Should I Watch This? A Very English Scandal

Should I Watch This? Sam S******* wades through the glut of television content to offer his view on whether a TV show is worth your time. The only connective tissue for this column is that Sam watched it.

Show: A Very English Scandal

Season: Limited Series (2018)

Episodes: 3!; each between 55 minutes and 58 minutes

How to Watch: Amazon Prime

Genre: Tongue-in-cheek British drama

You'd Enjoy This Show If You Like: Prep school cheekiness in the halls of Parliament; Monty Python wit, minus the goofs; Austin Powers wardrobes.

You'd Hate This Show If You Dislike: Unlikable protagonists; the Brits; a Kevin Spacey (and/or Frank Underwood) figure.

People Involved: Writer/director Stephen Frears combines his two most famous works into this mini series. There's the salacious sexual intrigue of Dangerous Liaisons cobbled together with the stately reaction to bad news on display in The Queen. Plus, the cast is solid with Hugh Grant and a band of familiar looking British lords who you'd recognize but maybe not place from The Crown, James Bond movies, and even The Lobster.  

The Pitch: Short and sweet, A Very English Scandal lives up to the name: Oxford educated Parliament members deal with the Labour Party's rising star (Grant) concealing his homosexual love life. Based on the true story of MP Jeremy Thorpe, this show delves into pretty racy subjects (illegal sodomy, attempted murder, bipolar disorder, horse farms) with the patented British stiff upper lip. Grant stars opposite his spurned lover, Ben Whinsaw, who kills it as a loathsome, high cheeked-boned starfucker who only wants his National Health Insurance Card. For what it's worth, Whinshaw won a Golden Globe for supporting actor in a miniseries (pretty niche but I'd take it!).

When the tongue is not deeply embedded in the show's cheek, Frears presents an honest look at the difficulties for gay men in an increasingly liberal but not quite there society. Grant quips that he'd rather be dead than for the public to know his true preferences, and it's quite devastating. Sycophants also have an interesting depiction: how far will Thorpe's believers go to ensure their boy becomes the Prime Minister; why do they follow a man they know is deranged? 

In a succinct, three-episode arc, we see a budding romance, a messy break-up, and the scandalous aftermath, all the while enjoying Grant eat eggs in variety of ways (hard-boiled, sunnyside up, poached, it's all there), and Whinsaw walk big and small dogs alike. Throw in some stately Parliament chambers and the English countryside, and I'm sold.

Should I Watch This? It depends on your temperature for drawing room intrigue. If the fever is high, this show is an easy, fun watch. If what I described above is too wink-wink, nudge-nudge, you may want to bugger off. While it might be sacrilege to publish this English-centric romp on St. Patrick's Day, there are some cool scenes shot in Dublin, so there.