gritty crime tales seem to be ‘de rigeur’ at the moment. And without travelling to HBO the Americans do seem to be a bit behind us Brits when it comes to realism.

I’m not talking the hyper real, almost fantasytic realms of Sherlock but the spit and blood dramas that the UK production companies are churning out showing us misery in all its aspects. We’re good at misery us Brits. Maybe that might explain Brexit. It all started, in my eyes, with Prime Suspect but then Jimmy McGovern took the ball and ran with it with the superlative Cracker. In recent years there’s been Luther (although his world might be considered a little fantastic) and the ever excellent Happy Valley. Then there’s the female Luther that is Marcella and recently Collateral. We love gritty realism. But one of the most famous in recent years has been Line of Duty - which after several series has become like the British Wire. It’s that good. So when Sky announced that it would be joining the fray with its own production and that it would be pulling in the talent of Line of Duty makers and starring and co-written by Lennie James, I couldn’t have been more excited. And it doesn’t disappoint. And it doesn’t shy away from the grittiness and realism. I love Lennie James. He’s impressed me over the years with some bloody brilliant performances not least in the first season of the aforementioned Line of Duty. And The Walking Dead. Let’s not forget The Walking Dead. He plays Nelly. An absent father who discovers his daughter has gone missing and goes on a one-man mission to find out what’s happened. And here’s the thing, Nelly is a pub chancer. Like a loveable but very violent Del Boy character. And he’s totally out of his depth. He steals every scene, although he is ably supported by our very own Docter Foster Suranne Jones and the ever-excellent Stephen Graham. And this show does go down some very dark paths into the world of paedophilia gangs and it will leave you a bit haunted. But it’s gripping thought-provoking stuff. You can find it on Sky Boxsets or Now TV if you want to experience this gritty realism for yourself.