SS-GB (TV series)
| SS-GB | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Len Deighton |
| Based on |
SS-GB by Len Deighton |
| Written by | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade |
| Directed by | Philipp Kadelbach |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Dan Jones |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Patrick Schweitzer |
| Production location(s) | London, England, UK |
| Cinematography | Stuart Bentley |
| Editor(s) | David Blackmoore |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Sid Gentle Films Ltd |
| Distributor | BBC Worldwide |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Picture format | 16:9 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 19 February – 19 March 2017 |
| External links | |
| BBC website | |
SS-GB is a 2017 British drama series produced for the BBC[1] and based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Len Deighton. It is set in a 1941 alternative timeline in which the United Kingdom is occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Plot
In this alternative world, it is November 1941, nine months after a successful German invasion of Britain. Winston Churchill has been executed, and King George is a prisoner who has not been seen in public for some time. His wife and daughters Elizabeth and Margaret escaped. A British government in exile led by Rear-Admiral Conolly exists but is not recognised by the US. Nazi Germany has also maintained friendly relations with the Soviet Union, and Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov has just flown in to oversee the removal of the body of Karl Marx to the Soviet Union.
Douglas Archer, a Scotland Yard homicide detective with a stellar reputation, is working under a German superior from the Schutzstaffel (SS), the security force of the Nazi Party. Though his wife was killed by a German bombing raid, Archer avoids involvement in political crime and views resistance to the Nazi Empire as futile. A routine murder investigation becomes political when it appears to have been perpetrated by agents of the Resistance movement. An aggressive SS officer arrives and takes control of the investigation, which is of interest to the SS because the victim may have possessed data from the German army's program to produce an atomic bomb. Archer also learns that his secretary and lover Sylvia Manning is a member of the Resistance, and he is reluctantly drawn into a conspiracy against the Germans.
Production
In November 2014, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to adapt Len Deighton's novel SS-GB.[2]
In August 2015, it was announced that Sam Riley was in talks to star in the lead role of Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer of Scotland Yard.[3] Riley's casting was confirmed in late September 2015.[4]
Production began in October 2015 and ended in January 2016. The series was produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd. It was broadcast on BBC One in five one-hour episodes, between 19 February 2017 and 19 March 2017.
The series filmed various scenes for episodes one to four at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. The location was used as a double for London streets and the mortuary that featured in episode one.[5]
Cast
- Sam Riley as Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer,[6] a Scotland Yard detective in German-occupied London
- Kate Bosworth as Barbara Barga,[6] an American reporter
- Rainer Bock as Gruppenführer Fritz Kellermann,[6] the SS officer supervising the police force
- Aneurin Barnard as Police Constable Jimmy Dunn,[6] a junior policeman working with Archer
- Christina Cole as Joyce Sheenan,[7] Archer's neighbor who cares for his son, and whose own husband is a prisoner of war
- Maeve Dermody as Sylvia Manning,[6] Archer's secretary and lover
- Lars Eidinger as Standartenführer Oskar Huth,[6] an SS officer newly-arrived in London
- James Cosmo as Detective Sergeant Harry Woods,[6] Archer's friend and coworker
- Jason Flemyng as Colonel George Mayhew,[6] a British aristocrat
- James Northcote as Dr John Spode,[8] an atomic physicist working with the Resistance
Episodes
Series 1 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Philipp Kadelbach | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade | 19 February 2017 | 8.68 |
| Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer is looking into a routine murder in German-occupied London when SS officer Oskar Huth arrives and assumes control of the investigation. Archer learns that his secretary and lover Sylvia Manning is involved with the Resistance movement against the Nazis. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Philipp Kadelbach | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade | 26 February 2017 | 5.54 |
