It is not just NBC and ABC that have been influenced by the success of Mad Men with some of their new shows (The Playboy Club and Pan Am), across the pond in the UK a new BBC produced 6 part drama The Hour is also being likened to the hit AMC show and has been dubbed 'the British Mad Men.' The show airs in the UK starting Tuesday, July 19 and will make it's way to BBC America next month airing from Wednesday, August 17.
Set in London in 1956 it tells the story of the launch of a topical news programme entitled "The Hour" and will explore the social change and sexual politics that occurred in post-war Britain. The three leads who make up part of the competitive team, who also happen to be in somewhat of a love triangle are Dominic West (The Wire, The Devil's Whore), Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited) and Romola Garai (Atonement, One Day).
Whishaw's character Freddie Lyon is a passionate and brilliant journalist who will do anything to get to the bottom of a story no matter what the danger is. He joins the team of 'The Hour' to use the shows resources to pursue a mysterious murder that has been committed which propels him further in to dangerous situations. He is less outspoken when it comes to his feelings for Bel Rowley (Romola Garai), who he has to watch flirt with and fall for Hector Madden (Dominic West), the anchor of "The Hour", who got the job thanks to his well connected wife and through his charm and education. This all becomes more complicated as Bel is a producer of "The Hour", a position that comes with the pressure of being judged as a woman and because of the ambitions of those who work under her, not to mention romantic entanglements that threaten friendships.
Navigating this world of social change and risky investigations features a much larger ensemble cast that includes; Tim Pigott-Smith (Quantum of Solace, V for Vendetta) and Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply, Mona Lisa's Smile) as Lord and Lady Elms, Anton Lesser (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Primeval) as Clarence Fendley who is the BBC's Head of News and instigates the creation of "The Hour", Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, Any Human Heart) as the Prime Minister's eyes and ears Angus McCain, Anna Chancellor (Spooks, Law & Order:UK) as "The Hour's" hard hitting and hard drinking foreign correspondent Lix and Oona Chaplin (Quantum of Solace) who plays Marnie Madden, Hector's spoilt and beautiful wife (for a larger look at the cast click on the photograph above).
The similarities to Mad Men are drawn because of the style, similar period and charismatic but flawed leading man (who has a beautiful but spoilt wife, sound familiar?). The focus on sexual politics and social change is another area that has comparisons to Mad Men but that looks to be where the similarities end. The murder mystery element and the idea of a women being in charge are different interplays in to this kind of drama and it seems that Mad Men is being used as a promotional tool to give a larger audience something to compare it to (I too am guilty of this, mentioning Mad Men in the title of this piece).
The promo below shows the passion of Whishaw, the smug and charming West and Garai rising to the challenge of her role, all whilst accompanied by some Saul Bass like titles. Check it out below and let us know what you think, will you be watching? Is this The Hour that you can't miss?
