Intruders 6Jack learns that there have been three people in his marriage for a very long time…

I’ve commented in earlier reviews that we’ve not had enough of Mira Sorvino in this series, and even that John Simm has been sidelined to an extent. That’s very definitely not the case in this episode, which puts the spotlight firmly on the pair of them. From Jack’s initial fevered searching through Amy’s belongings, to the confrontation between the pair, thence to his horrifying discovery after he puts together two and two that perhaps he wasn’t meant to, neither actor puts a foot wrong – even when the story goes into territory that is deeply personal.

As much as the credibility of the series has relied on finding a nine year old who can pull off the difficulties thrown at Millie Brown, it has also needed a centre in Sorvino’s character. This episode is Sorvino’s real opportunity to sell who Amy is and was, and she grabs it with both hands, dropping into previously known languages, and destroying Jack’s faith in his wife piece by piece. The flashbacks are given from Jack’s perspective, so inevitably he’s an unreliable narrator, but even within the accounts from his memory, Sorvino adds moments into the performance that indicate the truth of what Rose is telling Jack. The hospital scene where they discuss what needs to be – or indeed has already been – done is well worth rewatching after you’ve seen the conclusion of the episode.

Simm owns much of the episode: The Intruders’ author Michael Marshall Smith often writes scenes with just one character in them, and it’s always difficult to put internal monologue on screen without it feeling artificial. When you’ve got an actor of Simm’s quality, though, the audience follows his train of thought, and director Daniel Stamm gives us all the information that Jack is getting to enable this further. The closing shots of the episode are extremely powerful.

The episode may be predominantly about the two of them looking backwards, but there is a certain amount of forward momentum too, as Shepherd locates another potential returnee.

Verdict: Probably the best written episode so far which leads to the strongest performances from the pair at its centre. 9/10

Paul Simpson

 

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2 Comments »

  1. I do hope that ‘Intruders’ is given a HUGE fanfare when it airs in the UK on BBC2 at the end of October – such a shame it couldn’t have aired simultaneously (as ‘Doctor Who’ is doing) – hard for fans of the cast and those who haven’t yet read the book to resist/avoid spoilers without emigrating to the moon for eight weeks! I hope, too, that it gets a second series – I’ve read the book and it is such a fascinating concept – and from what I’ve seen, Glen Morgan and his team have adapted it brilliantly.

  2. Sadly, BBC2 failed to promote the show very well (look at their twitter campaign for ‘The Fall’ to see how it should have been done) and when ratings dropped below 500,000 they shuffled it to the late Saturday night ‘graveyard’ slot, and then failed to promote that to their followers as well. Someone at BBC2 must be Qui Reverti, we’re thinking…

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