Dancing on the Edge

Based on a hitherto undiscovered aspect of British history, DANCING ON THE EDGE tells of the fortunes of an African-Caribbean jazz band in 1930s upper-class British society. Louis Lester serves an apprenticeship in the United States, then takes London by storm with the help of talented singers Jessie and Carla. Initially managed by Wesley, who drives a hard bargain but manages to offend just about everyone, the band is eventually guided by white fixer Stanley, who just so happens to run one of London's leading music papers, a rival to the much better- known "Melody Maker." Poliakoff has a fascinating story to tell of a basically racist society that nonetheless embraces the Louis Lester jazz band, which provides the kind of music than no one has ever heard before. The band are so successful that they even attract the interest of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII). At the same time polite society has a seamy underbelly; if anyone dares to question the idea of white supremacy, then they are summarily dealt with. This rule applies to white and nonwhite people alike. The television series attracted mixed reviews on its premiere in February and March 2013; after having read Poliakoff's excellent screenplay, I am rather nonplussed as to why DANCING ON THE EDGE generated this kind of reaction.

Good points: Matthew Goode was excellent in his role as Stanley. His character was original and he carried the show, in my opinion. Most of the others were all right and did what they could with the material. The story kept me watching and interested to the end.

Bad points: It took place in a depopulated London (reminding me of 'Survivors' or 'Day of the Triffids') and never convinced me for a second that it was 1933. The tame music seemed very unlikely to offend anybody at that date, when much 'hotter' jazz had been available for at least a decade previously. Some of it sounded more like the swing music of the forties. Tom Hughes' character and acting was ho-hum. The hiding from the police became silly and unbelievable in the last episode.

Like others, I cannot understand why the BBC think this director is something special and throw money in his direction. But it's worth seeing.

Firstly, at the time of writing (16 September 2013) the information for this on the main page is incorrect. It says this film/series is not yet released. However, I've just watched all 5 episodes on DVD (2 DVDs to be precise), plus the extra almost 1 hour "interview" between Stanley and Louis. The DVD release date was March 2013.

Like another reviewer I simply don't understand some of the poor ratings for this film. It was an immaculate production with an excellent cast for, I think, a cracking, well written story. It has style, suspense, humour, sensuality, good looks, great music and, as with so much of Stephen Poliakoff's work, a lot of intelligent dialogue and some fairly long scenes. But that's why I'm a fan of Poliakoff's work - it is literate, well researched and observed, and you have to pay attention. It rewards that attention many time over.

I must say there were some performances that were a revelation to me. Jacqueline Bisset for a start, and the late Mel Smith. But everyone was really outstanding in the parts they played. Joanna Vanderham is astonishingly mature well beyond her years (19 or 20 years old during the production) and is destined I feel to be a great actress. One cannot comment on this production without mentioning the singers - 2 established actresses who had never sung in public, in theatre, TV or on film before. They did their own singing and were amazingly good.

No idea what to expect, but became totally hooked for these reasons: 1. Intelligent dialogue and storyline. A very well researched period piece dealing with both early 20th century British culture (a little American too); influence of music in culture (in this case mostly jazz); aristocracy relations with the poor (things never change); black (and other groups) relations with white power (money, politics, etc.). 2. Superb acting. 3. Superb period singing and accompanying music. 4. Most importantly for a quality film is attention to detail. 5. Suspenseful drama (Whodunit?). 6. Left room for a continuation which, unfortunately, doesn't appear to be in the works. 7. Interesting final episode of tidying up loose ends, even interviewing the dead as if they never died.

This new series has been trailed for weeks and the trailer certainly caught my attention so it already had a lot to live up to. I am pleased to say that it did not fail and I have very much enjoyed the first two episodes and looking forward to next week's already. Some of the music is quite exciting but I am not sure it is true to the jazz music which was being listened to in the early thirties but nevertheless very enjoyable. I like the casting,particularly the female roles and specifically Jess, Rosie,Pamela and the photographer. Jacqueline Bisset is excellent as is the Stanley character. Hope it maintains the momentum but it will be disappointing if Jess has been killed off already. Would expect to see more of Rosie as there must be some sort of love triangle to develop.