After The Party (Channel 4)
Why is the focus always on murder, and why does the main character tend to be a detective? This is a common observation, as television is saturated with crime-related content, ranging from cozy historical puzzles to graphic modern-day serial killer plots.
And the answer is simple, as the New Zealand domestic thriller After The Party proves.
Even with strong writing and a solid cast, all dramas need a compelling hook to hold their viewers. Mere feuds and resentments aren’t enough.
The premiere of After The Party does start off with a dead body, discovered in the water near a charming small town, shown briefly in the opening credits. However, there is no further mention or exploration of this death in the initial episode.
The identity of the deceased individual remains uncertain. Her face is obscured, with only one hand visible to viewers. Although she appears to have curly blonde hair, it might be a visual illusion.
Might the victim be Penny Wilding (Robyn Malcolm), who teaches biology at the local boys’ college? She’s a fiery feminist and eco-activist, at loggerheads with everyone from ex-husband Phil (Peter Mullan) to the trawlermen breaking fishing regulations.
Christopher Stevens reviews New Zealand crime thriller ‘After the Party’
For a self-professed crime thriller, there is a distinct lack of death, writes Christopher Stevens
Without an identity, the corpse in the water is forgotten in the first five minutes of this six-part serial.
Instead, we get lost in the countless frustrations and irritations of Penny, a woman who is perpetually angry with everything.
The first time we meet her, she has confiscated a student’s phone in the classroom and is projecting images from a porn tape she found on it.
Haranguing the teens with explicit language, she tries to embarrass them into never downloading sex videos again – they’ll be mentally scarred for life, she warns.
Then she orders them to gather round while she dissects a rat she trapped in her garden.
If anything’s going to scar a boy for life, it’s discovering your teacher knows so much about porn, before seeing her slice open and disembowel a bleeding carcass. That’s enough to keep any therapist busy for years.
Penny proceeds to humiliate the parents of the pupil caught with the smutty movie, cornering them at a sports match and blaming them for failing to put a child lock on his phone.
A moment later, other parents have to intervene as she confronts her ex.
Penny lives on red wine and hunks of cheese straight from the packet. Despite this, we’re supposed to see her as the archetypal Strong Woman, says Christopher Stevens
Christopher Stevens ‘can’t see much reason’ to struggle on watching past the first episode of this new series
And before the week is over, she has threatened her daughter and grandson with eviction, put her own mother in a care home, vandalised a fishing boat, and stormed out of a cheese-and-wine do because a neighbour dared to say that not every man accused of sexual assault is automatically guilty.
That last row clearly touched a nerve – something to do with an allegation she’s made against Phil, though the details are obscure.
Penny lives on red wine and hunks of cheese straight from the packet. Despite this, we’re supposed to see her as the archetypal Strong Woman.
I certainly don’t want to see her murdered, but I can’t see much reason to spend another hour in her company.
Timely warning of the night: A U.S. public information film from the 1950s, on Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal (BBC2), showed children throwing themselves on the ground and pulling newspapers or blankets over their heads. I’m not sure that would be much use.
