Stonehouse

In the end, you pine for something (anything) dredged up from the oily antihero’s childhood or sexuality; imagine what (the living) Stephen Poliakoff or (the very late) Dennis Potter might have done with such a real-life tragicomedy. At least Macfadyen’s minutely calibrated performance—at once transparent and guarded—makes a selfish cipher’s rise and fall (and rise) enjoyable.

Stonehouse really delivers a drama of depth, centered around someone with genuine failings, who eventually pays the price. It may lean towards tragi-comedy to a degree, but in the end, there is a sense of redemption which audiences will appreciate.

Macfadyen is so good at characters like this – hubristic, duplicitous and ridiculous – that it is a treat to watch him try to scheme and bluff his way through Stonehouse’s misadventures.

The tone is spot-on, tongue-in-cheek and cheeky.

Perfectly serviceable as an easy one-day binge, even if it brings nothing new to the genre. Unsurprisingly, Hawes and Macfadyen are an unbeatable duo, and if nothing else, the series serves as an easy, post-Christmas watch with your grandparents, in a dry time before TV truly begins to kick off for the year.