Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Sam Heughan, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jessica De Gouw, Alfred Enoch, Hugh Dennis, Kate Robbins, Joel Morris, Janine Duvitski, Ionna Kimbrook, Daniel Bell, Deirdre Mullins, Mark Frost, Andrew Woodall, Anastasia Hille, Katie-Clarkson-Hill, Noah Holdsworth, Stephanie Street, Clare Burt, Ellie Lucia Mcardle, James Doherty, Aimé Claeys, Ali Ariaie, Dario Coates, Paul Dunphy, Geoffrey Breton, Lauren Douglin, Teli Jalloh, James Burrows, Kate Anthony, Sarah Gallagher, Leila Mimmack, Robert Whitelock, Emma Moortgat, Henry Regan, Helene Maksoud, Elise van Lil, Jade Greyul, Andrew Sheridan, Rob Oldfield, Ace Bhatti.
The act of swinging, of being open to experience many lovers and attitudes of sex, is a complex act to which many will shy away from because of the entanglements and devastation that can come to the surface when excitement and sexual activity is mistaken for love and affection. It is a difficult subject to broach, let alone to portray within or as part of a narrative for a television drama, the pitfalls alone, the sense of seducing the wrong type of viewer, can leave a bad taste in the mouth, a vibe of concern nationally that would make some watchers suddenly take sides with the demonstrative Mary Whitehouse.
To be thrust back into a world where the so-called moral crusader found ways to chastise the forward thinking and the daring script writers is not one we should be contemplating, but then neither should the surface be broken by the intrusion of the needless continuation of a moment when it has been established as part of the plot; in that the tightrope of allusion is one to take care when balancing the object of desirability and the fascination of the expense of a crafted tale behind it.
Only certain television dramas can carry this particular genre with the conviction required, and only a distinct type of actor can convey the message and the madness of those drawn into the web and the fall out that inevitably is strewn throughout.
It is through the notion of a close knit neighbourhood, a modern estate in all but modern thought, with a peeping tom, portrayed superbly by Hugh Dennis, and his suspicious but disabled wife, again with tremendous insight by the formidable Kate Robbins, at the outer periphery, The Couple Next Door brings expectant newcomers Evie and Pete, the sublime Eleanor Tomlinson in absolute top notch form and Alfred Enoch as her journalist husband, into the orbit of serial swingers Danny and Becka, and in that fateful neighbourly greeting serious wounds become unravelled, and Danny’s life as an officer of the law becomes entangled with the imbalance of delusion in that of Evie.
With Sam Heughan and Jessica De Gouw adding huge appeal to their respective roles, The Couple Next Door is one in which circumstances and attitudes collide with feverish concern in David Allison’s tightly driven script.
This is the product of consequence, and one that is every bit as convincing as the viewer would ask to witness.Ian D. Hall