tue 19/03/2024

The Kettering Incident, Sky Atlantic | reviews, news & interviews

The Kettering Incident, Sky Atlantic

The Kettering Incident, Sky Atlantic

Noises off and incomprehensible goings-on Down Under

Deja vu all over again: Elizabeth Debicki as Dr Anna Macy

Tasmania, Down Under is like Canvey Island (although somewhat larger): everyone knows where it is but no one wants to go there. The Kettering Incident reveals why: the bleak but beautiful landscape is blasted by Antarctic gales and the natives, with few exceptions, are ugly devils, resentful of strangers and quarrelsome with their neighbours. And that’s just the humans.

This eight-part “supernatural” drama began with a shot of a column of rock thrusting out of the sea between a V-shaped cleft in cliffs. Alas, what followed was also a load of cock. We’ve seen it all before, many times.

This is TV made by stupid people

Back in 2000 a girl goes missing: instead of fleeing when she sees flashing lights in a forest – clearly a line of extras waving torches – she runs towards them. Seventeen years later the girl who was with her – young Cate Blanchett clone Elizabeth Debicki, fresh from The Night Manager – wakes up bruised and bemused in a Mile End alley, a very unconvincing oncologist at a very unconvincing London hospital. Nosebleeds. Frozen seagulls. Cronk car engines. Iffy wi-fi. Gigantic moths. Talk of UFOs.

There are no little green men, just “greenies”, eco-warriors determined to disrupt the local logging industry: once logged, forever lost! Banish all thoughts of Twin Peaks: this first part (and the second which followed immediately) evoked a dud episode of The X-Files. “What are you doing here?” asks her father when Anna Macy (Debicki) turns up on his doorstep. The soon-to-be ex-policeman is not pleased to see her. Nor is anyone else. They blame her for Gillian Baxter’s disappearance. Anna, determined that the truth is out there, sets off in her late mother’s Jag but she is no Inspector Morse. Flashbacks. Angry whispers on the soundtrack. A greyhound called Gracie. Mother Sullivans Ridge: it seems apostrophes are as rare as common sense in Kettering.

There is more action any night of the week in the Northants town of the same name. This is TV made by stupid people – dunces who don’t read, chuckle-headed clowns who derive their feeble inspiration from the moving image. The little girl is wearing a red coat, hood up, when she vanishes (Don’t Look Now). The local café-owner sells snow globes showing the scene of the crime (Citizen Kane). The list of references – Altered States, The Tempest (“This island is full of…ghosts”) – is endless, yet the nods and winks add nothing to the mix except that spotting them stops you falling asleep. The cast is full of vaguely familiar Aussie faces, only older and fatter. However, Henry Nixon, first glimpsed in a towel, is cute as Fergus the Friendly Cop (pictured above).

The second part – for those of a masochistic disposition – features crank calls, clog-dancing, cheesy CGI and wind-chimes. Enough already.

There is more action any night of the week in the Northants town of the same name

rating

Editor Rating: 
1
Average: 1 (1 vote)

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Comments

It's really good ignore this cynical revie

This is a pretty lazy, cynical and patronising review. Simply writing a list of events in a series does not amount to critique. Nor does calling the producers (and by extension the viewers) 'stupid'. I loved The Kettering Incident, it was atmospheric and sometimes really frightening. Yes there were a lot of cultural borrowings and references, but so what? Some of the references were unusual - how often do you find WB Yeats poems woven in to a drama? The acting was strong, the characters distinctive and believable. Also Tasmania looks extraordinarily beautiful and it is refreshing to see a drama set there, a place that we rarely think about here in Europe. Ignore this dreary review and enjoy it.

I may be cynical, darling, but I know shit from Shinola. If you want to watch a superlative Aussie drama I suggest you try Barracuda on BBC3 (one month left). Mark Sanderson

Scooped best mini-series at last week's AACTA Awards. Year Award Category Recipients and nominees Result 2015 AWGIE Awards[16] Television Original Miniseries Vicki Madden, Andrew Knight, Cate Shortland and Louise Fox Nominated 2016 AACTA Awards[17] Best Cinematography in Television Ari Wegner for "The Search" Nominated Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy Rowan Woods for "Anna" Nominated Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama Sacha Horler Nominated Sianoa Smit-McPhee Nominated Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama Elizabeth Debicki Won Best Original Music Score in Television Matteo Zingales and Max Lyandvert for "Anna" Won Best Screenplay in Television Victoria Madden for "Anna" Nominated Best Telefeature or Mini Series Vincent Sheehan, Victoria Madden, Andrew Walker Won Series Mania Festival[18] Special Jury Prize The Kettering Incident Won 7.1 at imdb 100% at rotten toms 4 out of 5 at The Guardian. 2,857 Positive reviews at Amazon. Looks like you have your finger on the pulse of F*uck All !!!!! Maybe you should consider another career!!! LMFAO !!!! Critically Yours, Tag X

Perhaps your response says more about the awards system than the quality of the programme. All must have prizes! MS

Lead character not very plausible, just seems shocked in every take( I liked her in the night manager) But she seems like a one trick pony (acting wise)

What a mean-spirited and insulting response to comments. Just stumbled on this site. I won't be back. There are enough people trolling the internet without TV reviewers being nasty and patronising to people who engage with their column.

Just wasted 8 plus hours of my life watching the kettering incident what an absolute load of crap this cost 15 m Australia dollars to make what a waste of 14,900,000 dollars

I kinda enjoyed it apart from the bizarre ending. I didn't realise it was the finale until episode1 started playing again after the credits. This has to be one of the most unnecessarily nasty reviews I have ever read though. Did the writers run off with your wife/husband? You seem genuinely aggrieved by them. There is a difference between critiquing and being a mean ol' arse.

Just checked the stats and 1.2 million tourists visited Tasmania last year. Seems like people do indeed want to go there despite our reviewers crass statements about its appeal and its inhabitants. He might not have liked the drama but to base his opinion of the actual place from what he saw in that drama....pretty juvenile really. Using the same formula this guy probably thinks that the uncle character in the Inbetweeners 2 movie is a fair characterisation of an Australian because hey, he saw it on TV therefore it must be true.

And over a million of them were interstate visitors – not international tourists. So it seems Tasmania is a local spot for local people. MS

Considering it's literally at the ends of the earth I don't think that's particularly surprising.

Agreed, Tassie is amazing. It's a beautiful part of the world. But as another commenter mentioned, yes, most are interstate because it is extremely far away unless you're already in Aus. Ask anyone who's been there - it rocks.

What a lazy, hack of a reviewer. Blaming writers and directors for taking their influences from the "moving image". Commending a scene of a semi-naked actor in the eight episode mini-series tells me more about your own preferences! Roger Ebert turns in his grave...

Thank you. A thousand times, thank you. While I don't agree with the Tassie bashing, this show was the most over-hyped dross of 2016. Clones? FFS, we waited 8 hours for that? Only good thing is they put this on Box Sets channel - great for insomnia

I live in Lovely Tasmania, migrated to Australia mainland then came here. The place is full of tourists every summer and according to the US is the number one destination place to go. I feel safe here away from the rest of troubled Europe. I live on my own 28 acres with a rain forest surrounded by lovely misty mountains, an artists dream place. The person who wrote this article seems to be ignorant.

Clearly Mark hasn't been to Tasmania spinning negatives, nor knows of the tourist growth figures that its experiencing. Actually met one of the cast, the Frogmouth that features in the opening credits and on the car.

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