Having just was watched (and reviewed) Paris Police 1900, I find it interesting to be presented with another series with very similar theme to indulge in a little comparison.
Ridley Road, also available on iPlayer and only 4 episode long, is set in 1960s Britain, where a Jewish ingenue finds herself infiltrating the ranks of the National Socialist Movement (the British Nazis). There is actually a fairly similar subplot in Paris Police 1900.
In both cases historical events and characters are drafted in to anchor the narrative, and in both cases, the viewer is presented with a quality piece of television drawing on past events to entertain and potentially illuminate a worrying aspect of our current society. I think it is no coincidence that those two series should appear at this particular moment in time.
That is however where the similarities stop. Where Paris Police 1900 is dark and dangerous, even brutal at times, Ridley Road is solid and safe. It offers all one would expect from a BBC period drama; the implecccable reconstitution, the great ensemble case, the rounded plot. But for those very reasons, perhaps even more so because of its subject matter, it fall a little flat and doesn't quite convince, even if it is entertaining enough.
I think it possibly lacks a little depth too, and is, in the end, little more than a spy story in an original setting, with some historical resonance. Rather than trying to provoque thought or to make a point, the way I think Paris Police 1900 does, it is simply telling an interesting story. It is perfectly adequate, but adequate doesn't quite cut it.
That is however where the similarities stop. Where Paris Police 1900 is dark and dangerous, even brutal at times, Ridley Road is solid and safe. It offers all one would expect from a BBC period drama; the implecccable reconstitution, the great ensemble case, the rounded plot. But for those very reasons, perhaps even more so because of its subject matter, it fall a little flat and doesn't quite convince, even if it is entertaining enough.
I think it possibly lacks a little depth too, and is, in the end, little more than a spy story in an original setting, with some historical resonance. Rather than trying to provoque thought or to make a point, the way I think Paris Police 1900 does, it is simply telling an interesting story. It is perfectly adequate, but adequate doesn't quite cut it.
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