Note: only 3 of 4 episodes were made available for review.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At the beginning of Landscapers, a new Sky-HBO co-production starring Olivia Colman (The Crown<\/a>, The Favourite<\/a>) and David Thewlis (I\u2019m Thinking of Ending Things<\/a>, Harry Potter<\/a>) as a real-life married couple who were found guilty of murder in 2014, a line of text appears, which reads: \u2018This is a true story.\u2019 But moments later, the word \u2018true\u2019 disappears and we\u2019re simply left with: \u2018This is a story.\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s a subtle yet important detail which distills the essence of how creator and writer Ed Sinclair, who is also married to Colman, and his co-writer and director Will Sharpe (Giri\/Haji<\/a>, Flowers) have approached the story of Susan and Christopher Edwards.<\/p>\n The outwardly unassuming, anodyne pair were sentenced to a minimum of 25 years behind bars for killing the former\u2019s parents, William and Patricia Wycherley, at their home in Mansfield. The grisly details are unsurprising \u2013 we live in a world fascinated by the dark and depraved and, as such, we are well-versed in its many forms \u2013 but the way in which they\u2019re fed to us is a dramatic departure for the genre and one that is likely to polarise opinion.<\/p>\n The four-part series is as concerned with the act of storytelling as it is with Susan and Christopher\u2019s relationship and the case itself, which sets it apart from what we\u2019ve come to expect from true-crime drama. It\u2019s not news to us that we\u2019re sitting down to watch a production rather than the real thing play out. We know that this series has been manufactured by creatives who have agonised over every detail, however minute, to ensure that their particular vision is realised. But that fact is of such central importance that Sinclair and Sharpe have chosen to overtly reference it from the word go.<\/p>\n In the opening scene, there is a director who shouts \u201cAction!\u201d and the scene springs to life \u2013 heavy rain descends, the hustle and bustle of Nottingham city centre commences \u2013 only after<\/em> he commands it. In a later episode, we watch as the walls of one set are physically taken down by production staff, like something out of The Truman Show, while the characters on-screen walk across an expansive lot to another \u201clocation\u201d.<\/p>\n It is just one of myriad ways in which this story could be explored, in turn confronting the fact that all true-crime drama \u2013 from the heavily embellished and stylised to that which is verbatim and unadorned \u2013 is a work of construction at the mercy of those behind the camera.<\/p>\n That\u2019s also important in light of Susan and Christopher\u2019s insistence that they are not the cold, calculating, money-driven monsters that the police and subsequently the media painted them out to be \u2013 a stance that the pair maintain to this day. Their account contrasts drastically with how they have come to be recognised in popular culture and the series leans into that, drawing upon ghosts from Susan\u2019s past and spending significant care sketching their love for and commitment to one another \u2013 the singular source of tenderness and warmth in a series peppered with largely unlikeable, uncharismatic characters that you don\u2019t wish to spend any time with.<\/p>\n You are compelled by the hard facts of the case, but equally wrapped up in Colman and Thewlis\u2019s performances as a couple whose affections run deep and are never in doubt. It mirrors the fluidity and influence of effective storytelling, and how we are easily seduced by varying accounts.<\/p>\n Susan\u2019s love of cinema is also a key feature of Landscapers and adds vital context to her character. She seeks solace in French films, romantic reveries, black and white pictures and Westerns as a coping mechanism to shield her from her own childhood trauma and silence the growing panic she experiences following the police\u2019s intrusion into their lives. Susan wraps herself up in the dusty plains of the American midwest and gentle embraces between doe-eyed lovers and is able to stifle the noise, momentarily, as her reality makes way for imagination.<\/p>\n The real-world reporting regarding the couple\u2019s fascination with movies was tied to the vast sums they spent on memorabilia with the little money they had before the murders, and that which they inherited after. It bolsters the image of Susan and Christopher as ruthless and predatory in their pursuit of wealth. But here, Susan\u2019s fascination with cinema is cast in a new glow and once again emphasises that distinct narratives have distinct preoccupations.<\/p>\n But while the approach that Sinclair and Sharpe have taken is undoubtedly an interesting one that they can seamlessly justify \u2013 there is nothing haphazard or gratuitous about the way Landscapers unfolds \u2013 true crime is at its most affecting and engaging when bells and whistles are cast aside and stories are given the space to speak for themselves. But this series is saturated with\u00a0 bells and whistles \u2013 the visual tactics employed by Sharpe are in-your-face and relentless \u2013 which often leave you feeling like you\u2019ve entered a fever dream, and one that would work much better played out on the stage. Art house true crime isn\u2019t a genre we\u2019ve ever come across, but it feels like the best way to describe Landscapers.<\/p>\n In a series teeming with characters, Susan and Christopher are the only people who feel flesh and blood. The drama is at its strongest during their interactions, which is predominantly when we\u2019re given respite from the circus unfolding around them and are able to fully access this narrative.<\/p>\n Despite its concerted effort to experiment and push boundaries, which is an act of creative bravery that deserves praise, its bombast is an unwanted and unnecessary distraction that makes the case and those at the heart of it feel secondary to the director\u2019s box of tricks. When it comes to true-crime drama, as ITV has demonstrated with Manhunt<\/a>, Des<\/a>\u00a0and Little Boy Blue<\/a>, to name just a few, simplicity is key.<\/p>\n Landscapers premieres on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Tuesday 7th December.<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking for something else to watch? Check out the rest of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or take a look at our\u00a0TV guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Abby Robinson Published: Wednesday, 01 December 2021 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating Note: only 3 of 4 episodes were made available for review.\u00a0 At the beginning of Landscapers, a new Sky-HBO co-production starring Olivia Colman (The Crown, The Favourite) and David Thewlis (I\u2019m Thinking of Ending Things, Harry Potter) as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":8073,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-scaled.jpg",2560,1920,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-1024x768.jpg",800,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/landscapers-review-true-crime-but-not-as-you-know-it-2048x1536.jpg",2048,1536,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Abby Robinson Published: Wednesday, 01 December 2021 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating Note: only 3 of 4 episodes were made available for review.\u00a0 At the beginning of Landscapers, a new Sky-HBO co-production starring Olivia Colman (The Crown, The Favourite) and David Thewlis (I\u2019m Thinking of Ending Things, Harry Potter) as…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/8072"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Landscapers\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/11\/Landscapers-Sky-fea0968.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Landscapers\\"\/")
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