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BBC<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The cinematic six-parter has plenty else going for it. The Australian Outback setting, all dusty highways and vast skies, is visually spectacular. And leading man Jamie Dornan, with his hipster beard and tight-fitting T-shirts, isn\u2019t exactly un-telegenic either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The two female leads, enigmatic conwoman Luci Miller (Brune-Franklin) and probationary constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald) are both breakout stars. The latter, in particular, has been a personal favourite. The baddies \u2013 bear-like cowboy hitman Billy (\u00d3lafur Darri \u00d3lafsson), micro-dosing Greek gangster Kostas (Alex Dimitriades) and cancer-suffering cop DI Lachlan Rogers (Damon Herriman) \u2013 are all intriguingly charismatic creations. Mainly, though, it\u2019s the tonal difference that sets The Tourist apart.<\/p>\n
The series reached its midway mark on the BBC last night (Sunday 9th January) with a blood-spattered shootout. After amnesiac anti-hero \u201cThe Man\u201d rescued Helen from a flying bullet, she said: \u201cYou\u2019re a life-saver\u2026 Literally.\u201d When wounded Billy tumbled down a well,\u00a0\u201cThe Man\u201d couldn\u2019t resist quipping: \u201cWell, well, well.\u201d Luci rolled her eyes, so he added a not-entirely-sincere: \u201cSorry\u201d.<\/p>\n
This is a mainstream show where a traffic-stopping tailback is caused by copulating tortoises; where a pivotal plot point is provided by a cuddly koala; where an ill-tempered psychopath tells sheep to \u201ceff off\u201d; where two central characters are taking ballroom lessons, while sweetly pretending they\u2019re Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Nobody puts Jamie in the corner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Running jokes include dimwit cop Sgt Rodney Lammon (Kamil Ellis) constantly getting called \u201cLemon\u201d and Helen cheating on her \u201cTrim Team\u201d diet. Cottage cheese and beetroot again? Pass the chicken burger.<\/p>\n
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BBC\/Two Brothers Pictures\/Ian Routledge<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The Tourist\u2019s gallows wit comes as welcome relief from all the death and darkness of the Williams\u2019 previous work.\u00a0I can\u2019t recall many moments of levity in Liar or Angela Black, which heaped endless traumas on leading lady Joanne Froggatt. Those shows were so relentlessly grim, they tipped into misery porn territory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
By contrast, crime caper The Tourist has offbeat swagger reminiscent of Killing Eve<\/a> \u2013 to which the Williamses have a connection, via their former Fleabag collaborator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.<\/p>\n
Full of arresting images, The Tourist wears its filmic influences on its sleeve: the Coen brothers, David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino. Its sandy vistas and twanging guitar are straight out of a spaghetti western. Indeed, the soundtrack often adds offbeat charm \u2013 see Dornan\u2019s falsetto singalong to Bette Davis Eyes before the truck chase or Billy\u2019s easy listening ringtone chirping away during the deadly caravan fight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
There are even romcom elements as Dornan and Brune-Franklin\u2019s exes flirt via sarky, screwball dialogue. He\u2019s now on the run with Helen as his reluctant hostage. Their shyly blossoming friendship has the whiff of an indie roadtrip, with downtrodden Helen gradually regaining her confidence \u2013 hopefully enough to leave gaslighting, godawful fianc\u00e9 Ethan Krum (Greg Larsen).<\/p>\n
Booze is also used for comic effect. When \u201cThe Man\u201d sips a beer in the aftermath of that diner bombing, he mutters: \u201cF**k me, that\u2019s lovely. I hope I didn\u2019t use to be an alcoholic.\u201d He and Helen later enjoy an amusingly tipsy Dirty Martini session, waking up with the thudding hangovers and memory gaps to prove it.<\/p>\n
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BBC\/Two Brothers Pictures\/Ian Routledge<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Such humane touches help the series feel far less formulaic than previous Williams series and prevent the pulpy plot collapsing under the weight of its own implausibility. Jack and Harry clearly had a ball writing The Tourist and their enjoyment is infectious. The show took three years to make and the pair admitted that they were more closely involved in its making than on any other of their projects \u2013 and that hands-on approach has paid off. It\u2019s palpably a labour of love.<\/p>\n
A wild, witty, free-wheeling romp is the last thing we expected from the Williamses but The Tourist is all the better for it. It is undoubtedly the peak of their output so far. Dornan has never been better, either.<\/p>\n
The question now is can they sustain the quality until the climax? And possibly beyond yet into a potential second run? That\u2019s been where too many of the Williams\u2019 previous work has slipped \u2013 particularly single-series wonders like Rellik<\/a>, Strangers<\/a>, One of Us and The Widow<\/a>, with their grabby premises petering out into disappointingly divisive endings.<\/p>\n
Viewers who\u2019ve been unable to resist bingeing the iPlayer boxset know the answer already. The rest of us will find out over the next three Sundays (or right now on iPlayer, if you can\u2019t wait). Let\u2019s hold onto Dornan\u2019s whiskers and enjoy the ride.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The Tourist is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our\u00a0 Drama<\/a>\u00a0hub for more news, interviews and features.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Abby Robinson Published: Monday, 10 January 2022 at 12:00 am By: Michael Hogan What do Melanie Bunton, Geri Brown, Mel Adams, Victoria Chisholm and Emma Halliwell have in common? No, they\u2019re not just the Spice Girls with their names mixed up. They\u2019re also the fake IDs on multiple passports belonging to Shalom Brune-Franklin\u2019s shady […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":9735,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best.jpg",367,305,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best-300x249.jpg",300,249,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best.jpg",367,305,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best.jpg",367,305,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best.jpg",367,305,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/the-tourist-is-the-williams-brothers-most-unexpected-tv-show-and-their-best.jpg",367,305,false]},"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: Monday, 10 January 2022 at 12:00 am By: Michael Hogan What do Melanie Bunton, Geri Brown, Mel Adams, Victoria Chisholm and Emma Halliwell have in common? No, they\u2019re not just the Spice Girls with their names mixed up. They\u2019re also the fake IDs on multiple passports belonging to Shalom Brune-Franklin\u2019s shady…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/9734"}],"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\/9735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}