© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHave you ever wondered what it would be like if Ken Loach was asked to direct a 'Peaky Blinders' style costume drama?
Then you are kind of in the right ballpark with Shane Meadows' BBC2 series 'The Gallows Pole'.
Meadows is, of course, an accomplished English indie filmmaker in his own right.
Best known for his film 'This Is England' and its spin-off Channel 4 TV series, he first burst onto the scene in 1996 with the 60 minute Nottingham comedy drama 'Small Time' about petty criminals.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHowever it was his follow-up one year later, 'Twenty Four Seven' with Bob Hoskins as a boxing coach working with young people in a struggling community that really elevated him as a home bred English filmmaking talent.
Since then, Meadows has steered a resolutely indie path with movies like 'A Room For Romeo Brass,' 'Once Upon A Time In The Midlands,' 'Dead Man's Shoes,' 'Somers Town,' 'Le Donk and Scot-zay-zee' and the documentary feature 'The Stone Roses: Made of Stone'.
In addition to the 'This Is England' TV series, he also teamed up with Stephen Graham and writer Jack Thorne for Channel 4's stirring four part miniseries 'The Virtues' about a broken man returning to Ireland to reunite with his estranged sister and to also confront his traumatic past.
While most of his work has been contemporary in nature, Meadows has acquired a reputation for swimming in the same kitchen sink realism pool as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHowever he isn't a carbon copy.
There's other influences at work too and he's not averse to the odd visual flourish and flight of fancy in his work.
Meadows also has an ear for a good soundtrack like the American film icons, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
Now he is back working on the small screen with a three part BBC costume drama, 'The Gallows Pole'.
However 'Lark Rise To Candleford,' this ain't.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsBased on Benjamin Myers' 2017 novel of the same name, 'The Gallows Pole' tells the true story of a community in the Yorkshire Moors who embarked in the 18th Century on one of the biggest financial frauds in British history.
Adapted for television by Meadows, it is a story of how a broken community of weavers and agricultural workers rally around a dodgy, criminal enterprise.
It begins with a prodigal son, Michael Socha's David Hartley bleeding and returning to the West Yorkshire village of Cragg Vale after being forced to flee Birmingham.
He brings with him a kit to make counterfeit coins which he hauls across the Moors like his own personal cross.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsAt first, David faces anger and resentment when he turns up in Cragg Vale.
His father has died and his corpse is awaiting burial.
David's brother, Thomas Turgoose's William has been struggling to making a living as a weaver, thanks to a clothier who hires out spinning wheels but sources product from elsewhere, keeping him and others in the village in debt.
Sophie McShera's sharp tongued Grace hasn't forgiven David for leaving Cragg Vale and breaking her heart.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHeading to the local hostelry, he is briefly reunited with his other brothers, Samuel Edward Cook's Isaac and David Perkins' Tom before collapsing as a result of his stab wounds.
Fortunately David is nursed back to health and, on recovering, pays for a proper send-off for his father's funeral with a bountiful feast in the local tavern - the likes of which haven't been seen in the community in years.
This earns David a place in everyone's good books except Grace who continues to give him little quarter.
However struck by the poverty that the community is now in, this is where David's life takes a dramatic turn.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHe starts to dream of The Stag Men, mythical figures who roam the Moors and urge him to use the coin making kit he has hauled with him and his skills to generate counterfeit money that could revive Cragg Vale.
Doing this, however, poses significant risk with criminal elements tending to dominate the counterfeit moneymaking market and the authorities also punishing those caught doing it through execution.
David, nevertheless, cooks up a plan to persuade Ralph Ineson's clothier Rex Arkwright to bankroll a criminal enterprise that could resuscitate Cragg Vale.
But even with the community's backing, can he succeed?
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsMeadows cooks up a thrilling three part tale that very much feels like an appetiser to what could be a long running series.
He thrillingly ventures into the territory of magical realism, fusing hus historical drama with images that are sometimes Biblical, sometimes horror.
The Stag Men serve as a wonderful Mythical device who not only inspire Meadows and his cinematographer Danny Cohen to conjure up slick images but also give David Hartley's mission to revive his community a quasi-religious edge.
They appear in his dreams like King David's dream of building a temple for God but in this case, the path to paradise is forged through criminality.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsThere's elements of the heist movie and Western too as the people of Cragg Vale execute a daring plot to persuade Rex Arkwright to back their get rich quick scheme.
All this is done with dollops of typically earthy Meadows humour and it is the subtle balancing of this with the show's social and magical realist themes that makes you thank God this isn't Guy Ritchie's 'The Gallows Pole,' which would probably have had Jason Statham in the lead role cracking heads.
While it is stylishly shot and slickly edited by Shahnaz Dulaimy, Lucas Roache and Iain Finlay, it is impressively acted as you would expect from a Meadows production.
The director makes great use of the haunted looks of Michael Socha who was Harvey on 'This Is England' and who really seizes the opportunity to lead a TV series as the enigmatic and troubled David.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsHowever Sophie McShera is more than a match for him, as Grace keeps David on his toes with withering banter.
Adam Fogerty catches the eye too, with a humourous performance as the long winded, beer loving but well meaning James Broadbent.
Thomas Turgoose is excellent as William, while Anthony Welsh is pitch perfect as Abe Oldfield, a former engraver turned vicar and also Yusra Warsama as his wife, Bethsheba.
Former 'Hollyoaks' cast member Nicole Barber Lane impresses as the madam of a local brothel, Susie who also supports David's venture.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsRalph Ineson brings sufficient menace as well to the role of Arkwright, while Fine Time Fontayne stands out as Broadbent's sly father and a potential local troublemaker Joseph.
Aside from the stylish imagery, 'Peaky Blinders' fans looking for a new drama to rave about will be exhilarated by the soundtrack that includes needle drops from the likes of The Mystery Light, Goat, Lankum, The Groundhogs, Crooked Still and the rap act, Dub Pistols whose track based on The Stranglers' 'Peaches' features the late Terry Hall.
'Peaky Blinders' occasionally felt like a show that was all about the image.
However this is a show which at this early stage appears to have substance as well as style.
© BBC, A24, Element Pictures & Big Arty ProductionsIt's a fun watch but it also raises interesting contemporary themes about why disadvantaged communities can succumb to crime.
After three terrific episodes, surely this is an opening gambit and not a one off miniseries?
Surely, we will get more adventures featuring the Hartleys?
Here's hoping if we do that Meadows keeps his steady hand on the steering wheel if 'The Gallows Pole' gets another, longer run.
If he can keep it funny and fanciful, yet also grounded, he might have a TV classic on his hands.
('The Gallows Pole' was broadcast on the UK on BBC2 from May 31-June 14, 2023 with episodes available on the BBC iPlayer)
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