TELEVISION PREVIEW
Heart attack
Reckless is a new ITV drama about doctors falling in and out of love which confirms Robson Green’s status as a bona fide television star. It’s also rather good, discovers Eddie Gibb.
Robson Green first came to the public's attention as the chipper orderly Jimmy. in the long-running hospital drama Casualty. before receiving the call up for Soldier. Soldier. These shows have consistently been the highest rated dramas for BBCI and lTV respectively, and Green is the undoubted break-out
star. - Reckless: Robson Green and Francesca Annls rumple the sheets The rest. as the say. is history and a string of cover versions of songs like ‘Unchained Melody’ recorded cheeky doctor called Owen Springer who tries to have of me. Since Casualty and Soldier. Soldier l‘d with his squaddie chum. Jerome Flynn. ‘We were seduce the wife of his consultant boss. Dr Richard been offered scripts. but it was always to play the very nervous about moving from acting to singing,‘ Crane (Michael Kitchen). By the end of the first clown. Reckless is grown-up acting.‘ Flynn was quoted as saying after the duo‘s upmteenth episode it seems certain that she will receive first- The bantering relationship between the doctors. plus Number One. ‘[But] Jimmy Nail gave us hope.‘ hand experience of his bedside manner. some entertaining sparring between father and son Why Jimmy Nail’s singing abilities should give Springer is a working-class hero who returns to the provide the humour. but early on it is clear that anyone hope must remain a mystery, but the good north from a prestigious London teaching hospital to Reckless is heading into the darker territory of sexual news is that Green is back in front of the camera be near his ill father. as he slowly pickles himself in obsession. as Owen tries relentlessly to seduce Anna having leapt several rungs up the medical ladder to whisky. The role perfectly suits Green‘s ability to be Fairley (Francesca Annis). become a surgical registrar in Reckless. However. the endearineg laddish but just a little bit sensitive too. Reckless was created by former Coronation Street Robson and Jerome partnership will reconvene later ‘When we saw Robson we realised he is Owen.‘ says scriptwn'ter Paul Abbott. who went on to write two this year for Ain ‘t Misbehavin ‘, a gentle comedy director David Richards. ‘The character has wit. stories in the final series of Cracker. Like Cracker. vehicle set during World War II, in which they play charm and honesty — he is an ordinary bloke who this new six-patter displays a refreshingly literate two big band members on the make. Expect more likes football. beer and women.‘ At least one of those touch which elevates words above relentless action as singing. is also true of Green; like his character in Reckless he a means of moving the plot forward. It also confirms But for the moment Reckless is thankfully free of is an ardent Newcastle United fan. Robson Green as one of lTV‘s most bankable stars — Green‘s balladeering attempts. as he concentrates on ‘lt’s a more mature role. acknowledges Green. ‘and a kind of Nick Berry with talent. giving a particularly engaging performance as a one that I think will shatter the image that people Reckless is on Thursdays at 9pm on Scottish.
@— more purchases were made and we French-born American composer who thought that they all complemented died in the mid-60s, has been very _ each other.’ much side-lined. We’re telling The result is a diverse look at music stories that otherwise would not be from the way propaganda songs told.’ played a decisive part in fostering Windows (in The World is, however, its can so often happen with good Fascism in the Iiitler youth not simply a series about tonne of ideas, they seem to originate more by movement, to a cantata based on the music-making. ‘It’s as much about accident "Ian Mon. Windows on great Irish literary tale, m Children films and filnlnaking and making Hie World, a new six-part series of Of Lir. Stops on the way include Paris films about music as about the music documentaries and seen through its sewer system, and music itself,’ says King. ‘it shows a Performances from around the world, the music of the equatorial banana mixture of different approaches to is a case which certainly fits the belt. Each film is introduced by film documentaries. it’s about seeing "'0"!- l’racey Macleod to provide how other people from European ‘We’ve been gathering these continuity, but it is the diversity of cultures tackle the same sorts of docunentaries In an ad hoc way over the sublects which gives the series problems - and the saline sorts of the last couple of years,’ explains its strength. loys. Each film is very, very series producer Andy King, ‘but it ‘A lot of the music represented is different.’ (Carol Main) became evident that we were ' very under-represented on W,’ says Windows (in The World starts on Sat gathering together a series. A couple liam O’Flynn plays The Children at llr King. ‘For instance, Varese, the 15 Feb on 8802.
82 The List 7-20 Feb !997