| Archer and Huth foil a plot by the Resistance to abduct Archer's son for leverage. Archer later lets Sylvia escape again. He is approached by a cabal of British gentlemen who appear to be conspiring against the Germans, and goes home with American reporter Barbara Barga. Barbara warns Archer not to refuse to cooperate with the Resistance, or they may kill him. Archer deduces that his murder victim William Spode was an atomic physicist working for a German faction outside the SS, presumably killed by the Resistance. Police Constable Jimmy Dunn is murdered by Resistance vigilantes who believe he has collaborated with the Nazis. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Philipp Kadelbach | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade | 5 March 2017 | 4.30 |
| A Resistance operative tries to kill Archer, who is later interrogating Spode's brother John when the man dies by cyanide capsule. George Mayhew and General von Ruff are plotting to rescue King George from Nazi captivity as a means for the German army to discredit the SS. Archer finds a film canister left behind by William Spode, and has its contents developed in secret. The Resistance detonates a bomb at a German-Russian ceremony to remove Karl Marx's body to the Soviet Union. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Philipp Kadelbach | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade | 12 March 2017 | 3.79 |
| Archer sends his son out of the city to the unoccupied zone. Harry Woods and Sylvia are picked up as the Nazis impose martial law on London. Archer agrees to help Mayhew free the king, and entrusts Barbara with Spode's negatives, which contain images of atomic calculations. Fritz Kellermann arranges for Harry's release, and Archer shelters Sylvia at his flat. One of Mayhew's conspirators is murdered, but the rescue plan proceeds. Barbara is taken by the SS. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Philipp Kadelbach | Neal Purvis and Robert Wade | 19 March 2017 | 3.54 |
| Archer and Harry transport King George, who is gravely ill, but they have engine trouble and call Sylvia for aid. The US Embassy secures Barbara's release before Kellermann can interrogate her. Archer, Harry, and Sylvia flee with the king as Kellermann learns of the escape and sends men in pursuit. They are ambushed by Huth at the rendezvous point, and Sylvia and the king are killed. Working with the Resistance, the Americans attack the German atomic research center at Bringle Sands, the king's escape being a diversion to lure the security forces away from it. Having placed all the blame on Huth, Kellermann executes him by firing squad. Archer escapes with the negatives into the countryside, with Kellermann believing him dead. | ||||||
Reception
The series received highly positive reviews[10] with the Telegraph giving the series 4 out of 5 and saying that the "alt-history thriller deserves a follow-up series".[11] The main criticisms were predominantly regarding the sound quality and reportedly inaudible dialogue for some viewers in the first episode, which the BBC offered to "look at" for future episodes.[12][13]
The first episode achieved good overnight ratings, with over 8 and a half million viewers tuning in. However, as the series went on, ratings gradually fell, with only 3 and a half million watching the final episode.
See also
References
- ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (10 February 2017). "SS-GB's dystopian parallel universe – a drama for our time". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
- ↑ "James Bond Writers to Adapt Len Deighton Novel SS-GB for BBC". Variety. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Sam Riley In Talks To Star, Philipp Kadelbach On Board To Direct James Bond Scribes Purvis And Wade's SS:GB". Deadline Hollywood. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Maleficent and Control star Sam Riley to play the lead in new BBC Nazi thriller SS:GB". Radio Times. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office SS-GB Article".
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sam Riley and Kate Bosworth take the lead in ambitious new BBC One Drama SS-GB". BBC. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ↑ "Meet the cast of SS-GB". Radio Times. 9 June 2017. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ↑ "BBC - SS-GB - Media Centre". BBC.
- ↑ "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Barb.co.uk. (Search relevant dates for figures.)
- ↑ "SS-GB: Miniseries". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ↑ Rees, Jasper (19 March 2017). "SS-GB, episode 5, review: alt-history thriller deserves a follow-up series". The Telegraph.
- ↑ "SS-GB: BBC to 'look at' sound levels after mumbling complaints". BBC News. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ↑ Weaver, Matthew (19 February 2017). "'I will mumble this only once': BBC's Nazi drama SS-GB hit by dialogue complaints". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
External links
- SS-GB on IMDb
- SS-GB at epguides.com
- "SS-GB: In-depth review of the book by Len Deighton and the BBC TV miniseries". 6 December 2013.