The Long Firm

I caught this on itvX.

Upon watching this excellent show I was reminded of the film Sin City. What we get here are four crime stories narrated from differing perspectives and their relationship with the arch criminal Harry Starks.

The acting by Mark Strong is fantastic. The production values are superb and all four stories are engrossing. I could have watched a lot more, so went on to buy the book trilogy once I completed the show.

This show has immense rewatchable value and could really benefit from a Blu Ray remaster but I guess the show was shot on video instead of film.

I highly recommend four hours of your time with this show.

A fascinating four-parter, centred on London gangland boss Harry Starks, and starting in the 1960s. The episodes are uneven, and occasionally implausible, but the series is made unmissable by the looming presence of Mark Strong. He is more than a scary thug, though he is terrifying in that role. At times he is stoical, and even tender, so that you can even feel sorry for him. He is countered by Derek Jacobi as a corrupt peer, drawn into Harry's half-baked schemes, with a splendid cameo by Phil Daniels as pathetic drug-dealer.

The London and Essex settings are excellent, capturing perfectly the glamour and seediness of '60s clubland. When Harry goes further afield, to Nigeria and then Spain, it is a lot less convincing. But overall a great series, well worth looking out for.

BBC2's The Long Firm, starring "Our friends In the North" actor Mark Strong, was full of suspense, humour and tension. Lena Headey, Derek Jacobi and Joe Absolom provide a strong supporting cast, but it is Strong in the role of 60s Mob boss Harry Starks which steals the show. Harry is an East-End, working-class, homosexual, Jewish mobster, who is striving for acceptance in London. Based on Jake Arnott's book of the same name the dramatisation has been true to the original version and leading cast members met up with Arnott several times on set to discus their characters and the story. This is obvious because it's brilliant. Definitely worth watching. A well-acted, well-scripted, well-directed production.

Fantastic!

An authentic image of a gangster and a beautifully conveyed story. Brilliant acting; especially Mark Strong's emotional and moving character. A delicate balance of drama, thrill and violence. It's the plot that kept me watching till 3 O'clock in the morning. The four characters telling their own story in each episode is a marvelous film-noir touch. A masterpiece by novel writer, Jake Arnott, brought thrice as powerful by the conversion to visual which was done perfectly. Not a single boring moment, and not for one second does it lose it's authentic aura. A must-see series.

I binging watched it because I wanted to know the outcome, loved it. Liked the characters in it as well.