Say what you will about Danny Boyle, the man has never conformed to expectations. His films are as eclectic as you can get, with Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Slumdog Millionaire only just scratching the surface. Then he'll jump to stage and direct a star swapping version of Frankenstein, then he'll put together an Olympic opening ceremony. And now he's jumped to TV, backing a dark comedy about the Met police force for Channel 4, because that makes perfect sense in that it doesn't make much sense at all.
From Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, Babylon"takes a wry look at the people and politics in the command rooms and on the front lines of a modern police force, as it attempts to uphold the peace under constant scrutiny in one of the world’s busiest capital cities." PR manager Liz Garvey (Brit Marling) being brought into the London police department by Chief Constable Richard Miller (James Nesbitt) to assist in fixing their public perception problems. From the look of this trailer, the series looks like it might do for the police what The Thick Of It did for politics, namely relentlessly satirise it up the backside. I'm a big fan of Nesbitt, and the writers' pedigree is enough to get me interested. The series also stars Jill Halfpenny, Paterson Joseph, Bertie Carvel and Adam Deacon.
Babylon airs on the 9th of February on Channel 4, with a full series to follow later in the year.
Via /Film.