McMafia episode 8: Alex’s transformation from banker to kingpin is complete

The BBC’s hit crime drama McMafia concluded last night, with the show’s central character Alex (played by James Norton) marking his full transformation from honest City banker to international criminal kingpin and cold-blooded murderer.

It was “quite a finale” says Carol Midgley in The Times: “Things move like porridge for weeks, then everything bursts into life in the last hour”.

“McMafia was billed as a finessed slice of deeply researched nonfiction, but it also had to make the grade as jet-setting drama” which it finally did in episode eight, says Benji Wilson in the Daily Telegraph.

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But making the protagonist so one-note for so long “was a risk” says Midgley, and while “the final episode was cracking, for many viewers it may have been too little too late”.

It’s fair to say the series has received a mixed reception from critics for its uneven pacing and unbelievable character stereotypes but even though many of its loose ends were tied up by the time the credits rolled, the show’s finale has still left many fans begging the BBC for a second season.

So far there has been no official word from the BBC or US network AMC about a possible recommission, although given the respectable ratings the show has enjoyed over its eight week run, it is fairly safe to assume a second season could soon be in the works.

The big question is whether a follow-up will stick with the Godmans or cover a different aspect of the global criminal underworld.

With Alex having survived the season finale, “there could be scope for the show to return to his story again”, says the Daily Express.

Alternatively, the show’s producers could opt for an entirely new story line with a completely new cast.

The Express notes that season one has taken its inspiration from just a couple of chapters of journalist Misha Glenny’ 2008 factual book McMafia, “so even if Godman’s story is wrapped up there could be a season two with completely new characters and a fresh story involving the mafia”.

McMafia is available to watch in its entirety on BBC iPlayer now.

BBC in the dock over claims it ‘stole’ idea

5 February

The BBC’s hit crime series McMafia has won over fans with its hard-hitting portrayal of feuding families, the global sex trade and international money laundering.

But now the corporation finds itself in legal trouble of its own as it fends off accusations that producers stole characters and plot from another series.

The allegation stems from a legal complaint filed at the High Court by writer and director Wilf Varvill.

He told the Daily Mail that McMafia bears striking similarities to a short film he produced in 2007, which was to form the basis for a proposed series, Londongrad, whose central character Alex, was a the Cambridge-educated son of an exiled Russian gangster.

Varvill says he became concerned when he realised the same producers who had previously taken “an active interest in Londongrad” turned out to be producers of McMafia.

“It was shared on a confidential basis in 2009, 2012 and 2013 with agent Nick Marston, and his client Hossein Amini, together with the BBC, in 2011, 2012 and 2014,” says Varvill.

The Londongrad project was eventually shelved by the BBC because another series, which was commissioned in 2014 and would turn out to be McMafia, “covered similar territory”.

Marston, from leading agency Curtis Brown, which is part-owned by BBC Worldwide, is one of the executive producers of McMafia, as is Amini, who also co-wrote the script.

Both the BBC, Amini and his co-writer James Wakins claim the show is based on investigative journalist and former BBC presenter Misha Glenny’s 2008 non-fiction book McMafia, although this has no central character resembling James Norton’s Alex Godman.

Amini said he based the character on his life growing up in the UK after fleeing Iran following the revolution, but Varvill says the story of the Godmans is closer to the experiences of his own family, which grew up in London after being forced to leave Moscow.

Talking to the Daily Telegraph, Varvill said: “The BBC knew it had already seen a project with an identical premise. That’s why I’m going to the High Court.”

Has Alex turned from banker to gangster?

15 January

Half way through the BBC’s eight-part thriller McMafia and Alex (James Norton) has crossed a thin but distinct line, and perhaps passed the point of no return.

Much of the action in episode four unfolded in Mumbai and centred around the seizure of a tonne of heroin from Vadim. However, the real turning point of the episode, and perhaps the entire series, came when Israeli businessman Semiyon Kleiman (David Strathairn) made hedge fund manager Alex give the heist the go-ahead.

“When he duly did so, the line from that credit sequence was well and truly crossed. He wasn’t just a banker anymore. He was a gangster”, says Michael Hogan in the Daily Telegraph.

Kleiman also issued a word of warning that crossing this particular Rubicon would have consequences “both good and bad” and so it appears as the net tightens on both him and Alex.

There was also a reckoning between Alex and his ethical-banker fiancée Rebecca, who finally learned his true involvement with Kleiman although not how deep their relationship goes.

Unlike many TV crime shows, McMafia is not afraid to treat its audience as adults. It is also a very contemporary portrayal of global crime. Yes there are the obligatory scenes of drug (and people) smuggling across physical borders, but as with most things today a great deal takes place online at the click of a button.

Because of this and its real-life source material, McMafia has been criticised for its stately pace and complex plotting.

Ash Percival for HuffPost says that last night’s instalment “did nothing to really tie up the various strands of the story that are currently developing” and questioned whether the series “is a case of style over substance”.

It may be a bit “po-faced” admits Hogan, but as the series reached its mid-point “it is inexorably gathering momentum as plot threads are ominously drawn together” and it remains “suspenseful, unpredictable and beautifully poised”.

Russian embassy hits out at BBC’s ‘clichéd’ gangster drama

8 January

The Russian embassy has hit out at the BBC’s new hit drama McMafia for its “cliched” portrayal of Russians living in London.

