

Later, in Singapore, Vera is suspected of being a communist, who is under threat of deportation until Webb takes her in.įarrell’s novel is an anti-empire satire, defenders of the series have pointed out the wealthy white families at its centre are clearly awful, and they are far from being sympathetic characters. Joan meets Vera in Shanghai, where Vera is being punched in the face by a Japanese officer.

Events for the Webbs and Blacketts are complicated by the arrival of the mysterious (sigh) Vera Chiang, who wafts on to the screen mysteriously, and hints at mysteries, though gets suspiciously little screen time in this opening episode.

They’re in the background somewhere, if you really look hard. While Jane Horrocks gamely harrumphs around the mansion as the matriarch Sylvia Blackett, concerned about the impact of their daughter’s floozy-ish antics, Walter makes the most of her charms, seeking information to benefit the business from more than one source.Īnyone wondering where all the Singaporeans are in a drama set in Singapore, well, don’t worry. These days, he’d be considered more than qualified to run a country.Įven though she’s a woman, Joan is far less disappointing to Walter, who treats her as an in-house honey trap, which is as gruesome as it sounds. “How’s he going to run an enormous company?” wonders Walter, which goes to show how standards have been lowered. Monty is a disappointing potential heir: drunk, idle and vulgar, the kind of silly young man who brings a yogi to the house for the sheer amusing novelty of it. When the company undergoes a surprise restructuring, it is Matthew, not Walter’s feckless son Monty, who is likely to be in line for a promotion. “Colonialism, pour elle?” It’s all tea dresses, fancy cars and vaguely Downton-esque corporate and romantic subterfuge.Ĭharles Dance is Mr Webb, the business partner of David Morrissey’s Walter Blackett. One shot of the daughter Joan lounging by the pool almost calls for a breathy voiceover. The action then rewinds six months to tease us with the possibilities, and homes in on the lavish lifestyle of the Blackett family, who co-run a rubber business and live in a brightly coloured haze of opulence that isn’t so much a mockery of it as a glossy perfume ad. It opens with a big, explosive combat scene, and the promise of a night-time escape for Matthew (Luke Treadaway), a softly-spoken Briton set up to be our hero, with space reserved for his girl, whoever his girl may be. The story takes place in the early 1940s, when Singapore is under colonial rule and the British are about to surrender to the Japanese army. The British and south-east Asian advocacy organisation Beats issued a damning statement criticising the series’ “harmful non-representation” of Asian characters and its “breezy and inconsequential” approach to a traumatic period in country’s history. From the moment the trailer appeared, the drama was mired in controversy.

I TV’s Sunday-night slot is typically a haven of softly-softly cosiness, so the discussion, debate and criticism surrounding its adaptation of JG Farrell’s 1978 novel The Singapore Grip may have come as a surprise.
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