Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Daniel Mays, Stephen Graham, Rosie Cavaliero, Amanda Payton, Anna Maxwell Martin, Michelle Greenidge, Richard Adeoye, Richard Gadd, Emily Lloyd-Saini, Steve Oram, Tracy Ann Oberman, Steve Meo, Beau Fowler, Clive Russell, Meera Syal, Precious Mustapha.
Artificial Intelligence divides and polarises opinion as much as the idea of giving the police force greater and arguably unchecked powers as the 21st Century strides onwards; for some the advantage is clear, there is nothing to fear by either cause, it only matters if you have something to hide, or if you suffer from AI-phobia, but laws govern actions of a human nature, take away the human element and ensure potential for a person to be tried by a machine governed only by logic, by instruction, and then place that into the hands of a regimented ideal, and it could be seen by many as a recipe for disaster, a combination of authority that does not have the individual or the group’s best intentions at heart.
Where cold logic does not compute is in the hands of comedy, sometimes just as divisive to the public as AI and the powers of the thin blue line, but certainly a place where freedom of thought still lives, where it can thrive given the right setting, and in Code 404, AI is not a concern because of those that wield the power behind it know full well that it has huge comic potential, and it is one they use to full advantage in the second series of the Daniel Mays and Stephen Graham driven comedy.
There have been many buddy cop series and films that explore the difference between two officers, their dynamic arranged that they could be on geometric and socially opposing sides, except for the overriding truth that binds them, the job, the need to keep society safe. Be it a man or woman, from a rich background and a poor upbringing, wildly differing political views, even dead and alive; all different tropes, all with the same result, to catch the ‘bad guys’ and make the streets free of those that would do harm.
Code 404 gives Daniel Mays and Stephen Graham the vehicle to explore what it means to rely on the premise of faulty artificial intelligence, one still governed by a human heart, and it is that what makes the second series a strong and vital addition to what has become a silver age of British comedy in the last decade.
Scripted comedy does not have to be a laugh a minute, the set up needs to be in place for it to work to its fullest, for in comedy, pathos must also be present, and the fall out of D I John Major’s marriage, his death and resurrection, his failed relationship with his father, played with superb observation by Clive Russell, work superbly against the more earthy, but just as humanly volatile persona of D I Roy Carver, Stephen Graham, and their almost off the wall chief, DCS Bennett.
The series though utilises the exceptional talent of Richard Adeoye as the voice of B.R.A.I.N., one that brings sharp satirical references to the show in a manner that is absurdly wonderful.
A gripping comedy, one that is not afraid to tackle the increasing use of AI in society. Code 404 is in fine nick two series in.
Ian D. Hall