Silly concepts need a strong sense of conviction and imagination to see them through; to make an audience suspend their disbelief and enjoy something that might otherwise be too open to ridicule. The idea of two angels arriving on Earth to work as defence lawyers is just such an idea, and Eternal Law lasted about five minutes before cracks appeared. Creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh are good writers, as they've proven with Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes, but their own Gene Hunt-less ideas haven't been very good—an infamous low-point being the BBC archaeological action-mystery Bonekickers. There's the seed of a good idea to everything they do, and heaven knows I prefer something imaginative over a routine cop/doctor drama, but there's also a worrying naivety and ridiculousness to their end results...
On a basic level, I can see Eternal Law working moderately well as a middle-of-the-road drama for the Highway To Heaven or Touched By An Angel crowd, but there are too many stupid and laughable moments for it to be taken seriously. Considering the relative complexity of the average Mars/Ashes storyline from the writers, the case in this episode is laughably simplistic and uninvolving—even allowing for a straightforward story because they're also having to introduce so much information about the characters and show as a whole (like how angels can influence people by showing them the outcomes of their decisions, despite it being against "the rules"). Nobody questions why God allows them to have such a useful power if they can't use it, of course.
The characters are also very thinly drawn, with Tom as the eager young chorister who can't help marvelling at the material world, and Zak as his world-weary counterpoint trying to keep his partner out of trouble—because, rather like Starman, Tom's behaviour and innocent outlook can often cause problems for them with normal people. Pembroke is an uninteresting mixture of demon/villain clichés (superiority complex, sneering expressions, loves to sit surrounded by candles), and it's too early to say if Mrs Sherringham will evolve into anything other than the boy's in-the-know housekeeper. Of mild interest is the fact that Zak is reacquainted with an old flame called Hannah (Hattie Morahan), although she doesn't seem to recognise him in his latest form. There's perhaps potential for a weird love-story to develop here, but there wasn't much sign of chemistry between West and Morahan in their scenes together.
Perhaps the biggest problem for Eternal Law is that it doesn't do anything especially well. As a legal drama it's feeble and crude (even the writers lost faith in their climactic "courtroom scene", so they had it interrupted by a preposterous and spatially impossible gunshot); as a fantasy drama it feels pedestrian, unremarkable and quite twee; and there wasn't any heart or emotions being stirred by its supernatural romance component. There's more than enough time for Eternal Law to improve and find its voice, of course, but considering the abundance of problems (which aren't likely to be fixed, based on feedback, till a theoretical second series), and my experiences watching ITV shows like this, the outlook isn't great.
There aren't even any must-see actors or a unique knot in its premise to guarantee I'll be back next week.
Asides
- Samuel West is the son of famous actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales. He also played Frankenstein's Monster in 2004's Van Helsing movie.
- The Deep reunion! Orla Brady and Tobias Menzes both starred in that BBC1 sci-fi stinker. That's a promising sign, isn't it.
