Sins of the Father A Very British Gangster 2   Starring: Dominic Noonan High Fliers Films RRP: £12.99 Certificate: 15 Available 16 January 2012

Sins of the Father: A Very British Gangster 2 (2011. 1 hr. 17 min 36 sec) is the follow up to Donal MacIntyre’s first documentary about Manchester gangster Dominic Noonan (born 1966). Noonan is infamous for his string of convictions and his families rise to power following the murder of "White Tony" Johnson, the leader of the Cheetham Hill Gang, in 1991.

Released after five years in prison the documentary follows Dominic as he tries to reassert control over his family and rebuild his fortunes, whilst at the same time trying to stop his own son, Bugsy, from following his example and ending up in prison. Although the primary focus is on Dominic, his wider family members are given time to explain their chosen lifestyle.

I had a real problem with this show, not because of its subject matter; it is difficult to sustain sympathy for gangsters, who hurt other people and boast of having no moral qualms about this, the real problem is the way the show has been made.

Most people, I think, will have an expectation that a documentary should be a fly-on-the-wall affair - it’s often the things which people say when they forget the camera is around which gives the most insight to how they truly think. But this is, by far, the most constructed documentary I’ve seen, full of crane and tracking shots, which itself gives the impression that much of what you are watching has been staged.

Things for Dominic and his family are not inevitable, with even some of them taking Dominic’s example as how not to live your life, probably because Dominic has spent two thirds of his adult life in prison. This, though, is not enough to save his son, who seems destined to follow his father into a life of crime, but mostly prison time.

I’m not sure that Sins of the Father tells you very much about either the man or his criminal culture, given that much of it appears staged, allowing Dominic the chance to present his own perspective on his life.

Only a screener was provided, so I cannot discuss any possible extras or what the final product will look like. The picture on the screener was more than passable for a television program.

6

Charles Packer