DEBORAH ROSS: I was mesmerised by glorious Glenda… twice

Elizabeth Is Missing

Sunday, BBC1 

(Bit Spoilery)

Rating:

Traces

Monday and Tuesday, Alibi

Rating:

It may have marked Glenda Jackson’s return to television after 27 years, but the fact is, you’d never know it. I watched Elizabeth Is Missing once and then, to check a few scenes, thought I’d go back to the parts I needed to see again, but ended up watching it all over once more. So that was three hours of Jackson on the trot, and honestly? I would probably start again right now if I didn’t have to write this. 

It’s adapted by Andrea Gibb from Emma Healey’s best-selling novel. Jackson plays Maud, who is 82 and suffering from dementia. Her house is festooned with Post-it notes written by her daughter Helen (a terrific Helen Behan), saying ‘Turn Off Cooker’ and ‘Lock Door’, while her kitchen cupboards are filled with the tinned peaches she keeps buying. Her pockets are also stuffed with Post-its, as notes to self, and may say: ‘Thursday gardening with Elizabeth.’ 

Glenda Jackson as Maud in Elizabeth Is Missing. It may have marked Glenda Jackson’s return to television after 27 years, but the fact is, you’d never know it

Glenda Jackson as Maud in Elizabeth Is Missing. It may have marked Glenda Jackson’s return to television after 27 years, but the fact is, you’d never know it

But Elizabeth, her only friend, has gone missing, and this disappearance puts her in mind of her beloved older sister, Sukey, who suddenly vanished in 1949. So there is a double mystery to solve. But, most arrestingly, Maud is also going missing (in her own way). The whodunnits I could take or leave, to tell you the truth, but as a portrait of someone who is, in effect, losing their mind, this had me rooted to the spot. Twice. 

Jackson is 83 and not diminished. Age does not wither her. She is powerful and lean. There is no fat. Physically, her limbs moved like sticks that could snap at any moment (mesmerising), while her performance cut everything away, taking us right to the emotional core of a woman who is confused, frightened, frustrated, angry, proud and some-times impossible. Nothing was softened or sentimentalised. 

You felt for her when Helen had to lock her in the house for her own safety, but you felt for Helen too. What was she to do? Maud was often infantilised, much to her frustration. On one occasion the carer who visited daily put her to bed at 6.30pm. So there she lay, with the sunlight pouring in while children could be heard playing outside. Again, you felt for her, but also the carer, as what was she to do? The drama did not take sides but instead pointed out that it’s a nightmare for everyone. There were many stand-out scenes, including one, at a bus stop – when Maud first failed to recognise Helen – that was absolutely heartbreaking. And I was amused by the one where her GP asked if she could name the current Prime Minister and she snapped: ‘I know I don’t like him!’ That was fun. 

As you know, I am intolerant of plot holes, and The Plot Hole Police could have been all over this. How did Elizabeth end up in that house with that garden? Why was there – spoiler ahead – no Post-it note saying: ‘Elizabeth is in hospital’? Wouldn’t that have saved Maud from so much distress? And it could also have been clearer. Who was that ‘mad old lady’ from the past, for instance? (I had to skim-read the book to find that out. Just as I had to skim-read the book to find out if Maud had attacked Elizabeth, as I didn’t find that clear either.) But as a performance drama it was faultless. Accordingly, I’m willing to let the plot weaknesses go. For once. So enjoy. As it may never, ever happen again. 

 As a performance drama it was faultless, so I’ll let the plot weaknesses go. Just this once!

Traces is the first original scripted series from Alibi, the crime-drama channel. A six-parter, on paper it has all its ducks in a row. It is written by Amelia Bullmore (who wrote for Scott & Bailey but, more importantly, as an actress played Alan Partridge’s girlfriend Sonja!), is based on an idea by Val McDermid and stars the phenomenal Molly Windsor as well as, eventually, Martin Compston (though he doesn’t actually appear until episode two). But. 

It’s a forensic procedural with a Line Of Duty-style obsession with acronyms (sigh), and stars Windsor as Emma, who takes a job as a lab technician at SIFSA, the Scottish Institute Of Forensic Science And Anatomy in Dundee. She is encouraged to do the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), where a supposedly fictional case turns out to bear an uncanny resemblance to the way her own mother was murdered years ago. No killer was ever found, and now Emma wants to nose around. 

Jennifer Spence as Professor Kathy Torrance in Traces. Traces is the first original scripted series from Alibi, the crime-drama channel

Jennifer Spence as Professor Kathy Torrance in Traces. Traces is the first original scripted series from Alibi, the crime-drama channel

That should be the through line but the storytelling becomes cluttered. In particular, there’s a parallel investigation into a fatal nightclub fire that has the head of forensics (Laura Fraser) poking endlessly at a toaster while explaining stuff. I’ll tell you something, poking endlessly at toasters is not that interesting. Actually, across the first two episodes there was no real drama or tension at all. 

And neither is this especially original. It begins at the end and then rewinds to the beginning, as does everything now, and it is beset by Emma’s hazy flashbacks, so it’s the same format as, say, Gold Digger. I don’t think it’ll bear watching again. Unlike some other dramas I could mention…

 

 

 

 

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