Boat Story

Boat Story juggles a perilous number of balls, but keeps them aloft without showing any strain. It’s a triumph of sense, sensibility and style. I love it.

The clever-cleverness is diverting, but to stick with it you’ll need to give a fig. Paterson and Haggard (whose character has for no relevant reason lost her hand in an industrial accident) are blessedly likeable: every time someone threatens to waste them, you cross fingers for their preservation. Meanwhile, much effort is made to humanise the villains.

It’s not offensive, just de trop, arch and effortful. For all the ambition and great performances, six episodes feel like 10.

Boat Story is too ambitious, too inconsistent, and too insincere; in the end, not unlike a beached craft loaded with both expensive drugs and murdered corpses, it’s never more than a mixed bag.

These two [Paterson Joseph and Daisy Haggard], rather than any stylistic flourishes, will remain the main reason to continue watching the remaining five episodes.

It is a clever idea, evidenced by the quality of the cast willing to be in it. But it misses something in the execution. It is almost as if it is too clever, trying too hard to be kooky.