The Long Firm (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Bille Eltringham

Writers:

Jake Arnott (novel)
Joe Penhall (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 July 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Harry Starks runs 60s Soho... but he wants so much more.

Plot:

The lives of characters who live, love and suffer through their association with the charismatic charms of gangster Harry Starks.

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Drugs | Violence | Revenge | Homosexual

Awards:

5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Mark Strong	...	Harry Starks
Derek Jacobi	...	Lord Edward 'Teddy' Thursby
Judy Parfitt	...	Lady Ruth Thursby
George Costigan	...	DI George Mooney
Neil Conrich	...	Manny Gould
Geoff Bell	...	Jock McClusky
Damien Thomas	...	Tom Driberg
Robert Boulter	...	Craig
Israel Aduramo	...	John Ogungbe
George Harris	...	Doctor Chukwurah
Shaughan Seymour	...	George Budgen
Andrew McKay	...	Harry's Pretty Boy
Yule Masiteng	...	Dignitary in Nigeria
Dexter Nwanya	...	Nigerian Soldier
Lena Headey	...	Ruby Ryder

Runtime:

236 min (4 parts) | Brazil:220 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Drama Group

Trivia:

Lena Headey replaced Frances O'Connor

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Harry and Teddy go to Nigeria (in 1964), we see cars driving on the right-hand side of the road. Nigeria drove on the left until 1972.

Quotes:

[to John Ogungbe, preparing to torture him]
Harry Starks: Now I ain't gonna enjoy this any more than you, old son, but needs must, as they say. I want the truth, the whole truth - and by the time I've finished with you, by God I'll have it.

Movie Connections:

Followed by He Kills Coppers (2008) (TV)

Very enjoyable and interesting saga of a criminal: is this a return to quality British t.v.?

A very interesting and enjoyable crime saga centring on London gangster, Harry Starks, and those unfortunate enough (and on occasion, fortunate enough) to have dealings with him. The Long Firm is a well-written, well-directed, and well-acted series from beginning to end. These basic criteria being met ensures that The Long Firm has a chance at least at being a good, if not brilliant, t.v. production. But it is very much more than the basic criteria which it more than amply meets: I can also add that this is a intelligent and perceptive foray (exceptional in this day and age) into London's underworld and British society from the period of the beginning of the 1960s onwards, all as seen through the series' principal actor and agent, Harry Starks.

Harry is something of a contradiction: highly intelligent, yet a criminal (criminals are not commonly considered to be among the best and brightest of a country's society); murderously ruthless to those who cross him, yet concerned with justice to the point of ferociously concentrating on seeking out the murderer of a 17-year-old rent-boy who was one of Harry's employees in his male-prostitution ring, and equally ferociously concentrating on avenging the death of this boy; a criminal and so clearly an amoral and immoral man, but not the deeply corrupt, morally repugnant, and fully objectionable man who is Harry's nemesis, a thoroughly crooked, or "bent" in British parlance, and evil detective of London's Metropolitan Police, whose corruption extends to covering over or obliterating the trails of the power elite's most revolting wrongdoings and vile crimes, and who in comparison to Harry, makes this hardened and violent criminal look like a humanitarian. Harry, too and in contrast to most of the characters with whom he has to deal, has certain principles and standards, pertaining to matters from personal appearance and dress to the practice of self-discipline and self-control for material and intellectual self-advancement. And having such principles and standards, and practising them, clearly sets Harry apart. Harry is certainly a criminal, but is no common criminal. He gains our respect, if not our liking of him.

The story as it runs is set off by point and counterpoint and this makes the course of events and the characters that much more interesting. It is about time the Brits returned to making some quality t.v. series and films--the last fifteen years have seen sporadic, though often prolonged, periods of lack of consistent quality in British television--and The Long Firm, based on Jake Arnott's excellent novel of the same name, is a good beginning and, hopefully, marks a return to consistency in (high) quality for British t.v. programmes and films.