Prey & Crime
So I've been on a little self-indulgent John Simm spree in the past week or two, and there are these two gems that I briefly wanna talk about.
Firstly, the ITV mini-series Prey from 2014 where Simm plays a detective in season 1 who gets wrapped up in a conspiracy that involves his family and gets himself in deep shit.
And holy fuck, it is so intense! The first episode in particular was edge-of-your-seat all the way through, and Simm really delivers all the emotional beats and punches to a tee. Really heartbreaking stuff. Plus a lot of glorious whump. I loved it and wish they'd made it more than three episodes, although the pacing works well.
(Full disclosure, I have not seen season 2 and don't know how it compares to season 1.)
What I've also looked into is Irvine Welch's Crime, which admittedly I don't love quite as much, but for the Dept. Q folks who follow me, there are some interesting parallels. (Simm stars in 4 of the 12 episodes - another really intense role and a real departure from what I'd seen him in before.)
Jamie Sives is in season 1 of Crime. But beware, he plays a real arsehole. The type who Carl would call a right cunt and would probably wanna punch in the face every single day. He is thoroughly unlikeable and his super strong Scottish accent is 50% I didnae understand a word o' what you just said.
I also spotted a few other familiar faces, among them Marcus the hotel clerk and Charlene Boyd in a super tiny role, who plays Carl's ex Vic. Interestingly, they use the building just behind CodeBase (the Dept. Q police station) as their police HQ in Edinburgh.
The show itself is super gritty and dark. Everyone is either fucked up or corrupt - or both - and not in a good way. Or even a redeemable way. Dougray Scott isn't my type, but his acting is phenomenal in this.
As for my John Simm indulgence (spurred on by casting him as one of my Dept. Q fanfic OMCs and then realising I hadn't seen anything he's been in), I also really liked Strangers and Grace, though the latter is perhaps a little too much on the tame, formulaic and conservative side, but Roy Grace is a sweetheart and I really like all the characters.
And John Simm... The dude has done a shit-ton of British TV, yet it seems like he isn't really talked about much. Bit of a shame, or maybe I'm just late to the party and out of touch with where and how fandom happens these days.
