Flack   Starring: Anna Paquin Distributor: Acorn Media International RRP: £19.99 AV3539 Certificate: TBC Release Date: 13 May 2019

By day, Robyn is a problem solver for a high-flying PR company. She spends her time burying truth or making other truths which will benefit her clients. Outside of work her home life is no less complicated, with her partner who wants to start a family…

Flack (2019. 6 x 60 mins approx.) is a dark comedy drama created by Oliver Lansley.

There is a hyper-reality about the show in that the situations which Robyn must deal with are initially believable, even somewhat mundane. Through the course of the six episodes she must stop a well-loved chef's indiscretions from being exposed, Stop the papers from finding out that a young artist is being dropped by her record company and save a comedian from being accused of being trans-phobic.

All plausible in and of themselves, but they lead to situations which rather than being contained tend to spiral quickly out of control, not unlike Fawlty Towers. The comedy of the situations come from the absurd lengths that Robyn will go to in the protection of her clients. For instance, the great plan to save a young seventeen-year-old girl's singing career is to have her make a sex tape with another client who has been accused of racism. As the young girl is black the PR company sees this as a win win situation for both clients.

The cast is great. Anna Paquin (Robyn) is able to convey both the absurdity of her day job and the insecurity she feels at home. At lot of the comedy reminded me of Flea Bag, that combination of tragedy and black comedy. But for me the real stand outs of the show were Sophie Okonedo (Caroline) who plays Robyn’s boss with an acerbic edge that could cut through metal, who spends an inordinate amount of time threatening to kill her employees and Lydia Wilson (Eve) her best friend and work colleague with few morals. Both give outstanding and memorable performances.

I really like the show for many of the same reasons I liked Flea Bag. Both shows are able to take the audience to absurd places, whilst keeping an undercurrent of the pain of being an adult in a crazy world. Both genuinely made me laugh.

I was only given a screener, but the finished disc is supposed to arrive with three extras.

7

Charles Packer