Half Man shows that Niall (Jamie Bell – All of Us Strangers) and Ruben (Richard Gadd – Against The Law) have frequently been at loggerheads, and with a rather violent bent from the latter, so when the former is getting married, I did wonder why he invited him to the wedding in the first place.
Cue flashback scenes to 1981 when Indiana Jones is all the rage, but the frequently-bullied younger Niall (Mitchell Robertson – Curfew) learns the then-young Ruben (Stuart Campbell – The Winter King) is coming to stay. Even worse, they’re sharing a room! His Mum thinks there’s nothing to be concerned about, with Niall’s protest going unheeded of, “He’s a psycho. He bit someone’s nose off!”
Yet, Ruben also sticks up for Niall when it comes to bullies, so it’s a double-edged sword.
Safe to say there’s a VERY awkward scene when Ruben brings a ladyfriend back home, and I was thinking this would make a good Saturday 9pm drama, although it does get more adult than I was expecting. And since AIDS gets a mention – which didn’t get discussed in the news until 1984 with the ‘tombstone’ adverts – it could be that year for Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom.
The opener went a turn I wasn’t expecting, but I will check out more. Although it arrives on iPlayer each Friday, Half Man fell off my radar prior to the first actual TV broadcast, so I will check out more soon.
Oh, and the terrible decor of Niall’s childhood house reminds me of a friend’s house from back then!
Half Man continues next Tuesday at 10.40pm on BBC1, with new episodes going live on iPlayer on the Friday before.
It’s available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.
Series Directors: Alexandra Brodski, Eshref Reybrouck
Producer: Wendy Griffin
Music: Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
Writer/Creator: Richard Gadd
Cast:
Niall: Jamie Bell
Ruben: Richard Gadd
Lori: Neve McIntosh
Alby: Charlie de Melo
Maura: Marianne McIvor
Daniel: Tim Downie
Ava: Anjli Mohindra
Butch: Tom Andrews
Young Niall: Mitchell Robertson
Young Ruben: Stuart Campbell
Mona: Amy Manson
Gus: Sandy Batchelor
Joanna: Kate Robson-Stuart
Alby’s Dad / Mr Safadi: Kal Sabir
Alby’s Mum / Mrs Safadi: Ruchika Jain
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.