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The Way sets the scene for a potentially powerful drama, set against the backdrop of a Welsh steelworker village where strikes are about to blight the town, but then they’re necessary in a Tory era.
We initially learn about a lad who works there, slipping and falling into a vat of molten slag – and given how many generations of families work in such industries – his Dad was on the same shift and saw it happen, and we can see the toll this takes on them.
Meanwhile, Geoff Driscoll (Steffan Rhodri – Men Up) has just passed the age when his father, Denny (Michael Sheen – Best Interests), died, and who still occasionally appears to him – highlighting his demons; while Geoff’s son, Owen (Callum Scott Howells – It’s A Sin), doesn’t seem to know which way he’s going in life between hot waitress Anna (Maja Laskowska) and Grindr.
Yet, when it comes to health & safety, as well as potentially hostile takeovers from a Chinese outfit – who are accused of asset-stripping and selling off what’s next, civil unrest isn’t far away & neither are strikes and violence.
So far, I’ve just seen the first episode, where everyone’s doing a lot of shouting, railing against the authorities etc, and based the trailer, there is another direction to come, but I do hope it improves, even if they can’t improve on its terrible, generic title.
All three episodes were available prior to broadcast, but I’ll try the others when it goes live on iPlayer, since there are no subtitles on the preview, and the strong Welsh accents aren’t always easy to decipher.
UPDATE Episode 2:
UPDATE Episode 3:
The Way is on tonight on BBC1 at 9pm, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. After broadcast, it will be on the BBC iPlayer.
Series Directors: Adam Curtis, Michael Sheen
Producer: Derek Ritchie
Creators: Michael Sheen, James Graham, Adam Curtis
Writer: James Graham
Cast:
Geoff Driscoll: Steffan Rhodri
Dee Driscoll: Mali Harries
Owen: Callum Scott Howells
Thea: Sophie Melville
Anna: Maja Laskowska
Dan: Aneurin Barnard
Jack Price: Tom Cullen
Glynn: Mark Lewis Jones
Denny Driscoll: Michael Sheen
Alwyn Jeffries: Simon Armstrong
Dr Aimee Goff: Kezrea James
Rhys: TeiloLe Masurier
Sunita: Leila Navabi
Heledo: Gillian Elisa
Mr Kwan: David KS Tse
Simon The Prophet: Jonathan Nefydd
PC Ryan: Sam Locke
Rhodri: Alan David
Neil Griffith: Matthew Aubrey
Grace: Andria Doherty
Mick Walden: Darren Lawrence
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.