Ridley Road

Very loosely based on true events, not historically accurate, and melodramatic, I nevertheless loved the PBS four-part miniseries Ridley Road to the point of getting up and cheering or yelling, "get out of there," during some of the action sequences.

Vivian Epstein, (alias Jane Carpenter), a twenty-three-year-old Jewish woman from Manchester, England sneaks off to London to follow her boyfriend James, (alias Peter Fox), when he mysteriously leaves town. She wants out of a marriage arranged by her parents and to be with the man she loves.

Vivian, who works as a hairdresser in Soho, learns that James is working undercover in the National Socialist Movement in order to inform resisters of the groups planned actions. The NSM violently targets and kills Jews. Vivian dyes her brunette hair blonde and becomes a spy in the Jewish resistance movement the 62 group, (headquartered on Ridley Road), first to find James, and then because anti-fascists DO rather than just sitting on the sidelines and talking. Vivian, who becomes fearless in her mission to save lives, gains the trust of NSM leader Colin Jordan. This gives her access to private conversations and offices in the NSM headquarters.

The series is a blend of romance, action, and political thriller. Part of the fun and impact of the series is it's unapologetic good versus bad trope, highlighting the bravery of the resistance fighters in general, and Vivian and James in particular.

Agnes O'Casey as Vivian enjoys a rollicking star turn in her first production. I will watch for her in other projects.

I don't suppose many members of the older generation in the UK remember much about the National Front party fronted by Colin Jordan, but this neat little four part series from the BBC is a timely reminder of how Nazism existed in the early 60's. Jordan seemed to attract mostly disaffected young men, and the Jewish community in the Ridley Road area decided to put up some opposition to their movement. The story follows a young Jewish girl, Viven Epstein who infiltrates the organization and steals incriminating information about National Front activities. Agnes 0'Casey seemed miscast at first, a tentative youngster missing Manchester and all that was familiar to her, but she grew into the role quite well I thought, and by the end of the series I was hooked.

To be honest, it was a trifle slow at times, but the 1960's setting of Swinging London was lovingly crafted, and production values were very high. Rory Kinnear was suitably commanding as Jordan, Eddie Marsan equally convincing as a Jewish activist. There are spells in the story where the action lags, but from the moment Vivien goes to stay at the National Front HQ the action takes off, and the bit where her cover is blown is really fascinating. The overall story was good in parts, and the ending seemed a bit of a let down; for all his activities Jordan only got nine months in jail which seems little for someone who was betraying his country. Nevertheless Red productions have produced an interesting and timely little story, and I was fascinated to learn that Dior's niece was his wife; watch out for her in the series, the actress who plays her has a blast in the role.

My Review - Ridley Road. A new BBC Thriller

My Rating. 6.5 /10

It's a coincidence that the 2 series I'm reviewing today concern stories of anti Jewish Groups and anti Semitic violence . One is set in a fictional America "The Plot Against America." the other based on fact is "Ridley Road ." Set in 1962 Ridley Road is a new BBC four-part drama that covers a little known part of British History ( I certainly wasn't aware of it ) Its both a Political Thriller and a fated love story that takes place in London's East End when far right fascism was on a violent rise .

Based on a novel by Jo Bloom it's the story of the Jewish men and women who fought against the fascists led by Colin Jordan played by Rory Kinnear.

The British National party that would become The National Front were supplemented by the National Socialist Movement led by Colin Jordan.

I read that the series gets its title from the road that housed the headquarters of the coalition of Jewish men known as the 62 Group who took on the National Socialist Movement in retaliation to the groups anti Semitic violence and persecution.

I found the Screenplay by Sarah Solemani at times a trifle improbable and melodramatic especially concerning the romance between Viviene Epstein ( Agnes O'Casey) who follows her boyfriend Jack Morris (Tom Varey) an undercover informer for the 62 Group to London where she also is recruited to join her boyfriend as a spy and convince The National Socialist Group that she will be a valuable and loyal member .

Agnes O'Casey in her first television role is very impressive in this demanding role as she transforms from a shy young mousy Jewish teenager who after a Carnaby Street makeover and intensive undercover spy training eventually talks her way into Colin Jordan's country home headquarters that house the members of his fascist organisation .

There's some thrilling and suspenseful moments in Ridley Road but I got a little bored with the love story it just seemed a little improbable to me that this young girl could achieve what she does seemingly to just impress her boyfriend . The melodrama reaches a climax towards the conclusion of the series . Some of the scenes between Colin Jordan Vivian and his first wife who was Francoise Dior ,the niece of Christian Dior seemed too hysterical .

Then I changed my mind when I read that in fact Francoise also was a Nazi and helped fund various right-wing causes after the war. Their wedding ceremony reportedly involved them both nicking a finger, pressing them together and allowing the drops of blood to fall onto a copy of Mein Kampf.

I enjoyed this series with reservations keep an eye out for it on the ABC I View starting Saturday the 13th of November.

Ridley Road is inspired by a real life clash between UK fascists and Jewish Resisters in London's East End in the early 60's. The contemporary parallels are unmissable with antisemitism and racist hate crimes at record levels.

So I was expecting something a lot more dynamic and engaging than the first episode which took forever to get going and kept going off on romantic tangents.

Direction and script were most at fault, lots of really tight frame cropping for some reason and the script was heavy with platitudes and clunky exposition and short on action. The score was odd, lots of curious mood music that didn't reflect the period or add much.

Cast were uneven but generally good, the lead character was too passive, it didn't seem to be her story. All in all a bit disappointing.

It's like everything 60s is shoveled into this before it happened, the dressers got carried away again?. Eddie Marsan stands out, as ever, with a great performance, the others, mostly...mabye, they were just killing time till the pub opened? It's all a bit BBC with compromise writ large, which sadly, makes the story and characters suffer at the end of the day. I'd advise getting better writers and a motivated cast. The BBC used to do this stuff so well.