The Long Firm (2004) (TV)

Director:

Bille Eltringham

Writers:

Jake Arnott (novel)
Joe Penhall (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 July 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Harry Starks runs 60s Soho... but he wants so much more.

Plot:

The lives of characters who live, love and suffer through their association with the charismatic charms of gangster Harry Starks.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Gangster | Homosexual | Revenge | Violence

Awards:

5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Mark Strong	...	Harry Starks
Derek Jacobi	...	Lord Edward 'Teddy' Thursby
Judy Parfitt	...	Lady Ruth Thursby
George Costigan	...	DI George Mooney
Neil Conrich	...	Manny Gould
Geoff Bell	...	Jock McClusky
Damien Thomas	...	Tom Driberg
Robert Boulter	...	Craig
Israel Aduramo	...	John Ogungbe
George Harris	...	Doctor Chukwurah
Shaughan Seymour	...	George Budgen
Andrew McKay	...	Harry's Pretty Boy
Yule Masiteng	...	Dignitary in Nigeria
Dexter Nwanya	...	Nigerian Soldier
Lena Headey	...	Ruby Ryder

Runtime:

236 min (4 parts) | Brazil:220 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Drama Group

Trivia:

Lena Headey replaced Frances O'Connor

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Harry and Teddy go to Nigeria (in 1964), we see cars driving on the right-hand side of the road. Nigeria drove on the left until 1972.

Quotes:

Lord Teddy Thursby: Now look, Harry, you know I can't abide violence. I'm just no good at that sort of thing.
Harry Starks: Good thing I'm an expert, then.
Lord Teddy Thursby: I'm not hitting anyone, if that's what you're thinking.
Harry Starks: I just want you to reassure him - talk to him, make him see the error of his ways. Then *I'll* hit him.

Instant Classic

The BBC rest on their past reputation . There's little good I can say about the BBC in the 21st century as they force feed us TV dinners of quiz shows , hidden camera shows and DIY shows , recipes that leave TV critics like myself under nourished . But my compliments to whatever TV chef cooked up THE LONG FORM for our televisual delight

Mark Strong plays Harry Starks a homosexual gangster in 1960s London .

Episode 1 ) Harry and his new boyfriend travel to Nigeria to pull off a scam

Episode 2 ) Harry tries to set up a club while his new boyfriend Tommy has a sexual relationship with starlet Ruby Ryder

Episode 3 ) A rent boy is found murdered and mutilated so Harry tries to track down his killers

Episode 4 ) Newly released from prison Harry tries to start a new life in Spain with a limp wristed criminologist

That's the premise of each episode but it's impossible to describe how well they play out on screen . For much of the episode Harry is off centre and it's the supporting characters that carry the audience through the story . It also has a wonderful sense of dark humour like the bit where an obviously stoned Judy Garland tries to sing only to have the club goers pelt and boo her , or the scene where Harry is described as a deviant by a criminologist : " Deviant ? Deviant ! - Calling me a f***in' nonce ! "

This show has you laughing out loud one minute and curling your toes the next with some graphic violence because there's nothing Harry enjoys more than tying someone up in a chair and inflicting violence on them usually with a white hot object

There's little negative I can say about THE LONG FIRM . I could be pedantic and point out small errors like the episode set in 1967 has a clip from a DOCTOR WHO story from 1968 but that would be cruel . The ending is slightly disappointing but nothing is perfect and expect this show to pick up a major amount of awards at next years BAFTA's

And if the BBC can produce drama of this quality then why do we have to put up with a unfufilling TV diet of garbage ? The BBC can still make classic drama when it wants to . I guess they just don't want to