Netflix fans have just days to watch 'sexy' period drama with near perfect rating
British television drama series The Hour was first broadcast on BBC Two when it made its series premiere back in 2011.
Starring Ben Whishaw, Dominic West, and Romola Garai, supported by Burn Gorman, Anna Chancellor, Tim Pigott-Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and Oona Chaplin, the riveting historical drama has been penned by Brick Lane screenwriter Abi Morgan (who also serves as one of the executive producers on the show).
With hour-long episodes across its two series, the show was mostly filmed in Hornsey Town Hall and its lead director was Coky Giedroy. The Hour is currently streaming on Netflix, but will depart from the streamer on June 5.
Centred around a fictional current-affairs show being launched by the World Service in June 1956, The Hour is set in a BBC newsroom at the time of the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution. It follows maverick journalist Freddie Lyon (Whishaw), ambitious producer Bel (Garai), and enigmatic anchor Hector (West) as they launch the investigative news show — The Hour.
Drama and tensions run high as the three protagonists become embroiled in a steamy love triangle, playing out against the backdrop of a cryptic murder. Set in the ruthless area of sexual politics, The Hour is a show that redefines the historical drama.
Speaking to Digital Spy about what he felt when he first walked onto The Hour's set, actor Dominic West said: 'It's extraordinary, the detail. You get a sheet of paper which I have to hold while I'm being broadcast, which is in the background anyway. There's no way it'll ever be on screen, and yet it's a detailed timetable or list of detailed questions as it would have been."
Actress Romola Garai also talked about her experience filming for the show and said: "You'll sometimes get someone say to you, 'Do you want something to hold?' because quite often it's nice to have a prop or something.
"So you'll get a piece of paper and it's normally just the lunch menu! You'll get a piece of paper on this job and it'll be typed from a Corona typewriter and it'll be the schedule for a made-up show that isn't even in the script with all period dates of the shows that we would be covering. I think the production design might have OCD! It's really, really accurate."
With a smashing 94 per cent rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, The Hour has been lauded by critics as well as audiences. One critic wrote: 'With its casting, its look, its unfolding mysteries, its attention to important historical events, its sexiness, The Hour hits every pleasure centre.'
While another said: 'A gripping thrill-ride of a show; escapist and stylish despite playing a bit fast and loose with historical accuracy at times.'
Another positive review added: 'The Hour is alternately ferocious and tender, and refreshingly clear-eyed about the interactions between gender and class,' and one reviewer observes: 'What makes it so engaging is that it works so well with and within the strictures of the well-thumbed genres it combines in equal parts: spy thriller, murder mystery, backstage drama, triangular romance.'
Praise for director Abi Morgan also ran abound, with one viewer saying: 'Outstanding show: fantastic script by Abi Morgan who also did River and The Split and outstanding performances. Season 2 was even better than season one. The best show we saw this year! I just hope we see more shows from Abi Morgan. She is so talented.'
Another audience review calls The Hour a 'fab series' that's witty and has 'great sets and clothes'. Commending the 'superb line up of the cream of actors', the audience review further states that the show is 'well cast', however 'the pace is a bit odd but it's great evening watching.'
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