Hotel Babylon

When Hotel Babylon first started I thought I'd give it a go although I suspected it would be the sort of programme that I'd watch a few episodes of before getting bored of. How wrong I was, four series on and I'm still enjoying it. This is mostly down to the great cast, even though members have come and gone over the years the replacements have quickly established themselves.

Set in a London five star hotel we follow the lives of the staff as they interact with each other and the stream of fairly eccentric guests that stay there. The cast includes all strata of the hotel staff from housekeepers and receptionists, a Spanish head barman, a pompous head waiter up to the managers. Every viewer will have their own favourite character, mine is Anna, the beautiful receptionist, played by Emma Pierson, who sees her job as a temporary thing till she can find a millionaire to marry. All the main characters are fun though so I'm sure they will all be somebody's favourite.

As with any series that lasts a few years characters will leave as their actors move on to other things, thankfully even though almost half the original characters have departed it is still as much fun as ever. Being set is a hotel there can be a regular stream of guest characters each with amusing characteristics to bring to the story. Since each episode is self contained don't worry if you haven't seen it before, it won't take long to realise what each character's position in the hotel is along with how they relate to each other.

Great show, unlike anything on TV. 10 out of 10. The casting, writing, directing are all top drawer. Too bad we don't get shows of this quality out of the mills that create shows in the USA. After watching shows like this it becomes really hard to watch the tripe that the big three in their quest for the lowest common denominator churn out.

The setting a five star hotel provides endless secondary characters through which the series cast work their roles, providing danger, romance, humor and intrigue.

Though different, it has the same elements that have made the Sopranos,Deadwood, Oz and Rome compelling TV, that is, great characters, involving story lines and the ability to keep it fresh and real.

I actually have gone back and changed my rating after watching season three.

I have to acknowledge that the BBC played it smart when scheduling this series. It's not too taxing on the brain and perfect for a Thursday night when you're tired from a week at work and ready to ease into the weekend.

The series is set in a five star hotel, revolving mainly around the staff that work there and the more unusual problems they face with some of their customers.

The most interesting character in the series must be Dexter Fletcher's Concierge, Tony. There is definitely something very watchable about the way he's acted and he is undoubtedly the man in the middle of most of the action, due to his job meaning he can pretty much obtain or fix anything or any situation - he's usually a man in demand.

The main central character is Max Beesley's Charlie, the Deputy Manager. Most of the stories are told through his perspective and, like Tony, he seems to play a central role in most of the stories.

Tamzin Outhwaite is the General Manager and seems to be a little underused. Her character comes across as quiet hard initially, although throughout the series viewers are given glimpses that she is kinder than initially thought and it is in these moments she becomes more interesting and three dimensional.

Natalie Jackson Mendoza as Jackie is completely under used. She is seems to have promise as a character and enough charisma to carry a better role but seems to be there merely so that Charlie can have a love/lust interest. It would be nicer to see her with a more rounded role.

Emma Pierson as Anna, the Head Receptionist is a stereotypical, hard nosed, nasty piece of work. The role is massively one dimensional, although entertaining to watch and probably better for it - it wouldn't be any fun if the viewer discovered she had a terrible upbringing/hard life/problems that made her be so mean - it's just more fun to think she doesn't care less and she's enjoying her life!

Finally there is Gino the Barman and Ben, the Head Receptionist. Gino features slightly more than Ben and holds his own in a part that is probably the right size for the role. Ben the Head Receptionist hardly appears at all and it would be more fun to see him interacting with Anna as they could be a funny pairing - he has more promise than he is being given the opportunity to show.

Every week the staff at the hotel have to go to extraordinary lengths to keep all guests happy - this can be from arranging hookers and parties to attempting to prevent suicide bids, all done discreetly so as to avoid bad publicity or obtain good reviews, whilst relieving guests of as much money as they possibly can get away with.

Having not worked in a five star hotel I cannot definitively state how accurate the goings on are - I did use to work in top class restaurants when at Uni however and from my experience in those it is probably more accurate than people realise! Basically this is a good, stylised piece of TV. It won't make you think, it (probably) won't be up for any Baftas, it won't change the world but it will more than likely entertain if you want to just sit down, switch your brain off and watch something fun for an hour or so.

Hotel Babylon is a slick bit of business, superficial yet entertaining enough to a degree; the show does benefit from Max Beesley's observant second-in-command, aloof and cool, all-seeing on the lobby floor, his interior monologue serving to give us a sense of a philosophical insider's perspective. Dexter Fletcher benefits from being one of those street-wise, connected types who seems to have a remedy for every problem. Oddly, despite her glitzy status as manager, Tasmine Oouthwaite came off sexier and more personable in the gritty drama The Fixer than she does here, where her character is often hard yet brittle, with only intermittent flashes of humanity. Again, the goings-on are slickly rendered with the break-neck pacing, cross-cut story lines and slick production values to keep us distracted.

As the series went along though, two problems became increasingly apparent. One, the hotel crew are always up to something, some sort of cover-up or switcheroo, whether in the name of their clientele or themselves or both in some instances, which may in reality be part of the territory but they come off as a kind of a deceitful, slapdash bunch, hardly as all knowing, professional and savvy as they're made out to be, all ultimately deserving the sack. Secondly, the characters generally do not come off as likable or honourable, more obsessed with making a buck. There is one episode where the Raymond Coulthard character cheats in a wine-tasting competition, going up against an old rival. One could have empathy for him if he was dealing with some n'er-do-well who deserves comeuppance, but Coulthard's catty character is merely desperate and out of his depth, compromising a colleague to aid in the deceit. Do we like this guy? Nope. We're not given enough character development to think otherwise. Ditto for the self-absorbed lobby receptionist, who's petty, venal and superficial. True, people like this can be found in any workplace, but watching them week after week minus any other redeeming traits gets a bit tiresome.

I realize these are picky complaints but if our protagonists were bit more rounded or at least made empathetic or charming in spite of their foibles, then the series might have had some resonance and depth, raising it beyond the trifle that is, dissipating from the mind as quickly as a wafer disappearing from the tongue. Nothing lasting beyond the initial sensation.

I came upon this show accidentally last week. I couldn't be bothered finding the remote so I put up with it. Within thirty seconds I was absolutely hooked. It is the most brilliant show to come out of anywhere in years.

The characters have a depth rarely seen on any prime time show. They are sexy, charismatic and appealing to everyone. The humour is black, yet subtle, and I love the way the camera work glides here and there-- it is very "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in style.

Speaking of "Lock, Stock", Dexter Fletcher plays the savvy concierge Tony, clearly the most appealing character. The others each add their own to the show, however, it is the individual guests that bring out the best in the regular characters.

I'll be watching this for a while, or at least until the syndicates take it off to be replaced with some other piece of crap show. I give it 4.5 out of 5.