Intrigue and behind the scene perspective; it holds your attention.
Unlike many, I was not aware of "The Hour" being taunted as a "Mad Men" like series. So I did not look for similarities or make any judgement in that line of assessment. Good for me. It is set in the early fifties and already it grabs you attention with the fact that a BBC news program producer is a woman, Bel Rowley, played by Romola Garai. Indeed, the story revolves around the characters connected directly or indirectly with the BBC. We have a back-door pass sort of speak. I found it interesting that government influence over the broadcasting enterprise was so openly portrayed. The team working on the daily hourly news program are individuals rich with character, all brilliantly exploited to captivate us and keep us interested in the story's development.They convey work ethics of news people, in particular, that of Freddie Lyon, played superbly by Ben Whishaw. Every movie I've seen with journalists as principal roles, always has a more exciting pull. Intrigues intertwine early and the thriller mode kicks in. The storyline or synopsis you may have read will not come close to indicating all the twists and turns this miniseries will go through. There is sex and romance just like in real life of course; no good thriller should be without. As I have come to expect in all movies, period pieces or not, that involve journalists (print, radio or TV), "The Hour" will touch on historical facts and have you ponder a bit, or much more, on what government and powerful people try to get away with. This work by the talented cast certainly shows the sacrifices individuals make as a result of their decisions, good or bad. Who is a spy for the good guys who is for the bad guys, and what's the difference? I highly recommend it for mature audiences, mature in the full sense of the word; if you have the attention span of a video gamer, it will be too much for you to grasp.
score 8/10
JohnRayPeterson 22 September 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2492331/14530
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