5th September 2012
After growing up near the site of the Great Train Robbery
and completing a school project on the incident at the age of 5 (though the
fact that I referred throughout to “Rony Biggs” somewhat ruined the integrity
of said project), I was pretty confident I knew all there was to know about the
infamous crime. Mrs Biggs, ITV’s new five part drama, offered a welcome fresh
perspective on the robbery, both for the general public and experts on “Rony”
and his gang like myself.
By focusing on Ronnie and Charmian’s relationship, the
opening episode of the series felt less like a retelling of a historic crime
and more like an original and interesting drama. It is a testament to the
quality of the programme that it never felt like we were impatiently waiting
for the Robbery to happen, rather it was enjoyable simply watching the couple’s
relationship develop.
This was down in no small part to a stellar cast, headed by
superb performances from a charismatic Daniel Mays and an outstanding Sheridan
Smith, practically unrecognisable as the straitlaced Charmian who is tempted
over to the criminal life by the man she loves. Their contrasting worlds were
swiftly and deftly established, and their romance felt believable. Though the
shadow of the future crime hung heavily over the audience this was not at the
expense of a well told love story – the moment when Biggs decides to turn
himself in to the police sniffer dogs rather than risk Charmian freezing as
they hid in a stream was wonderfully played.
Having the attention span of a goldfish, I was worried that
at one and a half hours the episode would feel rather over long, in fact it was
anything but. The robbery hadn’t even taken place by the end of the episode,
and yet the pace never felt slow. I completely invested in Ronnie and
Charmian’s marriage, so that by the time Biggs’s conspirator Bruce turns up,
tempting him like a devil (albeit with large spectacles) on his shoulder, I
appreciated the painful inevitability of what was going to happen to the
domestic life of the Biggs all the more.
The cinematography throughout the episode was beautiful and
atmospheric, building to a crescendo with the robbery at the end, moving
swiftly through the details of the run up to the crime as it is a path that has
been trodden many times before. This, after all, is the story of Mrs Biggs.
The drama brilliantly told the story of the people behind
the Great Train Robbery. If nothing else it is arguably worth watching for Sheridan
Smith’s effortless performance alone, but all round Mrs Biggs is a top quality
drama of the sort that is usually all too rare on ITV.
