The Gallows Pole
(BBC One/iPlayer) “Shane Meadows’s first period drama” – those five words were enough to pique any real TV fan’s interest. Based on Benjamin Myers’ excellent novel of the same name, it told the grisly story of Calderdale’s violent and lawless 18th-century coin clippers. But the show actually turned out to be a prequel, in which absolutely nothing happened. Seriously – nothing. David Hartley (who is painted as a monster in the book, but is a daft, lovable rogue here) and his gang sit around and plan things. The cast – which featured promising names such as Michael Socha and Thomas Turgoose – were left to improvise so freely that it ended up being a totally pointless mess. Still, the drunken night at the pub scenes were fun to watch.
