TV Series Review: Gone

 

Gone is a British TV series starring David Morrissey. The story revolves around the disappearance of a headmaster’s wife at the elite boys’ school in Bristol where they both work. One day Sarah Polly just does not come home. Her husband Michael takes a while to report her missing, which immediately raises red flags. The school rallies around him but he is a hard person to sympathise with, appearing cold, uncaring, indifferent, and guilty. There’s no body, no note, no indication of whether she left on her own or was kidnapped. Gradually initial sympathy from the other teachers, parents, and the boys turns against Michael, and he becomes the prime suspect. When her body is found in the woods, not far from their home, next door to the school, the gloves come off and the police actively seek to pin the murder on him.

David Morrissey gives a master class in restrained anguish. Gradually the icy wall he has constructed around himself starts to crack and finally break. In an amazing performance, he demonstrates the class and social issues in the UK, the school ethos, the personal history that moulded him from boy to man; and the breakdown of the marriage. Also revealed are the machinations of the various teachers and their pursuit of career goals, the marital issues of several parents, with each new reveal taking the viewer deeper into a maelstrom of drama, deception, lies, and obfuscation. When the murderer is finally revealed, I was gobsmacked. I had no idea.

For once the scriptwriters used a light touch in the casting and we did not get the usual heavy-handed woke nonsense with unsuitable POC castings that require dense backstories to explain why they are there. Every character was cast in a believable way and there were no ‘issues’ aired that had nothing to do with the story, which is a refreshing change from the usual tiresome twaddle peddled as British TV entertainment. Generally, an excellent cast, albeit overshadowed by Morrissey whose agony over the death of his wife and indeed the death of his ambitions and dreams tears at your heart.

If I have one criticism, it is the casting of Eve Myles as DS Annie Cassidy and the lack of due diligence by the scriptwriters, who clearly have no idea of how the police work and how police procedure is followed. No detective secretly records a witness or a suspect. It would be completely inadmissible in court and violates all protocol and the suspect’s rights. No detective inserts themselves into a suspect’s home and takes up residence there day and night. No detective initiates ‘intimate’ conversations and oversteps the boundaries. Eve Myles was misdirected and as a result the series lost a lot of credibility. The producers fluffed quite a few procedural steps. However, apart from that, Morrissey is riveting, giving a towering performance. Watching him was an absolute pleasure. The character breaks down once in tears and, like me, I think viewers will also reach for the tissues. Do not miss it. Scores a perfect 10.