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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Barbara Ellen

The week in TV: Mayflies; Without Sin; Prince Andrew: The Musical; Marie Antoinette

Tony Curran, left, and Martin Compston in Mayflies
Tony Curran, left, and Martin Compston in the ‘heartbreaking and uplifting’ Mayflies. BBC/Synchronicity Films Limited Photograph: Jamie Simpson/BBC/Synchronicity Films Limited

Mayflies (BBC One) | iPlayer
Without Sin (ITVX) | itv.com
Prince Andrew: The Musical (Channel 4) | All 4
Marie Antoinette (BBC Two) | iPlayer

Watching BBC One’s Mayflies, you first wonder if it’s a male weepie; a kind of Beaches for blokes. Adapted by Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth Is Missing) from the Andrew O’Hagan novel, it wastes no time in reaching for the emotional jugular. From the moment vivid teacher Tully (Tony Curran) tells his thoughtful writer friend Jimmy (Martin Compston) that he has terminal cancer, everything floods out – sadness, fear, humour, anger, memory – over two beautifully paced, profoundly demanding episodes. This is a drama that’s not only in touch with its feelings; it needs you to be in touch with them too.

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