Hotel Babylon

It wasn't so long ago that I was massively dissapointed by the BBC. They had the capacity to produce world class, character driven, dramatic television of a standard equivalent to (or higher than) most of the American networks, and yet they never managed to pull it off. Lately though, things have started to change. Spooks started well, dropped in quality for a bit, and returned to form with its latest series. Last years triumphant return of Doctor Who proved that the BBC can do decent Sci-Fi. And this year is looking to be just as good, if not better than past years. Which brings me to Hotel Babylon, and Life on Mars. I'll cover Mars later. I wasn't expecting a lot from Hotel Babylon. I knew it had Tamsin Outhwaite in it, and I knew it had Max Beasley in it. I also knew it had Dexter Fletcher in it (or "that bloke from Pressgang") but I was determined not to let that put me off. Needless to say, it suprised me. Having watched a couple of series of Las Vegas, it's easier to see the similarities between that show and this; the flashy camera moves, the aerial shots of London, and the general tone are very similar. There is a notable abscense of James Caane, but in fairness the same could be said for later series of Las Vegas. What I liked about Hotel Babylon, is that it's teasing little details about characters. It's not trying to do too much, too quickly, and has a certain degree of confidence which allows it to find its own pace. Beasley is good, as is Outhwaite, but I found Flethcher's performance to be particularly enjoyable. So, keep it up BBC! I'll post about Life on Mars later