Taking to Twitter, embassy officials complained that the eight-part thriller unfairly portrays all Russians as criminals and wrongfully depicts Britain as being a “playground for Russian gangsters”

The Kensington-based embassy, which has earned a reputation for provocative comments on British attitudes and cultural wares, asked its followers to guess how many “Russian offenders there are actually in UK jails”.

“Correct answer — fewer than ten. Crime rate among Russians in UK is well below national average. Good that our followers are not buying into the cliches BBC is spreading” staff tweeted after conducting the online poll.

According to figures from the Ministry of Justice, as of last September there were 35 Russian nationals in jail in England and Wales, down from 51 at the end of 2016.

Asked about the difference between its figures and the government data, the embassy told the Sunday Telegraph: "We base our data on the notifications that the British authorities send us pursuant to their international legal obligations.

“We also double check these notifications since the persons recorded as 'Russians' are often not Russian nationals”, they added.

McMafia depicts a Russian family exiled in London, whose son Alex (played by James Norton) gets caught up in a world of international money laundering, human trafficking and drug smuggling. While fictional, the show is based on a factual book by Misha Glenny documenting mafia organisations around the world.

Glenny, a former BBC foreign correspondent and investigative journalist, told The Times that the series was “pretty realistic” and drawn from real-life figures, particularly “elements of Boris Berezovsky”, the oligarch who fell foul of the Kremlin while living in exile in Britain and was found dead in his Berkshire home.

It is not the first time the Russian embassy in London has taken issue with the BBC, after previously complaining about its coverage of Russian intervention in Syria. Last month, the Telegraph also reported embassy officials had asked Channel 4's fact check site to assess claims made by the former foreign secretary William Hague about the country's death rates and GDP.

Nor is it the only demographic group to have taken issue with McMafia. Last week the BBC also came under fire from a pro-Israeli organisation for the programme’s portrayal of Jewish businessman Semiyon Kleiman (played by David Strathairn).

In a Facebook post, UK Lawyers for Israel said that the show made “gratuitous slurs against Israeli businessmen and makes references to Israel which aren't mentioned in the original book”.

It also complained that the programme distorted the motto of Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad. In the show, its slogan is quoted as “By deception we will do war”, whereas the proper translation from Proverbs, 24.6 is "For by wise guidance you can wage your war”.

Episode four of McMafia airs next Sunday on BBC One at 9pm

McMafia episode 2 review: is Alex as innocent as he seems?

3 January

Following hot on the heels of its New Year’s Day premiere, the BBC’s new organised crime thriller McMafia returned for its second episode last night, leaving many wondering if its seemingly snow-white leading man is all that he seems.

Human trafficking, the global sex trade, money laundering, counterfeiting, assassinations and family intrigue, not to mention a host of exotic locations; this episode had it all and kept up the frantic pace of the opener.

All these strands set the backdrop for Alex’s (James Norton) principle storyline as he looks to exact revenge on the man who stole his family fortune and murdered his uncle.

“It was all ferociously complicated”, flitting from London to Moscow, Cairo to Prague and on to Mumbai via the Cayman Islands, Dubai and the Negev Desert, “yet it remained involving and remarkably unconfused for the most part, thanks to the assured writing of Hossein Amini and James Watkins, and Watkins’s pacy, pin-sharp direction”, says Gerard O’Donovan in the Daily Telegraph.

The second episode left a number of intriguing questions says the HuffPost UK, not least of which are: does Alex has the stomach and will to be a criminal mastermind and what are Semiyon Kleiman’s (David Strathairn) true intentions?

That is not to say the show is without fault. Like its illustrious predecessor, The Night Manager, some of the action remains is a little hard to believe and a few turn of events seem convoluted, “but like so much else in this drama, it was also irresistibly intriguing. McMafia remains decidedly moreish” says O’Donovan.

Episode three of McMafia is on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm

McMafia: reviews of episode one - and what will happen next?

2 January

The BBC broadcast its first new show of 2018 last night - the drama series McMafia, starring James Norton.

The show centres on the story of an exiled Russian’s son named Alex Godman - played by Norton - who struggles to live an honest life due to his parent’s mafia connections.

The show - which the Daily Mail reports has been one of the most hotly anticipated dramas of the year - is scheduled to feature eight parts, with the first receiving rave reviews from critics across the board.

The Guardian described it as "beautifully put together", adding that "there is a sense of much more power and energy waiting to be unleashed," while The Daily Telegraph said: "One episode in, of eight, it is difficult to tell whether McMafia will scale the lustrous heights of the John le Carre adaptation The Night Manager or take a plunge into glossy melodrama like Sky One's Riviera."

The Daily Express wrote that McMafia "came hurtling onto our screens" and added fuel to the rumours that Norton could be the next James Bond: "Episode one of McMafia served as the perfect audition for Norton, who's probably just sealed the deal for playing 007 with that performance in the BBC drama."

But despite being based on a 2008 novel by Misha Glenny, what happens next may not be so clear. After the first episode saw Godman forced to re-enter the gangster world in a bid to protect his family and avenge his uncle’s death, the installment left a number of questions unanswered as we approach part two.

“Who were the people who killed Boris?” Huffington Post UK writes. “Boris obviously knew the heavies who killed him, having had them over to his mansion to discuss making a move of Vadim. But we’ve been lead to believe they were actually members of Vadim’s crew and they turned on him.

“However, our question is in what capacity had Boris known them, and how had they managed to hide who they were really working for?”

The site also adds that Alex may be on the verge of cheating on Rebecca, having “certainly looked tempted by the woman (Tanya) he met at the club in Tel Aviv, who later turned up at the funeral”.