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*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Well they definitely saved the best to last in terms of the 'Fairy Tales' series...Jeremy Dyson's re-imagined Billy Goats Gruff was head and shoulders above the other three fairy tales programmes as to almost be from a completely different series.The first three fairy tales were on the whole inadequate 'Hello' or 'Heat' treatments - light and fluffy, superficial, one dimensional concoctions. 'Billy Goat', in contrast, put one in mind of the weirder Ladybird Book illustrations by way of Edward Gory.It was strange, dark, funny, imaginative & cleverly questioned our perceptions of the central protagonists - the troll Grettongrat and the boy band Billy Goat. Whereas the troll in the traditional fairy tale seemed to be unquestioningly condemned as the 'villian', in Jeremy Dyson's version the troll was very much the outsider who faced prejudice & ignorance from the boy band and the wider community. Grettongrat became, by the end, almost a noble figure with commendable values.Its narrative achieved what all good fairy tales have traditionally done - illuminating human nature at its essence - universal and unchanging, thereby questioning what really is ugly and grotesque. In this case, it is greed & ruthless ambition that are the true monsters in 'Billy Goat'. Villainy can come in the form of values that people hold & the prejudices they grasp to...Bernard Hill was a memorable, even sympathetic troll & all the cast gave committed, convincing performances. Nice to see some of Jeremy's 'reportary company' regulars in there too - Funland's Sarah Smart & Roy Barraclough plus Ted Robbins (Creme Brulee's Tony Cluedo)Billy Goat was an excellent adaptation - unsettling, weird and darkly amusing with some lovely little touches (the stinging nettles punishment)and gratifying attention to detail - like the 'Almost Orville' poster in Grettongart's office.It was superb and the saving grace of the 'Fairy Tales'series.
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