Not a particularly good series, but occasionally you can see a better one trying to get out.
The main problem is that the makers can't quite decide whether the central character of the exiled dictator is supposed to be sympathetic or not, or alternatively an out-and-out monster who's getting away with it. So he behaves awfully, but not murderously, to his aides, and they seem inexplicably devoted to him despite this.
Still, a great title sequence (poster images of the dictator as he rises to power and then gets overthrown), and a potentially good performance from the lead (there's the makings of a Basil Fawlty/David Brent style comic monster in there, but it doesn't quite come out). Oh, and poor Emily Joyce does a great job of playing someone who seems to belong in a better series - see My Hero for a later example of this from her...
The main problem is that the makers can't quite decide whether the central character of the exiled dictator is supposed to be sympathetic or not, or alternatively an out-and-out monster who's getting away with it. So he behaves awfully, but not murderously, to his aides, and they seem inexplicably devoted to him despite this.
Still, a great title sequence (poster images of the dictator as he rises to power and then gets overthrown), and a potentially good performance from the lead (there's the makings of a Basil Fawlty/David Brent style comic monster in there, but it doesn't quite come out). Oh, and poor Emily Joyce does a great job of playing someone who seems to belong in a better series - see My Hero for a later example of this from her...
