Benjamin Myers’ 2017 novel “The Gallows Pole” told the “true-life tale of the 18th century gang of coin clippers led by ‘King’ David Hartley, whose illegal work and attendant violence came to dominate Cragg Vale in West Yorkshire”, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. Now, it’s been turned into a three-part BBC drama directed by Shane Meadows (“This is England”) – and it’s a treat.
We meet David (Michael Socha) as he is returning to his home village after a long absence, with a stab wound in his side and an idea for how to make some money. If you clip a tiny bit of gold from ten coins, he tells his family and friends, you can melt the trimmings and create an 11th coin, thus delaying “starvation, eviction and untimely death”. So “who’s in?” Meadows’ take “keeps all the energy, density and fortitude of the book, but adds the missing humour”. It’s a drama “of rare quality in every sense”.
Meadows’ first proper period drama has his usual rough and ready improvisation (plus some of his favourite actors). But while some people will love it, I was disappointed, said Ben Dowell in The Times. The actors don’t seem “entirely at ease in their dirty tricorn hats and heavy boots”, and the script is full of repetitive “yammering”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
You do wonder if Meadows is that interested in either “the period or the book”, said Benji Wilson in The Daily Telegraph; but the “performances, the humour and just the life that he manages to capture on film are irresistible. This is a gang that, within half-an-hour, you want to join.”
Where to watch: BBC Two/iPlayer
-
October 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being releasedThe Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
The delightful, smutty world of Jilly CooperIn the Spotlight Millions mourn the ‘Mrs Kipling of sex’
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ showThe Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
6 eye-catching rounded homesFeature Featuring a central spiral staircase in Michigan and a Balinese-style estate with ocean views in Hawaii
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thrillerThe Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern AfghanistanThe Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopicThe Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decadeThe Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
